Authoritarianism @ NPR

National Public Radio is biased. There is nothing surprising or disappointing in that. Everyone is biased, or at least everyone who has opinions. What is disappointing is that NPR does not respect people who dissent from its orthodoxies. It is not shy about using its powers, meager though they are, to try to silence dissenters.

Wednesday it fired journalist and author Juan Williams. The pretext consisted of remarks Williams made on the O'Rielly Factor. Here are some of the details, from David Folkenflik, at NPR's own website.

O'Reilly has been looking for support for his own remarks on a recent episode of ABC's The View in which he directly blamed Muslims for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Co-hosts Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg walked off the set in the middle of his appearance.

Williams responded: "Look, Bill, I'm not a bigot. You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the 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."

Williams also warned O'Reilly against blaming all Muslims for "extremists," saying Christians shouldn't be blamed for Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

Those three paragraphs are remarkably revealing. The alleged offense is included in the middle paragraph. Williams acknowledges that Muslims on a plane worry him. He is confessing to something that I suspect a lot of travels might feel. The people who flew those planes into the World Trade Center were not after all motivated by frustration over the real estate market.

It is not true, as I have heard some say on TV, that everyone feels that way. I do not. The latest crop of terrorists have been pretty stupid (praise be to Allah) but I figure they are smart enough to dress less like Osama bin Laden, and more like Barry Bonds, when they are up to some mischief. Nonetheless, I can understand William's nervousness.

Folkenflik acknowledges that the point of William's remarks was precisely that the hundreds of millions of Muslims in the world do not bear responsibility for the actions of the murderous few. Acknowledging his own reactions makes that point all the stronger.

But Folkenflik reveals, perhaps unintentionally, William's real sin. O'Reilly had Juan Williams on his show because he was "looking for support for his own remarks." What really offends the people at NPR is the fact that Williams went on the O'Reilly show at all, and that he is a Fox News contributor. Folkenflik explicitly recognizes this a few lines later.

Williams' presence on the largely conservative and often contentious prime-time talk shows of Fox News has long been a sore point with NPR News executives.

That would be the real crime. Like a lot of folks on the American Left, NPR News executives don't believe that largely conservative news outlets have a legitimate place in the media.

This isn't the first time that NPR has tried to silence a reporter for a treacherous relationship with Fox News. Last year NPR executives summoned Mara Liasson and suggested she stop fraternizing with the enemy. Like Williams, Liasson is on the moderate liberal side. Like Williams, she is a person of integrity and professional behavior. To her credit she refused to be bullied and NPR backed off.

Americans on the left of the political spectrum do not bear responsibility for the actions of NPR executives. It might be worth their while to notice that the political culture is intolerant and authoritarian, and does not respect dissent. The firing of Juan Williams was a disgusting act. These people are not friends of free thinkers and honest speakers.

Comments

[Stan Gibilisco]

Did NPR actually believe that firing Juan Williams would silence him? Did they not see the suicidal nature of such an action two weeks before one of the most important elections this country has faced since the War between the States? Did the person who insinuated that Williams is irrational (as, apparently, our President thinks the electorate is in general) not imagine that such a display of arrogance and contempt would fuel voter anger to the threshold of rage? All of this simply "blows my mind." I'm reminded of the image of the devil dancing on a red-ant hill, daring the little critters to bring him down.

[Miranda Flint]

I will confess to being disgusted by both sides on this one. Firing Williams was a vindictive and ill-thought out move on the part of NPR. And the insinuation by Vivian Schiller that Williams was crazy because he does not view the world in the same way she does is appalling.

But Bill O'Reilly's use of Mr. Williams is also disturbing. I watched Mr. Williams on O'Reilly's show today and cringed as O'Reilly continuously talked over Williams and then, when Williams finally had a chance to speak, told him not to say anything more. True, what O'Reilly said next was meant to be positive. He told Williams that what happened was actually "good for him" and that while once, people said, "I don't know about this Williams guy," now everyone loved him. The whole thing struck me as a rather condescending. NPR owes Williams an apology and a job. O'Reilly owes him a bit more respect.

[William]

Juan Williams and Mara Liasson represent what I consider "the rational left", something NPR and the Democrat party sorely need more of.

Federal grants provide less than 2 percent — or $3.3 million — of NPR's $166 million annual budget. It is funded primarily by its affiliates, corporate sponsors and major donors.

In October 2010, NPR accepted a $1.8 million grant from George Soros, given through his Open Society Foundation. The grant is meant to begin a project called Impact of Government that is intended to add at least 100 journalists at NPR member radio stations in all 50 states over the next three years.

NPR no longer needs taxpayer support and it's time it stands or falls on its own.

[Bill Fleming]

Juan shouldn't have been fired.
NPR overreacted.
But Beck and Murdock should probably fire O'Reilly.
Bill's just not conservative enough.
Do it, Rupert, do it.
;^)

[George Mason]

Juan Williams gets fired and Nina Totenberg and Bill Moyers still have jobs? Williams honestly states a fear that is quite common, Moyers and Totenberg have wished people dead on the air and NPR does not blink. Williams was fired because Fox ,which is fair and balanced, does not conform to what liberals demand from their media. NPR caves into demands from CAIR and their largest donor, George Soros. Williams is a standard issue liberal. He and Mara Liasson, another NPR liberal appear regularly on Fox to voice their views. This provides a diversity you don't get on other networks. It is long past time that the taxpayers stop propping up this organ of the radical chic.

[larry kurtz]

Sorry Doc. Williams was toast a long time ago. NPR recently posted a reminder to staff not reporting on the Stewart/Colbert rallies to stay away. Integrity is a big deal to NPR.

Let's face it: Juan Williams was cast as the token conservative in organization bristling with intellectuals from the Left. He is no Dan Schorr or Ted Koppel.

It was time for him to go.

[duggersd]

Juan Williams the "token" conservative? I have heard Juan Williams referred to as many things, but not a conservative. I have watched Juan Williams on the Fox Sunday show and usually figure he is there for comic relief. Just the looks on Brit Hume's face are priceless.
As for the NPR firing of Juan Williams, this is just another indicator of just how intolerant the left is. As for public funding, yes it should be dropped. If they don't need it, they will survive. If they do need it, it is an indication they should not be in existence.

[larry kurtz]

Barnes, as usual, you're just plain wrong.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/ombudsman/2010/10/21/130713285/npr-terminates-contract-with-juan-williams

[Donald Pay]

William's mistake was to go on any of these shouter shows. I think Williams' views are often nuanced and complex, and NPR was a better fit, especially with time, for his nuanced approach. he may not be Moyers, but he's more intellectual than the shills on Fox. His spot of Fox News Sunday doesn't allow anywhere near the time he has on NPR to develop his ideas, and he always seems flustered and rushed. He's not effective in that format. When he goes on O'Reilly, he gets stuck in the 20-30 second time warp, and ends up looking as dumb as the host.

[William]

Donald,

He's getting a lot more time on O'Reilly tonight, as the host!

[Miranda Flint]

That was a classy move by O'Reilly. I originally thought he was just milking the situation for ratings, but I applaud him for giving Williams the show today.

[KB]

Miranda: I agree that O'Reilly is something of a rascal from time to time. I don't watch his show much, but he is a very good interviewer. He interrupts a lot, but that is an essential part of his method. He will let most of his guests have their say, but they had better be prepared for a grilling. He is also a bit of a Prima Donna, and we saw that in the infamous moment.

What is clear from all this is that NPR, like the President it is allied with, is expert at exposing itself. I think everyone recognizes that this has been a PR disaster for NPR.

[William]

“Do you think Obama’s theory that people tend to behave irrationally when they’re scared and worried might explain the decision of NPR to sack Juan Williams?” =|;)

[duggersd]

Actually Kurtz, your link shows nothing about me being wrong except I lost time from my life looking at it. I should have known better than to pay any attention to you. I will not make that mistake again.
One of my favorite reasons for watching the FOX Sunday show is to see the looks on the face of Brit Hume. Juan Williams makes some of the strangest comments. He does not sound like a moderate, let alone a conservative on most of his days on the show. I do not listen to NPR so I have no knowledge of that. I also do not see any reason for taxpayer funds to be given to NPR.
William, I was reading an article yesterday talking about NPR's funding. While they only get that small amount directly from the feds, they get much of their funding from their affiliates. Guess where their affiliates get much of their funding! The figure I saw put their federal money at about 8%-10%.

[George Mason]

William; You may have hit the nail on the head. Donald, there was nothing nuanced about Juan Williams, he always expressed his opinions in a very straightforward way, loopy as they were sometimes, but he always came across as honest. BTW nuanced is a word liberals use to describe one of their own who has no clue what they are talking about, ala John Kerry.

[larry kurtz]

Fascists Oligopolizing Xenism is the Gulag that Williams deserves.

[KB]

Larry: 'Xenism'?

[larry kurtz]

The annihilation of one species by another. Koch, Murdock, Beck. Connect the dots, Doc.

South Dakota is in the crosshairs.

[larry kurtz]

Sorry to spam you, Doc. Here is the reasoning that ip is too stupid to conjugate: http://www.thenation.com/blog/155546/should-npr-have-fired-juan-williams-you-betchya

[KB]

Larry: your comments are welcome here. Your connect the dots conspiracy language and odd words (wouldn't Xenophobia have served just as well?) make me look all the more reasonable.

The Nation piece you link to is so jaundiced that it hurts NPR's case rather than helps it. "A fully functioning engine of racism"? Equally jaundiced is the piece that the Nation article links to. Hysterical and wildly implausible charges like that confirm Fox's take on the Juan Williams story: the further left on the spectrum you go, the more you find intolerance for any kind of dissent.