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Post by Chesapeake on Jan 6, 2011 14:59:27 GMT -5
NPR editor resigns over Juan Williams firing
By Paul Farhi The Washington Post Thursday, January 6, 2011; 2:52 PM
NPR's top news editor, Ellen Weiss, resigned on Thursday after the release of an internal review of the news organization's handling of the firing of analyst Juan Williams in October. And NPR's board of directors said that chief executive Vivian Schiller, who stood by the decision to fire Williams, will not receive a 2010 bonus.
Weiss was the NPR editor who fired Williams after he told Fox News host Bill O'Reilly that he became "nervous" flying with people dressed in "Muslim garb."
NPR maintained that Williams had been warned repeatedly not to express personal opinions on the air, but the firing touched off a huge firestorm of criticism. Republican members of Congress vowed to cut the broadcaster's federal funding in the wake of the episode.
Margaret Low Smith, the vice president of programming and a veteran news executive, would replace Weiss on an interim basis, NPR said.
NPR's board of directors said in a statement that it found that Williams's firing was legally sound and that it was "not the result of special interest group or donor pressure."
It said it would adopt several recommendations as a result of the internal investigation, including "taking appropriate disciplinary action with respect to certain management employees involved in the termination." It did not spell out the specific disciplinary action.
However, the board said that "because of concerns regarding the speed and handling of the termination process, the Board additionally recommended that certain actions be taken with regard to management involved in Williams's contract termination."
Weiss fired Williams two days after he made his comments on Fox News. She delivered the news via a phone call.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2011 16:16:02 GMT -5
The aspect of this event that really irritates me is that the firing WAS influenced by a special interest group, beneath it all. I believe in remaining politically correct to a certain point, I don't like to offend people, I like to believe I have high levels of tolerance and acceptance, but I have also observed how our government and authorities make very generous concessions when it comes to dealing with the Muslim community in this country. Not only generous concessions, but exceptions.
If Mr. Williams had stated that flying with people in Orthodox Jewish garb or Greek Orthodox priests in long black robes and beards made him nervous, I doubt seriously that he would have lost his job. He may have been disciplined or suspended without pay for a temporary term. We seem to bend over backwards in this country to protect political "hot-button" groups such as Muslims.
Can someone explain this to me (who tries to be as apolitical as possible, generally)?
(I know, I know, "there he goes bringing up the Jews again.")
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Post by brucemacneill on Jan 6, 2011 16:26:52 GMT -5
IMHO, it has to do with the fact that Muslims really will kill you for the slightest indiscretion. Jews, Greeks, Christians generally won't.
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Post by omaha on Jan 6, 2011 16:49:10 GMT -5
The part I don't get is "NPR maintained that Williams had been warned repeatedly not to express personal opinions on the air"
That's absurd. Williams, in his role as commentator at Fox, was giving personal opinions all the time. As was Nina Totenberg (on other shows). Its the nature of commentary that personal opinions are involved.
If NPR really wants to have a policy where their on-air talent are not permitted to express personal opinions on other shows, that's their business. But there is no evidence they actually enforce such a policy.
Williams' firing comes down to the fact that what he said, the opinion he expressed regarding flying, was uniquely offensive to the powers that be at NPR in comparison to the countless thousands of other opinions he has expressed over the years.
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Post by Cornflake on Jan 6, 2011 17:00:18 GMT -5
"If Mr. Williams had stated that flying with people in Orthodox Jewish garb or Greek Orthodox priests in long black robes and beards made him nervous, I doubt seriously that he would have lost his job. He may have been disciplined or suspended without pay for a temporary term. We seem to bend over backwards in this country to protect political "hot-button" groups such as Muslims.
"Can someone explain this to me (who tries to be as apolitical as possible, generally)?"
Howard, I think there's a perception that Muslims are much more acutely at risk of discriminatory treatment in this country at the moment than are Jewish or Orthodox people, and that perception accounts for the disparate reactions to such comments.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2011 17:04:06 GMT -5
"If Mr. Williams had stated that flying with people in Orthodox Jewish garb or Greek Orthodox priests in long black robes and beards made him nervous, I doubt seriously that he would have lost his job. He may have been disciplined or suspended without pay for a temporary term. We seem to bend over backwards in this country to protect political "hot-button" groups such as Muslims. "Can someone explain this to me (who tries to be as apolitical as possible, generally)?" Howard, I think there's a perception that Muslims are much more acutely at risk of discriminatory treatment in this country at the moment than are Jewish or Orthodox people, and that perception accounts for the disparate reactions to such comments. Doesn't that seem a bit out of proportion with the egalitarian way we should treat ALL people, Counselor?
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Post by brucemacneill on Jan 6, 2011 17:04:21 GMT -5
"Howard, I think there's a perception that Muslims are much more acutely at risk of discriminatory treatment in this country at the moment than are Jewish or Orthodox people, and that perception accounts for the disparate reactions to such comments. "
...although there has been darned little evidence that the perception is valid.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2011 17:13:47 GMT -5
"Howard, I think there's a perception that Muslims are much more acutely at risk of discriminatory treatment in this country at the moment than are Jewish or Orthodox people, and that perception accounts for the disparate reactions to such comments. " ...although there has been darned little evidence that the perception is valid. Bruce, I have no doubt the perception is valid; I have witnessed anti-Muslim sentiment right here in the "Melting Pot" that is New York City. It just burns me that any group has to be coddled, or tip-toed around to the point where people have to lose their jobs because of some nebulously enforced company policy. (Under the circumstances, I think Mr. Williams should have been disciplined without being terminated--what he said regarding personal feelings in the context of his profession as a journalist may have constituted some sort of breach of ethics. But a one-time statement=a firing offense? I've heard talking heads on Fox say much more outrageous things than that. It seems to me that the situation has become completely over-sensitized.)
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Post by Fingerplucked on Jan 6, 2011 17:33:45 GMT -5
"Howard, I think there's a perception that Muslims are much more acutely at risk of discriminatory treatment in this country at the moment than are Jewish or Orthodox people, and that perception accounts for the disparate reactions to such comments. " ...although there has been darned little evidence that the perception is valid. Are you serious? This issue is backwards. A black guy on national television says something that is potentially prejudiced. Liberals should have been rushing to his defense. Conservatives should have been trying to crucify him. Had the circumstances been different, that's exactly what would have happened. But the potentially prejudiced remarks were made by a regular contributor on Fox News, and the subject was Muslims. So liberals rushed to the defense of Muslims. And conservatives tried to crucify NPR. This issue is so unpredictably predictable.
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Post by Chesapeake on Jan 6, 2011 17:43:11 GMT -5
I'm kind of surprised it was the news director who got the axe, not the CEO. The former has been running NPR's news department since the late '80s, to general acclaim. CEOs come and go a lot more frequently. This one has been in charge for just a few years. It's true it was the news director who delivered the news to Juan, but it seems obvious she did it with the CEO's backing, if not her orders. But all the CEO got was no annual bonus. Must have been an interesting dicsussion in the boardroom.
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Post by brucemacneill on Jan 6, 2011 17:55:03 GMT -5
Guess we don't get much New York news out here in the sticks. I hadn't heard of the mosques being burned and the women beheaded in New york, but I'll take your word for it.
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Post by Cornflake on Jan 6, 2011 18:12:21 GMT -5
"Doesn't that seem a bit out of proportion with the egalitarian way we should treat ALL people, Counselor?"
I think reality has to be considered. In WWII, we should have been especially attentive to discrimination against Japanese-Americans. Now the target's different. I'm not expressing any opinion on the specific incident that prompted this thread; I don't know enough to comment. I was just responding to your question.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2011 18:17:45 GMT -5
Guess we don't get much New York news out here in the sticks. I hadn't heard of the mosques being burned and the women beheaded in New york, but I'll take your word for it. I think such things would likely make the news. But, prejudice often wears a gentler face. Don't look for lynch mobs or carnage, because, at least here, we've learned to give ignorance and hatred a soft, fuzzy look. Instead, what you will hear are some folks making comments about how "muslims" want to kill you, while other in-group faiths do not. Won't make the news, probably shouldn't, but it's around. That being said, I think it was absurd for the guy to get fired-- at least for his phobic comments.
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Post by brucemacneill on Jan 6, 2011 19:26:43 GMT -5
Strictly based upon body count within the 50 states, I'd say the American people have been extremely gracious to the Muslim community. Since we've had to develop thick skins from all the verbal crap we get from the rest of the world to the point that we can be gracious after being attacked and mostly let it roll off, I'd suggest they do the same. I'm not Christian enough to turn too many cheeks. Muslims within this country will kill their own kids for being "Too American". I have no sympathy for them. They can go about their lives in a quiet civilized manner while in my country or they can go back where they came from.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2011 22:27:45 GMT -5
"Doesn't that seem a bit out of proportion with the egalitarian way we should treat ALL people, Counselor?" I think reality has to be considered. In WWII, we should have been especially attentive to discrimination against Japanese-Americans. Now the target's different. I'm not expressing any opinion on the specific incident that prompted this thread; I don't know enough to comment. I was just responding to your question. True, during WWII, the reactionary policies of this country rubber-banded in the complete opposite direction. I don't see anything quite as severe happening currently as Muslim people being carted off to relocation centers or internment camps. Nonetheless, I do not feel moved to pander to that—or any—particular group, unless they have been the victims of war, famine, or genocide. But that is not what is happening here. As for dharmabum's post, I wanted to say something along those lines, that prejudice does not always manifest itself in burning buildings and women being beheaded—especially here in NYC—but I have witnessed slurs, behaviors, reaction to the mosque that has been approved two blocks from the Trade Center site, etc. And it's usually not pretty. I don't think my politics are so extreme that I would tell someone to "go about their lives in a quiet civilized manner while in my country or they can go back where they came from," but I will say that my parents emigrated from Europe to this country in the late 1940s, and after all they had been through in Europe, still had to learn to live by American customs, speak English as well as earn their citizenship, take their drivers' tests, etc., in English, attend schools, earn degrees, contribute to their community and raise their children according to American custom. I know there are diverse communities here that practice policies of social isolation and keep to their own and might even be critical of the American way of life, not just the Muslim community. Ultimately, I feel that everyone should be treated with tolerance, fairness, justice and some semblance of understanding. I resent being expected to kiss the asses of any one particular group—for any reason—after all my family had to suffer through to travel to this country for a better way of life, and I DON'T agree that Juan Williams deserved to lose his job over one expression of personal fears. It's not like the guy was promoting violence or revolution. He was just being honest—and probably voicing a thought that has occurred to millions of Americans.
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Post by Russell Letson on Jan 6, 2011 23:47:56 GMT -5
If Mr. Williams had stated that flying with people in Orthodox Jewish garb or Greek Orthodox priests in long black robes and beards made him nervous, I doubt seriously that he would have lost his job. About anti-Semitism vs. Islamophobia: Just in the last year, Helen Thomas was forced to retire, Rick Sanchez lost his job, Mel Gibson nuked his career, and Oliver Stone had to apologize for nitwit remarks about Jewish domination of the media. Go back a few years and there's Michael Richards, who may have trashed his career with a rant. (I haven't seen much of him since--but then one didn't see much of him before, either, so it's hard to tell.) As far as I can tell, both of these are third-rail areas, with different groups policing them. (Interesting mixed metaphor there.) Anti-gay sentiments are slightly less dangerous, though expressing them is not a good idea for anyone in the news or entertainment biz.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2011 7:33:26 GMT -5
Russell:
Point taken, and it is a good one. I suppose I am a proponent of simply treating everyone squarely, but not of singling out individual groups for extra-special handling. Unless, as I said above, that group has been victimized by war, famine, or genocide.
I still think Williams should not have lost his job for expressing a personal fear, even though it was in the context of his job as a journalist. Stiff discipline, yes, but not termination.
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Post by Marshall on Jan 7, 2011 7:44:36 GMT -5
From the comments I heard on the radio yesterday, I think there has been an on-going personality clash between Williams and his boss-lady for some time. This was just the latest incident and put her personal dislike of him over the top. Doesn't make it right. Doesn't make it wrong.
Sometimes you reach a point where you don't give a shit.
It's only news because it's soap opera.
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Post by theevan on Jan 7, 2011 8:33:14 GMT -5
Re: Anti-Semitism...
Is it just me, or does anybody else notice a rise in anti-Semitic rhetoric in recent times? I do. I'm thinking that it's mostly, or somewhat, spillover from anti-Zionist rhetoric.
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Post by Village Idiot on Jan 7, 2011 8:46:42 GMT -5
I haven't heard any of that, Evan. But with over 500 people in the agency I'm contracted to, there is one Jewish person.
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