NPR official admits fault in firing
Experts: Misstep fires up conservatives before election
Jessica Heslam By Jessica Heslam
Saturday, October 23, 2010 - Updated 20 seconds ago
National Public Radio?s ombudswoman admitted the nonprofit botched the firing of Juan Williams for his remarks about Muslims making him nervous on planes, but the firestorm around the longtime news analyst?s ouster has fueled speculation that it could be another boon for the GOP less than two weeks ahead of the hotly contested midterm elections.
?Thursday was a day like none I?ve experienced since coming to NPR in October 2007,? NPR Ombudswoman Alicia Shepard said. ?Office phone lines rang nonstop. ... We?ve received more than 8,000 e-mails,? Shepard said. ?The overwhelming majority are angry, furious, outraged. They want NPR to hire him back immediately. If NPR doesn?t, they want all public funding of public radio to stop. They promise to never donate again. They are as mad as hell, and want everyone to know it.?
The rage, one conservative commentator noted, speaks to many Americans? midterm discontent with the liberal agenda.
?It?s a tremendous boost for the Republicans,? said blogger William Jacobson of LegalInsurrection.com. ?It?s a motivator. It really has energized a lot of people.?
Williams reportedly has landed a three-year, $2 million contract with Fox News. At the left-leaning Talkingpointsmemo.com, Josh Marshall opined: ?No more living a lie as a onetime journalist playing a fake liberal on Fox News.?
But conservative blogger Ed Morrissey of HotAir.com said Williams was paid for his opinions as a news analyst: ?They?d be better off just saying, ?Look, I know Juan won?t come back, but we really did screw up this time and we apologize.? ?
Williams told ?Good Morning America? yesterday, ?I think they were looking for a reason to get rid of me. They were uncomfortable with the idea that I was talking to the likes of Bill O?Reilly or Sean Hannity.?
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said he wants to cut NPR?s federal funding: ?With record debt and unemployment, there?s simply no reason to force taxpayers to subsidize liberal programming they disagree with.?
In a lengthy column at NPR.org, Shepard defended the decision to fire Williams, wondering how Williams, who is black, would have reacted if another analyst had admitted nervousness at the sight of ?an African American male in Dashiki with a big Afro.?
But Shepard said of NPR?s over-the-phone dismissal, ?a more deliberative approach might have enabled NPR to avoid what has turned into a public relations nightmare.?
Experts: Misstep fires up conservatives before election
Jessica Heslam By Jessica Heslam
Saturday, October 23, 2010 - Updated 20 seconds ago
National Public Radio?s ombudswoman admitted the nonprofit botched the firing of Juan Williams for his remarks about Muslims making him nervous on planes, but the firestorm around the longtime news analyst?s ouster has fueled speculation that it could be another boon for the GOP less than two weeks ahead of the hotly contested midterm elections.
?Thursday was a day like none I?ve experienced since coming to NPR in October 2007,? NPR Ombudswoman Alicia Shepard said. ?Office phone lines rang nonstop. ... We?ve received more than 8,000 e-mails,? Shepard said. ?The overwhelming majority are angry, furious, outraged. They want NPR to hire him back immediately. If NPR doesn?t, they want all public funding of public radio to stop. They promise to never donate again. They are as mad as hell, and want everyone to know it.?
The rage, one conservative commentator noted, speaks to many Americans? midterm discontent with the liberal agenda.
?It?s a tremendous boost for the Republicans,? said blogger William Jacobson of LegalInsurrection.com. ?It?s a motivator. It really has energized a lot of people.?
Williams reportedly has landed a three-year, $2 million contract with Fox News. At the left-leaning Talkingpointsmemo.com, Josh Marshall opined: ?No more living a lie as a onetime journalist playing a fake liberal on Fox News.?
But conservative blogger Ed Morrissey of HotAir.com said Williams was paid for his opinions as a news analyst: ?They?d be better off just saying, ?Look, I know Juan won?t come back, but we really did screw up this time and we apologize.? ?
Williams told ?Good Morning America? yesterday, ?I think they were looking for a reason to get rid of me. They were uncomfortable with the idea that I was talking to the likes of Bill O?Reilly or Sean Hannity.?
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said he wants to cut NPR?s federal funding: ?With record debt and unemployment, there?s simply no reason to force taxpayers to subsidize liberal programming they disagree with.?
In a lengthy column at NPR.org, Shepard defended the decision to fire Williams, wondering how Williams, who is black, would have reacted if another analyst had admitted nervousness at the sight of ?an African American male in Dashiki with a big Afro.?
But Shepard said of NPR?s over-the-phone dismissal, ?a more deliberative approach might have enabled NPR to avoid what has turned into a public relations nightmare.?
