http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/10/21/npr.analyst.fired/index.html?hpt=T2
Quote:
NPR head says analyst was dropped for repeatedly crossing into opinion
Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- NPR's president and CEO defended Thursday the network's decision to terminate the contract of Juan Williams after the news analyst made remarks elsewhere that she said veered from analysis into opinion, adding that it was not the first time.
"Juan Williams is a news analyst; he is not a commentator and he is not a columnist," Vivian Schiller said at an Atlanta Press Club luncheon. "We have relied on him over the years to give us perspective on the news, not to talk about his opinions."
Williams responded with a comment posted on FoxNews.com that called his dismissal "a chilling assault on free speech" and described the NPR leadership as "self-righteous ideological, left-wing. ... They loathe the fact that I appear on Fox News."
Williams' contract was ended Wednesday, two days after he said on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" that he gets nervous when he sees people with Muslim garb on planes.
Bill O'Reilly, the Fox News personality, was seeking comment from Williams on O'Reilly's own controversial remarks made on the "The View" about Muslims.
"Look, Bill, I'm not a bigot," Williams said. "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."
He continued, "Now, I remember also that, when the Times Square bomber was at court, I think this was just last week, he said the war with Muslims -- America's war -- is just beginning. The first drop of blood. I don't think there's any way to get away from these facts.
"But I think there are people who want to somehow remind us all -- as President Bush did after 9/11 -- it's not a war against Islam."
Williams told O'Reilly, "You've got to be careful" to point out that there are good Muslims. He noted that Americans don't blame Christians for the actions of Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma City bombing.
"I gotta be careful; I have to qualify everything 50 times," O'Reilly said. "You know what, Juan? I'm not doing that anymore. I'm not doing it any more. I will say Muslim terrorists, but I'm not going to say -- oooh! -- it's only a few, it's only a tiny bit. It's not, Juan. It's whole nations -- Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, whole nations."
Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- NPR's president and CEO defended Thursday the network's decision to terminate the contract of Juan Williams after the news analyst made remarks elsewhere that she said veered from analysis into opinion, adding that it was not the first time.
"Juan Williams is a news analyst; he is not a commentator and he is not a columnist," Vivian Schiller said at an Atlanta Press Club luncheon. "We have relied on him over the years to give us perspective on the news, not to talk about his opinions."
Williams responded with a comment posted on FoxNews.com that called his dismissal "a chilling assault on free speech" and described the NPR leadership as "self-righteous ideological, left-wing. ... They loathe the fact that I appear on Fox News."
Williams' contract was ended Wednesday, two days after he said on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" that he gets nervous when he sees people with Muslim garb on planes.
Bill O'Reilly, the Fox News personality, was seeking comment from Williams on O'Reilly's own controversial remarks made on the "The View" about Muslims.
"Look, Bill, I'm not a bigot," Williams said. "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."
He continued, "Now, I remember also that, when the Times Square bomber was at court, I think this was just last week, he said the war with Muslims -- America's war -- is just beginning. The first drop of blood. I don't think there's any way to get away from these facts.
"But I think there are people who want to somehow remind us all -- as President Bush did after 9/11 -- it's not a war against Islam."
Williams told O'Reilly, "You've got to be careful" to point out that there are good Muslims. He noted that Americans don't blame Christians for the actions of Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma City bombing.
"I gotta be careful; I have to qualify everything 50 times," O'Reilly said. "You know what, Juan? I'm not doing that anymore. I'm not doing it any more. I will say Muslim terrorists, but I'm not going to say -- oooh! -- it's only a few, it's only a tiny bit. It's not, Juan. It's whole nations -- Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, whole nations."
Once again O'Reilly looks like the douche he is, but I think Juan Williams got tossed under the bus. To be fair, I have never read his books, nor listened to him speak on air, so I'm not sure if this really is a repeat problem. BUT, assuming he was being interviewed as an individual and NOT a representative of NPR, I think he was completely in his rights to say he gets nervous around Muslims. It is TOTALLY un-PC, but hey... it was honest. He went out of his way to say that only a small portion of Muslims think we're at war - but to deny that they do think we're at war, and that they do exist, is lying to ourselves. He disagreed with O'Reilly claiming it is Muslims in total (O'Reilly backed off his apology from "The View" as soon as he was back at home on FOX), and he made good points that we don't go after Christians for their attacks. It is unfair, but that's the society we've been in. Heck, when people hear over and over again from talking heads like O'Reilly that we're under attack by Muslims, Muslims want you dead, Muslims are taking over... they start to internalize it, even if they disagree or know it's false. In other words, even if they have a working brain in their heads (sorry Varus), they still get nervous naturally. I think that's almost instinct.
As an example for myself, I remember hearing that Saddam Hussein was captured, and my first thought was glee that the 9/11 victims could get justice... then I realized with horror that Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11. But after months and months of hearing talking heads and Bush administration say how Iraq is evil, part of the war on terror, linked to terrorists, etc., my first feeling was that he was the guy responsible for the attacks.
Granted, it was also early in the morning when I heard so I was still waking up.
So, anyone actually listen to or read Juan Williams? Does NPR have a point, or did they really mess up?
Edit: Here's Williams' original article about it on FoxNews.com. I read this first, then saw the above article on CNN.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/10/21/juan-williams-npr-fired-truth-muslim-garb-airplane-oreilly-ellen-weiss-bush/
Edited, Oct 22nd 2010 12:27pm by LockeColeMA