The NPR standards
Image via WikipediaJuan Williams, now a former contract news analyst for NPR, was fired Wednesday for publicly taking a controversial position. A statement from NPR CEO Vivian Schiller said:To the extent that NPR has any standards they appear to bob and weave depending on which employee is stating their opinion. As liberals go, Juan is a much nicer one than Nina, at least in their public presentation. As for Shiller, she comes across as unprofessional and in coherent when it comes to her explanation for firing Williams. She has probably done more to damage the reputation of NPR than Williams ever could have.
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.
On Thursday, however, Schiller revised her position on Williams’s termination. According to the Associated Press, Schiller told the Atlanta Press Club that it wasn’t the O’Reilly interview that led to his dismissal but the fact that he expressed his “controversial” opinions at all. Doing so, she said, is prohibited by longstanding NPR standards. The AP reports:
Schiller said Williams' firing is not a reflection of his comments (on Fox News Channel) that he gets nervous when he sees people in Muslim garb on an airplane. She said she has no problem with people taking controversial positions, but that such opinions should not come from NPR reporters or news analysts.
If that’s true, NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg might want to start looking for a new job. Over the past month, in her regular appearances on “Inside Washington,” she has: criticized a ruling of the Roberts Court as scandalous; claimed that Michelle Obama gives people “warm and fuzzy” feelings; called Bill Clinton “the most gifted politician I’ve ever seen;” and lamented that the Democratic Party is diverse enough to include moderates that want to extend all Bush tax cuts.
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I have to admit that I rarely listen to NPR. About the only time I have listened lately is when I have been driving on the back roads of Arkansas in the evening and their station is the only one that stops my search button on the radio. That brief experience is enough to suggest to me that Shiller must be over paid.
Mickey Kaus also skewers the "standards" and how they are applied.
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