American National Public Radio Fires Juan Williams

[Robert_S]

Shirley Sherrod got fired without anyone talking to her first, too. I originally thought they had other reasons to fire her, but then they wouldn't have offered to hire her back.

Call me cynical, but it's interesting that both are black as well. It's almost as if someone high up in the government has a particular way he wants blacks to act, and has the power to do something about it when he sees something he dislikes on the media.

She admitted to racial discrimination in public.

Black people have to be PC too now. That's a step forward.

[tattuchu]

I'm not saying I should feel uncomfortable, but I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't. It's an emotional response. I'd probably feel guilty about it and compensate by being overly nice to them if I were to interact with them. But it's the same reason why, although I don't consider myself a racist or bigot, I'd nevertheless feel nervous walking downtown through a neighborhood of inner-city blacks. Sorry

[Coito ergo sum]

Lots of people. Me for one.

I don't feel that way either, but I don't think feeling that way should be grounds for dismissal from a job in a publicly funded organization.

I wasn't commenting on whether he should have been fired or not, just on Tatt's comment "who doesn't" feel the same way.

Like CES I think they had it in mind to fire him for a while before he made that comment, otherwise they wouldn't have agreed to fire him so readily and they would have talked to him first, which they did not do.

Well, maybe Fox will hire him now.

NPR is coming off my radio speed dial later today, which sucks because I love that show "wait wait, don't tell me," "Whaddya Know" and "car talk" (with click and clack..) and I from time to time listened to their news programs.

This action by NPR is abysmal, and to insult the guy by suggesting he needs a psychiatrist is beyond the pale. That is not how you do business. If you want to fire someone, you call them to your office and and you do it face to face like a grown-up. You keep the reasons private, and part company with mutual respect...that is, unless there is a different agenda.....

I hope NPR does something to rectify the situation. Otherwise, I guess that's one radio option I'll know longer have.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

So, that's Juan down, how many to go?

[Coito ergo sum]

So, that's Juan down, how many to go?

LOL....

I don't even like Juan Williams' commentary. I find his commentary to be quite often emotion-driven and irrational.


NPR under fire from both sides of the political spectrum: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... plane.html

NPR CEO implies he's crazy: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/201 ... ychiatrist (apology - but, like the firing, she doesn't speak to him directly....what a piece of shit she is...)

[Warren Dew]

She admitted to racial discrimination in public.

Black people have to be PC too now. That's a step forward.

It's a step forward that black people have to lie in public now too?

What's a step forward is that the Obama administration had to offer to hire her back once they listened to her comments in context.

[maiforpeace]

NPR is not the first, nor will it be the last employer to ever make a mistake in firing someone. The only difference is that because it's the media and he's a media personality, it gets plastered everywhere. If I boycotted every business or media station that I like who treated someone unfairly, I wouldn't have anyone to do business with or listen to.

It's tough luck he got fired, but apparently he's now been offered a rather lucrative contract with Fox. Being on NPR wasn't enough for him so now he can have Fox all to himself.

I don't have that much pity for him.

[Coito ergo sum]

NPR is not the first, nor will it be the last employer to ever make a mistake in firing someone. The only difference is that because it's the media and he's a media personality, it gets plastered everywhere. If I boycotted every business or media station that I like who treated someone unfairly, I wouldn't have anyone to do business with or listen to.

It's tough luck he got fired, but apparently he's now been offered a rather lucrative contract with Fox. Being on NPR wasn't enough for him so now he can have Fox all to himself.

I don't have that much pity for him.

It's not, for me, a question of pitying Juan Williams. I don't. He'll be fine. For me, it's opposition to people like the CEO of NPR, who behave that abysmal manner. If anyone should be fired, it's the CEO of NPR, for acting in an unprofessional manner which tarnishes the image of NPR.

If we never take a position against an employer who "makes a mistake" in firing someone, then we just acquiesce in any employment-related injustice. Should people have just said "ho hum, lots of employers make mistakes," in relation to Shirley Sherrod? I mean - your statement is equally true in the context of Sherrod, so why should anyone have raised a fuss about that incident?

[maiforpeace]

There's no doubt that NPR is going through some shit right now. It's all over the national news. Who knows what's going to come down with the management. I don't listen to NPR enough to care that much I guess.

When it comes to taking a stance on unfairness in the workplace, let's just say there are plenty of other battles that I would choose over this one.

[Coito ergo sum]

There's no doubt that NPR is going through some shit right now. It's all over the national news. Who knows what's going to come down with the management. I don't listen to NPR enough to care that much I guess.

When it comes to taking a stance on unfairness in the workplace, let's just say there are plenty of other battles that I would choose over this one.

Sure, everyone picks their battles. But this incident reveals some, to me, disturbing implications. I get the impression NPR wanted Juan Williams out and this was what they latched onto as a pretext for doing so. Mara Liasson may be next on the chopping block. The reason is Williams' failure to toe an orthodox line. I don't find that an endearing quality in a news outlet.

[maiforpeace]

There's no doubt that NPR is going through some shit right now. It's all over the national news. Who knows what's going to come down with the management. I don't listen to NPR enough to care that much I guess.

When it comes to taking a stance on unfairness in the workplace, let's just say there are plenty of other battles that I would choose over this one.

Sure, everyone picks their battles. But this incident reveals some, to me, disturbing implications. I get the impression NPR wanted Juan Williams out and this was what they latched onto as a pretext for doing so. Mara Liasson may be next on the chopping block. The reason is Williams' failure to toe an orthodox line. I don't find that an endearing quality in a news outlet.

EDIT: Sorry, I hit the edit instead of the quote button earlier. Fixed.

I agree. They are in the hotspot now, so hopefully those disturbing implications will get addressed.

[Coito ergo sum]

There's no doubt that NPR is going through some shit right now. It's all over the national news. Who knows what's going to come down with the management. I don't listen to NPR enough to care that much I guess.

When it comes to taking a stance on unfairness in the workplace, let's just say there are plenty of other battles that I would choose over this one.

Sure, everyone picks their battles. But this incident reveals some, to me, disturbing implications. I get the impression NPR wanted Juan Williams out and this was what they latched onto as a pretext for doing so. Mara Liasson may be next on the chopping block. The reason is Williams' failure to toe an orthodox line. I don't find that an endearing quality in a news outlet.

EDIT: Sorry, I hit the edit instead of the quote button earlier. Fixed.

I agree. They are in the hotspot now, so hopefully those disturbing implications will get addressed.

I'm thinking Vivian Schiller acted on the assumption that she would not receive this kind of a firestorm. I think she heard the comment, and thought "here we go - everyone will be outraged by such an awful comment by Juan Williams..." == she could not conceive, for some reason, ahead of time that Juan's comment would be viewed by most people as perfectly reasonable, and expression of a very common feeling. Plus, she ignored the context where Juan Williams plainly is not a racist and is plainly not someone who is prejudiced against Islam.

How could she make this "mistake?" In my view its because she leads a very insular daily life, probably coming in contact almost exclusively with hard left folks, who constantly characterize people as idiots, racists, wackos and extremists "on the right," and in making those criticisms, they are often lumping in what amounts to be the vast majority of the American people. However, given the people she's surrounded by, she thinks most everyone would react to Juan's comment like she did. She probably thought it would be Juan getting his just desserts for his "racist" comment.

Now she probably thinks the firestorm is just some right wing wacko conspiracy ginned up by Fox News. The confusing part must be that some that she would likely have considered to be in her camp are coming out in support of Juan.

[Warren Dew]

NPR is not the first, nor will it be the last employer to ever make a mistake in firing someone. The only difference is that because it's the media and he's a media personality, it gets plastered everywhere. If I boycotted every business or media station that I like who treated someone unfairly, I wouldn't have anyone to do business with or listen to.

For me, it's more of an issue of relevance to the organization.

A media outlet that fires someone for views expressed elsewhere is, to me, a media outlet that's likely to be biased and untrustworthy, and I'd consider boycotting them. A fast food chain firing someone for their views expressed elsewhere doesn't bother me as much, because it's irrelevant to the service they provide.

Contrariwise, a fast food chain that fired someone for, say, throwing out rotted food, even in a different job, would be suspect for me; I'd consider boycotting such a fast food chain. A media outlet that fired someone for throwing out rotted food wouldn't bother me as much.

[Coito ergo sum]

Dear AREPS,

Thank you for all of your varying feedback on the Juan Williams situation. Let me offer some further clarification about why we terminated his contract early.

First, a critical distinction has been lost in this debate. NPR News analysts have a distinctive role and set of responsibilities. This is a very different role than that of a commentator or columnist. News analysts may not take personal public positions on controversial issues; doing so undermines their credibility as analysts, and that’s what’s happened in this situation. As you all well know, we offer views of all kinds on your air every day, but those views are expressed by those we interview – not our reporters and analysts.

Second, this isn’t the first time we have had serious concerns about some of Juan’s public comments. Despite many conversations and warnings over the years, Juan has continued to violate this principal.

Third, these specific comments (and others made in the past), are inconsistent with NPR’s ethics code, which applies to all journalists (including contracted analysts):

“In appearing on TV or other media . . . NPR journalists should not express views they would not air in their role as an NPR journalist. They should not participate in shows . . . that encourage punditry and speculation rather than fact-based analysis.”

More fundamentally, “In appearing on TV or other media including electronic Web-based forums, NPR journalists should not express views they would not air in their role as an NPR journalist.”

Unfortunately, Juan’s comments on Fox violated our standards as well as our values and offended many in doing so.

We’re profoundly sorry that this happened during fundraising week. Juan’s comments were made Monday night and we did not feel it would be responsible to delay this action.

This was a tough decision and we appreciate your support.

Thanks,

Vivian

Vivian Schiller

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/10 ... -williams/

LOL - let's see the ethics code....