I have mixed feelings about this whole mess. First I must confess I love NPR. It's the only radio station I will listen to, with the exception of christian radio (that is a completely different kind of obsession). I love NPR because its where I get not only my news but entertainment. I don't think NPR is a liberal media outlet although I'm sure someone would argue that. Even though I completely disagree with Mr. Williams sentiments I was shocked to hear he was fired. I disagree with him being fired for expressing his feelings. I believe he probably was fired more for where he said his comments than for what he actually said. With that said I will still listen to NPR and give them my money.It's incredibly unfortunate that Sarah Palin is still in the spotlight. She is now calling for all federal funding for NPR to be cut
. It's unbelievable to me the idiocy that spews forth from this woman. Why should a news organization that is truly "fair and balanced" be in her sights? Is it because she feels threatened by anyone smarter than her? I mean she folded when Katie Couric, of all people, interviewed her. Such hard hitting questions as "what newspapers do you read?" really threw a wrench in her spokes. I sincerely hope our country is still with it enough to never elect this woman.
Also, Muslims have the best sartorial skills on the planet. I would NEVER trust an Indian Hindu or any of the other zillion religious/idealistic/non-religious/way-of-life Indian sects for making any garbs whatsoever.
How is a muslim garb different from an arab garb?
PS: heh, all the top bollywood stars and starlets are muslims btw.
What is "Muslim garb"? :::link:::
Juan Williams got fired for two reasons: First, and I think foremost, it was because he consistently went on Fox News Channel. This was a source of annoyance for his bosses. Secondly, it was because he was in a sanitized, politically correct, left-leaning company culture epitomized by that condescending bitch Schiller, that cannot come to terms with the fact that millions of people just like Juan Williams have suffered trauma because of the successful (and unsuccessful) attacks by Muslims on airplanes. The backlash was predictable and justified.
I won't say NPR violated his free speech rights. Only the government can do that. Some are arguing because of the government dollars being spent it does constitute a free speech violation, but I doubt that would be a successful argument in court. Juan Williams doesn't have a right to a job. If he wanted to be employed with NPR he had to be a good boy and stay on board with the company culture (as Libertad has already said). In the end he's making more money with a better company, and his reputation is only diminished in the eyes of hard core left wingers. All's well that ends well, and he'll be fine.
People are pissing and moaning over 2-3 million dollars (allegedly). I think they can do without it and let their moneyed, left-leaning demographic pick up the slack. For that matter, I think state sponsored news and political coverage is an awful, ill conceived idea. It's actually worse in the UK because you are forced to pay a license fee for the privilege of consuming nakedly biased, condescending coverage. If NPR were to keep the tax money, I wish they would focus on children's programming, educational and cultural programming. That's what I love most about NPR and PBS. I'm willing to pay for that.
I don't see anything wrong with the firing of Juan Williams. This is definitely not a violation of free speech. I think that NPR and any other news agency is within its right to hire and fire the type of journalist that fits their programming. Their rationale for firing him is completely reasonable.
"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. :::link:::
They used to play the BBC World News Hour on NPR. I really enjoyed it. But it was always on at odd hours, I think around 11pm or midnight even.
Meanwhile, across the pond, they are trying to cut funding and support to the BBC World Service - my favourite news source (apart from Google News).
I can't believe I'm going to say what I'm going to say about Palin.
1st. You can't fire someone for something they say there is this thing called freedom of speech. Well except for Bill Maher and "Nappy Headed Hoes" . But you really shouldn't be able to... Lets say you can.
2nd. People are hired for how they speak and how they convey things. That is why you hired them you shouldn't get rid of them when they say something you don't agree with. Again you are in the MEDIA the truth is 1st.
What happened is that NPR doesn't like fox so he went on fox not npr so they fired him.
Every media person has a slight bias or in some cases a strong bias. Most shows or channels have a biased as well. O'reily fits in with fox and the way in leans.
Now I agree with Sarah Palin NPR should lose its funding, well or some or maybe the show he was on. They are trying to control what people say. If it isn't what they believe to be the truth they can fire you. Who says that they haven't made other people do what they say. The Media should be held to a certain standard.
The Problem with the news is that how news is covered has changed. News used to be just one part of the media and yes sometimes it did go along with government lines. Yes sometimes it was part of the propaganda machine. But it was about the truth. It wasn't about making a profit and having ratings. See when ratings come into it, you can't get into great discussions and different views of what is going on, you have to have catch phrases and quick little bits with no details and talking points and crap like that and people yelling and not really talking......