Sarah Palin and Bill O'Reilly want NPR's funding cut entirely, for firing Jim DeMint

[Krynn72]

EDIT: Title is supposed to say "NPR's funding".

WASHINGTON — "I'm not a bigot," longtime news analyst Juan Williams said. Then he talked about getting nervous on a plane when he sees people in Muslim dress. Fair game for one of his employers, Fox News Channel, but a fireable offense for the other, NPR.

Muslim groups were outraged, saying that Williams' remarks Monday on Fox's "The O'Reilly Factor" endorsed the idea that all Muslims should be viewed with suspicion. But conservatives and even some liberals said NPR went too far in axing his contract for being honest about his feelings in an interview where he also said it is important to distinguish moderate Muslims from extremists.

The opinions Williams expressed on Fox News over the years had already strained his relationship with NPR to the point that the public radio network asked him to stop using the NPR name when he appeared on Bill O'Reilly's show. NPR CEO Vivian Schiller said Thursday that Williams had veered from journalistic ethics several times before Monday's comments.

What he said :

"I mean, look, Bill, I'm not a bigot. You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country," he said. "But when I get on a plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."

It's hard to work up too much sympathy for Williams -- a once esteemed journalist who has repeatedly embarrassed himself in recent years as a soloist in Bill O'Reilly's amen chorus. He was warned multiple times by NPR about providing commentary on Fox News that violated his employment contract. And his reward for the noxious comments that cost him one job was a new $2 million contract from Fox, announced Thursday.

But that hasn't stopped Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Michelle Malkin, Andrew Breitbart and, of course, O'Reilly from seizing on this contretemps to resuscitate a long-standing right-wing pipe dream: to gut NPR's federal funding altogether. And like clockwork, after a day of increasingly frenzied rhetoric from the usual suspects, South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint announced he will introduce legislation on Friday to do just that.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-silver/sarah-palin-sen-jim-demin_b_772219.html


Seems like it was just the straw that broke the camel's back. He was already on hot water for being an idiot and representing NPR in a way they disagreed with, and that this just tipped them over the edge. A stupid reason to fire him for, if taken by itself, but clearly there were many more reasons they wanted to fire him before this. Now Palin and all the other idiots are calling for NPR to be shut down because of this, and getting a lot of support? ****ing god damnit.

 

[<RJMC>]

whats the NPR?

 

[Krynn72]

NPR, formerly National Public Radio,[1][2] is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to 797 public radio stations in the United States of America.[3] NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Npr

 

[VirusType2]

Wow! Is Palin's goal to ruin America? Petty, corrupt, power-tripping ****.

 

[Matorbogl]

During Friday's White House press briefing Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that the President and a number of high ranking Congressional Democrats expressed a deep interest in the plan to defund NPR. Gibbs citing bi-partisanship continued and said that "I think Americans are looking for some unity from there, uh, elected officials, and uh I think this is a great way to show our commitment to uh, the uh change that was promised back in the campaign".

 

[VirusType2]

citing bi-partisanship continued and said that "I think Americans are looking for some unity from there, uh, elected officials

That's bullshit!

What Obama should do, is devote a couple of measly billion 'cool ones' to upgrading it, and making it more relevant. I would die for something of BBC quality in America. And I mean that.

The BBC's educational and informational shows are absolutely top notch. Obama wants to improve America's faltering education? There you go.

 

[Sulkdodds]

That's quite a ****ing cheek, talking about "Change" at this point and about this measure.

 

[VirusType2]

I wouldn't say something of BBC quality is exactly worth dying for but it would be pretty great, and I think NPR would be just the people to do it. That would be way, way cool.

I think it is actually something worth dying for because it would greatly benefit all Americans for generations and more. So, yeah, I would fight in a hypothetical battle and give my life fighting, to give Americans that chance. They've got excellent and seemingly endless commercial-free science, history, and geography programing.

We all know the public school system in America is pretty much a joke and only a select few even care or excel. Students aren't even interested because the whole thing is shit. Most people just get by. When I was a student, movie day in class was about the only time I paid attention, no matter the subject material.

The things I have seen on the BBC... I could learn more in an hour of viewing than in an entire year in Science or History class. And, it would be interesting enough to motivate me to want to learn more, and to even base a career off it.

 

[Matorbogl]

Whoa, sorry I did not mean to mislead anyone, what I typed was not real, it was just me posting something snide about my feelings towards the Obama administration and its willingness bend over backwards for right wing extremists.

Apologies for causing any confusion, as far as I am aware there is no serious discussion to cut funding for NPR.

 

[Sulkdodds]

Oh thank god. Still, it's damning that it didn't seem implausible.

 

[No Limit]

They should not have fired him for this. After he made that remark (which no matter how dumb it is the majority of the country thinks like that) he went on to say that those kinds of fears are irrational.

Not to mention how dumb politically this was for NPR to do. Nobody gave a shit about what Williams said until he got fired, now it's a national news story.

I should also say, I dont think their funding should be cut. But I think the CEO that fired Williams might want to look for another job.

 

[Krynn72]

Like I said in my OP, he wasn't fired for this. He was fired for a myriad of reasons, and this was just the last one. Seems like a legit reason to me. When on talk shows like this, he is representing NPR and their views, and he had been told not to say stupid shit like this several times before.

Just like if Bill O'Reilly came on the Daily Show and all of the sudden acted like a decent person, Fox would be upset that hes not staying in character. If he kept doing it over and over, Fox would probably fire him.

 

[No Limit]

But it wasn't a problem for them before. They say they talked to him about it in the past. But that sounds like a lame excuse to me. If he can't express personal opinions elsewhere then they should have told him to pick them or pick fox news. It's clear that in this case NPR was concerned with the fallout before any fallout actually occured and fired him prematurely. If you look at prior statements he has made on Fox News I doubt this was the worst of them all. Also, I'm certain that other analysts that work for NPR share their personal opinions in other media, they have not been fired for it.

 

[No Limit]

...

But it wasn't a problem for them before. They say they talked to him about it in the past. But that sounds like a lame excuse to me. If he can't express personal opinions elsewhere then they should have told him to pick them or pick fox news. It's clear that in this case NPR was concerned with the fallout before any fallout actually occured and fired him prematurely. If you look at prior statements he has made on Fox News I doubt this was the worst of them all. Also, I'm certain that other analysts that work for NPR share their personal opinions in other media, they have not been fired for it.

 

[No Limit]

Juan Williams was being interviewed and was asked if he was afraid when he sees black people on a plane with him. His response was black people never blew up planes. What an idiot.

I guess he doesn't remember the underwear bomber:

 

[Stigmata]

The issue isn't free expression, so much as being a cutely-worded racist bastard on public radio.

also

ugh but
then every week would be fund drive week D:

lol'd, then slowly dawned upon the utter horror

 

[Krynn72]

But it wasn't a problem for them before. They say they talked to him about it in the past. But that sounds like a lame excuse to me. If he can't express personal opinions elsewhere then they should have told him to pick them or pick fox news. It's clear that in this case NPR was concerned with the fallout before any fallout actually occured and fired him prematurely. If you look at prior statements he has made on Fox News I doubt this was the worst of them all. Also, I'm certain that other analysts that work for NPR share their personal opinions in other media, they have not been fired for it.

I dont see how you can misinterpret them telling him to stop saying stupid shit as being "not a problem for them." You only support my argument by saying "if you look at prior statements he has made" because clearly this has been a long running thing, and they just got sick of him not following the directions they gave him. Ergo, he gets fired.

 

[No Limit]

My point is that he was a commentator on Fox for a long time, obviously that means he will be there to give his opinion on things. I don't believe they provided any specifics on what cases he was warned about before, but each time he was on Fox he was giving his personal opinion on matters. So this is nothing new and NPR knew of this for a very long time, yet they didn't fire him until now.

They also have many other analysts on NPR that go on other networks and give their opinion from time to time. They still have their jobs.

So lets not pretend that this was about the fact he was expressing opinions on Fox. It was that he was expressing an opinion that they didn't like.

 

[VirusType2]

So lets not pretend that this was about the fact he was expressing opinions on Fox.

Wait, who was saying that?

It was that he was expressing an opinion that they didn't like.

Well good job, Sherlock. It's not like he said "Blue is my favorite color." He said, essentially, people who present themselves as Muslim by their clothing should be met with suspicion.

actually, we've got the direct quote here: "But when I get on a plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."

 

[No Limit]

Who was saying that? It was all linked in the article Krynn linked to when he started this thread.

From their original statement, found here: http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2010/10/npr_memo_to_stations_why.php

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 keep reading the statement you will see this:

“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.”

Now I'm not sure if you are aware of this, but Juan Williams has been appearing on the O'Reilly factor for years. Nothing new here. So the excuse NPR gave is bullshit.

And the way you are characterizing what Juan Williams said is simply not accurate in my opinion. You posted a small part of his entire statement, which isn't very fair. Be honest, did you actually watch the full interview where he made those remarks? Because he was not telling you that you should fear people on a plane that dress a certain way, he was trying to make the point that these fears that much of america including himself has, are irrational.

 

[VirusType2]

Sarah Palin, Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck and other Fox News personalities are calling on Congress to cut all funds for NPR after the broadcaster fired analyst Juan Williams for making disparaging comments about Muslims. This week, Sen. Jim DeMint (R – S.C.) plans to introduce legislation to eliminate all funds to NPR and PBS – two of the last, best sources of journalism we have in America.

Please take a moment to join the tens of thousands who are defending public broadcasting and standing up to extremists. Sign this mass action to Congress, share it with all of your friends, and our public advocates in D.C. will personally deliver your message when Congress returns in November.

http://act2.freepress.net/letter/npr_palin?akid=1887.9192872.RFMe95&rd=1&t=2

 

[Krynn72]

Now I'm not sure if you are aware of this, but Juan Williams has been appearing on the O'Reilly factor for years. Nothing new here. So the excuse NPR gave is bullshit.

That reminds me of when some guy I knew got fired from his beer-shipping job for taking beer out of breakage. He'd been doing it for years, and NOW they fire him for it!?!?!?!

Just because he got away with it for a long time doesn't means they can't or shouldn't fire him for it. Its their right to look the other way in regards to their own rules when it benefits them, and then turn around and catch someone redhanded when they want them gone.

 

[No Limit]

You're telling me NPR had no idea that for years Juan Williams was giving his opinions on Fox news? Becuase I'm pretty sure if that beer shipping company knew about the beer stealing earlier they would have fired him them. You don't think?

 

[CptStern]

they knew:



"One reason he was fired, according to Vivian Schiller, NPR’s CEO, is that the company felt he wasn’t performing the role of a news analyst:

“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,” said Schiller in an email to NPR member stations, some of which are upset about Williams' firing.

“As you all well know," she continued, "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.”

this latest incident with Williams centers around a collision of values: NPR's values emphasizing fact-based, objective journalism versus the tendency in some parts of the news media, notably Fox News, to promote only one side of the ideological spectrum.

The issue also is whether someone on NPR's payroll should be allowed to say something in one venue that NPR would not allow on its air. NPR’s ethics code says they cannot."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/ombudsman/2010/10/21/130713285/npr-terminates-contract-with-juan-williams