Juan Williams fired from NPR

I heard this statistic on All Things Considered this morning, but when I heard it in the news story, the tone to me was almost like 'defund us if you want, Tea Partiers, we'll be fine'. I do find it interesting that this whole flap coincides with my station's (WFSU) fall fund raising campaign. I'm not sure if all NPR affiliates fund raise at the same time or not, but I wonder if there will be any financial impact. My gut feeling is probably not, as the average NPR donor probably doesn't care too much one way or the other what happened to WIlliams. Do you think there is a Car Talk coffee mug in the Wasilla City Hall?!

I've noticed as I've traveled over the years that NPR stations in different areas run their 'beg-a-thons' at different times. I'm not sure what determines that, but I do know it isn't all at the same time.

..... the Middle easterner was praying to Allah:shock:.You cannot make this stuff up.

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I don't understand why you were shocked that he prayed to Allah. :confused:
Or were you just shocked that he was scared enough to pray? Makes no sense to me.....

So, did you make any attempt to engage him and see what the situation was?
Could have been his first flight; he could have just lost his job, or his family, or his fortune...or maybe he was afraid of "you", the others unlike him on the plane, who might retaliate by blaming him because of what had just happened on 9-11....

somehow we must get beyond this stereotyping and at the same time remain alert to the possibility of any real problems--most of which will come from people who are dressed to blend in; not, stand out...

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My first thought was that this would be likely why he kept his face in a paper. It would be logical for him to worry about others stereotyping him.


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NPR should be ashamed...Juan is a very,well respected man in politics.NPR just became MSNBC2.

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I don't understand why you were shocked that he prayed to Allah. :confused:
Or were you just shocked that he was scared enough to pray? Makes no sense to me.....


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My first thought was that this would be likely why he kept his face in a paper. It would be logical for him to worry about others stereotyping him.


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When everything is threatening to you, you'll never be able to detect a real threat.

The double life of Juan Williams

Interesting article Bob--I guess I was a bit too premature in my initial defense of this guy--thanks for the insight.

Here Today, Juan Tomorrow?

He didn't get fired because he was african american, he got fired because he wasn't a member of the liberal media cabal at NPR.

RealClearPolitics - Video - Krauthammer Slams NPR's Hypocrisy Over Williams And Totenberg

:lolabove:

Krauthammer, seriously?

He didn't get fired because he was african american, he got fired because he wasn't a member of the liberal media cabal at NPR.

RealClearPolitics - Video - Krauthammer Slams NPR's Hypocrisy Over Williams And Totenberg

I have no idea why he got fired. the article I gave was an opinion which I found interesting (from another African American working at NPR), but certainly not definitive. Your link truly says nothing about the reason for the firing.

Sometimes a person just needs firing. Sometimes its not a popular thing to do. I don't know if it was the right decision by NPR, but I would bet there are many reasons behind it.

He didn't get fired because he was african american, he got fired because he wasn't a member of the liberal media cabal at NPR.

RealClearPolitics - Video - Krauthammer Slams NPR's Hypocrisy Over Williams And Totenberg

I'm amused, but also a little sad, when a right-winger makes acusations that NPR is a liberal media cabal. I think NPR is probably the most non-political media outlet there is. They go out of their way to be simply informative, and entertaining, while at the same time lending great insights into our everyday lives. You have to be extremely narrow-minded to think that there is some kind of liberal bias to shows like Car Talk, Science Friday, or even The Political Junkie, that skews everybody. I cannot tell you how much knowledge and just plain great information I get from listening to NPR on a regular basis. The reason NPR fired Juan is simple: They has extremely high standards of fair, unbiased reporting with a minimum of opinion and analysis, and Juan's association with Fox was contaminating the purpose of their mission. They may have been clumsy in the way they handled it, but, in the long run, I think it speaks well for their integrity.

I'm amused, but also a little sad, when a right-winger makes acusations that NPR is a liberal media cabal. I think NPR is probably the most non-political media outlet there is. They go out of their way to be simply informative, and entertaining, while at the same time lending great insights into our everyday lives. You have to be extremely narrow-minded to think that there is some kind of liberal bias to shows like Car Talk, Science Friday, or even The Political Junkie, that skews everybody. I cannot tell you how much knowledge and just plain great information I get from listening to NPR on a regular basis. The reason NPR fired Juan is simple: They has extremely high standards of fair, unbiased reporting with a minimum of opinion and analysis, and Juan's association with Fox was contaminating the purpose of their mission. They may have been clumsy in the way they handled it, but, in the long run, I think it speaks well for their integrity.

Of course it would help if certain posters actually listened to NPR before they joined the "talking points" version.;-)

I agree with your assessment...as I said before, Juan has been pushing the envelop for quite a while now; I'm glad he's gone. Not only was he contaminating, but IMO he let himself get contaminated by Fox et al....$$$ signs took the place of integrity.

I'm amused, but also a little sad, when a right-winger makes acusations that NPR is a liberal media cabal. I think NPR is probably the most non-political media outlet there is. They go out of their way to be simply informative, and entertaining, while at the same time lending great insights into our everyday lives. You have to be extremely narrow-minded to think that there is some kind of liberal bias to shows like Car Talk, Science Friday, or even The Political Junkie, that skews everybody. I cannot tell you how much knowledge and just plain great information I get from listening to NPR on a regular basis. The reason NPR fired Juan is simple: They has extremely high standards of fair, unbiased reporting with a minimum of opinion and analysis, and Juan's association with Fox was contaminating the purpose of their mission. They may have been clumsy in the way they handled it, but, in the long run, I think it speaks well for their integrity.

Isn't this fascinating. Our roles have been reversed! You're defending a network because it has a mixture of shows, some of which are biased, some of which aren't. I'm attacking the network for the shows and pundits that regularly express political bias. This conversation seems so familiar.. :lol:

we are all being played, and checks are being cashed as we post

I don't think journalistic credibility has much to do with this decision by NPR. Its more about business.

Like most businesses, they make their decisions based upon their bottom line. I suspect they did the math and decided that firing Williams wouldn't hurt their fund raising activities (and it probably won't) and will allow them to maintain programming that is attractive to their listeners (ie: better ratings.)

When the day comes that Fox's or MSNBC's extreme hosts become so whacked that they hurt network earnings, they'll be gone too.

I don't think journalistic credibility has much to do with this decision by NPR. Its more about business.

Like most businesses, they make their decisions based upon their bottom line. I suspect they did the math and decided that firing Williams wouldn't hurt their fund raising activities (and it probably won't) and will allow them to maintain programming that is attractive to their listeners (ie: better ratings.)

When the day comes that Fox's or MSNBC's extreme hosts become so whacked that they hurt network earnings, they'll be gone too.

Or it could be that NPR expects better of their employees than for them to air their personal issues on national television. Just because you have a visceral reaction every time you see brown, fat, ugly, tattooed, short, green, freckled, red haired, crippled, or dead people doesn't mean you need to make a point of sharing your thoughts with the rest of the world.

Or it could be that NPR expects better of their employees than for them to air their personal issues on national television. Just because you have a visceral reaction every time you see brown, fat, ugly, tattooed, short, green, freckled, red haired, crippled, or dead people doesn't mean you need to make a point of sharing your thoughts with the rest of the world.

...but,but, I am afraid of tattooed, freckled green people!(the rest are OK) :blink:

Isn't this fascinating. Our roles have been reversed! You're defending a network because it has a mixture of shows, some of which are biased, some of which aren't. I'm attacking the network for the shows and pundits that regularly express political bias. This conversation seems so familiar.. :lol:

Please name me the shows and pundits on NPR that regularly express political bias. I mean, really. As an informed listener, I really want to know.

30-A Shopper: I'm sorry, that was a trick question. As a flaming right-winger, I assumed that you would have a list of the "leftist pundits" on NPR on the tip of your tongue, but, if you listened to NPR for any amount of time, you would notice that NPR doesn't have pundits. They don't have a crew of self-important people who bloviate ad nauseum about their point of view. What they have are hosts who do thoughtful and insightful interviews with a wide spectrum of people who are allowed to show their points of view, rather than the interviewer's point of view. That's what makes NPR's reporting unique, and that's why Juan just wasn't fitting in.

Please name me the shows and pundits on NPR that regularly express political bias. I mean, really. As an informed listener, I really want to know.

I don't consider NPR to be liberal, but they are definitely non-conservative. So how does one define conservatism? Philosopher and neuroscientist Sam Harris in his book "The Moral Landscape" states:

I think I can state definitively that such description does not apply to NPR.

I don't consider NPR to be liberal, but they are definitely non-conservative. So how does one define conservatism? Philosopher and neuroscientist Sam Harris in his book "The Moral Landscape" states:

"The psychologist John Jost and colleagues analyzed data from twelve countries, acquired from 23,000 subjects, and found this attitude [conservatism] to be correlated with dogmatism, inflexibility, death anxiety, need for closure, and anticorrelated with openness to experience, cognitive complexity, self-esteem, and social stability"
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I think I can state definitively that such description does not apply to NPR.

I know a certain Shopper who ain't gonna like this.

I know a certain Shopper who ain't gonna like this.

Just wait till you tell him our differences are due to activity in different brain regions, and you can't change it (my opinion 😀)

Just wait till you tell him our differences are due to activity in different brain regions, and you can't change it (my opinion 😀)

Talking about "brain activity" with a conservative is probably a bit like talking about sex activity with a monk...

(I couldn't help it.)

Talking about "brain activity" with a conservative is probably a bit like talking about sex activity with a monk...

(I couldn't help it.)

It's true because with conservatives it's a body/soul thing. They don't believe in the brain as an actual body part.

Arrogance is not a desirable thing. When you crash you crash really hard.