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To: steve harris who wrote (591074)	10/22/2010 10:13:21 PM
From: Brumar89	Respond to of 1577988

Here Today, Juan Tomorrow? [ Picked this up there. Another black at NPR is wondering if he's vulnerable too. Well, if he goes off the liberal plantation, yes. ] Categories: Behind the Curtain at TMM, Race 06:01 pm October 22, 2010 by Jimi Izrael Richard Drew/AP News Analyst Juan Williams was recently ousted from NPR following comments he made about Muslims on the Fox News Channel. I don't think that Juan Williams' color was the reason he got fired from NPR, but I don't think it helped. For an organization that gives a lot of lip service to diversity, NPR does not have a lot of diversity to spare and this fact alone should have given management pause. Whether real or imagined, there is a sense among some people of color in media – me included – that we are the last in the door and first out the door, easily fired for cause or no reason at all. Firebrand radio host Don Imus had been a thorn in the side of CBS for years, but still it took two days before he was suspended and seven days before the decision was made to fire him after he referred to the Rutgers women’s basketball team as “nappy-headed ‘ho’s.” That kind of pause would have benefited the suits at NPR. The smart money would have let Williams' contract run out while grooming a suitable replacement. Not re-upping his contract would have sent the proper message. While employing a diverse staff of qualified professionals, NPR does not produce programming that reflects their commitment to diversity and firing Williams did them no favors. Juan Williams was brave to admit his ignorance and irrational fears. He used that as the starting point for a broader conversation. NPR was quick to pull the trigger in a situation where a little deliberation would have been more prudent. Good news analysis (to my way of thinking) is intuitive and personal in a way that reporting the news does not have to be. As one of the few regular black male voices on NPR, I'd be lying if I said this incident didn't make me feel vulnerable. In my work as an op-ed writer, blogger, commentator and pundit, I don’t pull any punches. If NPR were to ever expand my role, how would I be restricted? Executives at the member station where I live just “discovered” me a year or so back, and they have been talking about developing some kind of show for me — not that I’m holding my breath. But suppose they did? Once the show became successful, and either CNN, Fox News or any of the other places where I’ve given an opinion asked me to return, could I be here today and Juan tomorrow? preview.npr.org

To: steve harris who wrote (591074)	10/22/2010 10:20:40 PM
From: Brumar89	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1577988

Is Nina Totenberg Next? NPR's legal affairs correspondent frequently expresses her pro-Democratic opinion. 5:17 PM, Oct 21, 2010 • By STEPHEN F. HAYESSingle Juan 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: 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. On last weekend’s “Inside Washington,” which aired October 17, she told us that Michelle Obama is “an incredibly graceful surrogate” for her husband who gives people “warm and fuzzy” feelings. On October 10, Totenberg compared the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United, the prominent campaign finance case, to Watergate. Host Gordon Peterson said: Thanks to the Supreme Court Citizens United ruling earlier this year, 501(c) nonprofits can pump millions of dollars into our elections and they don’t have to tell us where the money is coming from. The best government money can buy, Nina. Totenberg, who covers the Supreme Court, was not shy about expressing her opinion. “Well, you know, really, this is the next scandal. It’s the scandal in the making. They don’t have to disclose anything. And eventually, this is the kind of thing that led to Watergate.” The week before, on October 3, she decried Republicans – a “concerted minority” – for holding up business in the Senate and declared that their willingness to exploit antiquated congressional rules was a “loony way to do business.” Her most partisan comment came when Charles Krauthammer pointed out that 31 Democrats in the House had written to Nancy Pelosi to call for extending the Bush tax cuts, Totenberg wished them out of the party. “When a party actually has a huge majority, it has a huge diversity. And that is part of the problem that Democrats have. But would I like it to be otherwise? Of course.” On the same show, Totenberg said that she was looking forward to Jon Stewart’s Rally for Sanity, but for reasons that might strike some as, well, implausible. “Let me just say – let me just say something in defense on Jon Stewart here. I’m a devotee of the program because it’s fun…And I must say he’s been pretty savage about Obama and pretty savage about Democrats who smear people, too. So I kind of like the idea of the Rally for Sanity.” Does Stewart really “savage” Obama? A little more than two weeks after Totenberg made these comments the White House announced that the president would appear on Stewart’s show. Spokesman Robert Gibbs said that Stewart’s audience was an important part of Obama’s “base.” On the September 26 show, Totenberg called Bill Clinton “the most gifted politician I’ve ever seen.” And, as Reason’s Michael Moynihan points out, back in 1995 Totenberg famously suggested justice would be served if Jesse Helms and his grandchildren contracted AIDS. So should Totenberg be fired to expressing these controversial opinions? I don’t think so. But she is, according her bio on the website, “NPR’s award-winning legal-affairs correspondent.” Williams was a “news analyst” – a title that suggests he might go beyond mere reportage. So if NPR’s Schiller manages to keep her job after questioning Williams’s sanity, she should have to answer a very basic question: Why is it unacceptable for an NPR news analyst to express his views but entirely appropriate for an NPR reporter to express hers? The answer is obvious: It’s Fox. One final note: Nina Totenberg’s NPR bio proudly touts her work as a panelist on “Inside Washington,” a favorite venue for expressing her controversial views. NPR’s bio of national political correspondent Mara Liasson, a Fox News contributor who rarely expresses her opinion, makes no mention of her work for Fox. weeklystandard.com