Juan Williams Fired

[Ghostwriter]

Is this PC run amuck? I always liked Juan even though I rarely agreed with him.

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/..._and_libe.html

[Drolefille]

NPR is pretty big on their news people staying neutral. They're banned from attending the Jon Stewart/Colbert rally for example.

Lol at "PC run amuk" and "liberal news salivating" to boot off a conservative

NPR's statement

[Ghostwriter]

Here is what he said:

“I’m not a bigot. You know the kind of books I’ve written about the Civil Rights movement in this country … 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.”

I believe he was fired for being politically incorrect. I think a whole lot of people (if they are honest with themselves) would agree with his statement.

I wonder if this has anything to do with George Soros giving NPR millions for new hires? Is this a slam at FOX?

[agzg]

Originally Posted by Ghostwriter

Here is what he said:

“I’m not a bigot. You know the kind of books I’ve written about the Civil Rights movement in this country … 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.”

I believe he was fired for being politically incorrect. I think a whole lot of people (if they are honest with themselves) would agree with his statement.

I wonder if this has anything to do with George Soros giving NPR millions for new hires? Is this a slam at FOX?

It's a nothing. You will never hear Ira Glass saying "I'm not a bigot, but the other day I saw a bunch of Mexicans outside of Home Depot, so I pulled over and asked if they would re-tile my kitchen floor."

A lot of people agree with that or would do that, or at least can see the stereotype as "true", but NPR commentators have no business commenting on it because it's not in line with their organization's goals.

[DrPhil]

He shouldn't have said it. If anything, he could have made a general statement of how SOME people still feel nervous when they see a person with traditional Muslim garb on a plane. Attaching that nervousness to himself was a bad idea.

People need to stop pretending as though having to watch what they say in certain settings is "political correctness." We watch what we say because we wear many hats. In a professional settings, we are not wearing our "personal hat." We are wearing our "professional hat" and that makes personal opinion not distinct from professional commentary.

Juan Williams should've been smarter just as Dr. Laura's dumbass should've been.

On the other hand, Rick Sanchez shouldn't have been fired because even Jon Stewart said the comments weren't offensive; and CNN was using him as an excuse to fire Sanchez.

[Ghostwriter]

Originally Posted by agzg

but NPR commentators have no business commenting on it because it's not in line with their organization's goals.

What are their goals?

Poor Mara Liason is probably next on their hit list.

Juan had every right to say what he did. NPR probably was within their legal rights to sever his contract. But what he said did not reach the level of a firing offense. Freedom of Speech be damned. But you are right. It just doesn't fit into NPR's political views/agenda/goals. I just see a heck of a lot of hypocrisy here as there are NPR analysts who have dabbled in controversial commentary on occasion. Nina Totenberg for example.

[BluPhire]

Too busy trying to suck up to his Fox News masters.

He knew better, but chose to place it on himself instead.

He will be alright, I'm sure he already had a contract in hand and needed an out from NPR.

[DrPhil]

LOL. Freedom of Speech is soooo over-referenced and applied to things that it really doesn't apply to.

[PiKA2001]

Well all things considered (tee hee hee) I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of him on Fox News now.

[agzg]

Originally Posted by Ghostwriter

What are their goals?

His remarks on The O'Reilly Factor this past Monday were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR," the statement read.

.

[knight_shadow]

In wake of NPR controversy, Fox News gives Juan Williams an expanded role

The cable news network signs the analyst to a new three-year contract for nearly $2 million. Meanwhile, conservative figures blast the public radio network for its response to Williams' comments about Muslims.

link

[Elephant Walk]

NPR needs to be fired.

(and not for this...I really don't care about this.)

[Drolefille]

And, the fact is, there is prejudice involved in feeling fear after seeing someone in a Muslim outfit.

Feeling fear every time you see someone in Arabic, Muslim or other garb might be understandable, might be a normal response following a traumatic event, but that doesn't make it rational or erase the prejudice involved.

Cool Story Bro:
Last time I flew for pleasure I was seated next to man dressed like he was going on the hajj, he ended up moving up a row so he could have an aisle seat, but because this was right after a spate of people getting pulled off a plane because of other passenger complaints, I was concerned that someone else might do or say something.

[moe.ron]

It's not the people in the Islamic garb Juan should be worried about. It's the real terrorist that play off on Juan's line of thinking and send in a WASP to bomb that plane.

[Kevin]

I can see where NPR was coming from. Williams uttered words exposing a certain religious, racial or cultural bias, that, I think is indisputable. Whether his bias is justified is something people can disagree over. I think that it isn't. I'm on board with NPR up to a point.

Management at NPR was given two options, both bad:

1) Leave it to other on-the-air personalities and individuals to express outrage, demand apologies, but otherwise leave the relationship with Williams in place. This would have the possible effect of alienating more liberal, PC-demanding listeners, Islamic listeners, etc., who all donate a lot of money to stations every year. This could also jeopardize a lot of underwriting dollars, foundation dollars, etc., because those gifts are typically conditional, and might not be renewed if they become controversial.

2) Getting rid of Juan Williams, showing an obvious bias towards political correctness. This has had the result of alienating politically conservative listeners. This also, at least to my mind, calls to question whether NPR is about to "clean house" of any on-air personality who doesn't buy into the current political correctness orthodoxy. Also affected here will be donations from conservatives listeners to their local stations.

I can appreciate the tension, but if NPR's chief goal was journalistic integrity, they have obviously missed their calling. They have shown that they are not unlike Fox, CNN, or any other for-profit news entity. At the end of the day, their decisions are based upon revenue. This was a naked and blatant move to protect revenue sources. I absolutely do not approve from a moral stance, but I also wouldn't have been willing to write a check to make up what would have/could have been lost in response to the Williams utterance.

Conservatives like me have no choice really. I listen to NPR because it's the only place on the radio dial which provides decent hard news and analysis. They attempt to be free of bias, but they often fail. And that's just fine. I'm a big kid, I can listen critically.