I've listened to NPR/PBS all my life. It gives me non shrill insight into the liberal mind and without it I feel lost. Most liberal outlets are so extreme, so bias, so shrill that the arguments being made are lost in the din. No so with NPR.
Juan Williams has worked for NPR for, seemingly, decades and in recent years has become a staple on FOX for his fairly moderate left wing views. Working for FOX, of course, is his first sin.
Around a year ago NPR asked him to stop referring to NPR as one of his credits when appearing on FOX. From what I could see, Williams did not comply as he should not have. Only in the distorted world view of a liberal organization would such a request seem remotely appropriate. Williams was using his employment with NPR as a credential and was (and is) fully within his rights to do so.
Now he has been fired by NPR for speaking ...
NPR takes issue with Williams' earlier statements in the segment and claims that they were “were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR.”
In other words, the remarks were politically incorrect.
Government is obligated to respect the right to free speech, whereas a private company is not. Is NPR , therefore,within their rights to fire him?As a private company they would be, but as GM, Chrysler, and the big banks found, accepting government funding changes the rights a company has. According to Wikipedia:
According to the 2005 financial statement, NPR makes just over half of its money from the fees and dues it charges member stations to receive programming. Public funding accounts for 16% of the average member station's revenue, with 10% of this coming in the form of grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a federally funded organization.[14][15][16] Some more of that money originates from local and state governments and government-funded universities subsidizing member stations' fees and dues to NPR.[17] Member stations that serve rural and "minority" communities receive significantly more funding from the CPB; in some cases up to 70%.[14] About 2% of NPR's non-membership created funding comes from bidding on government grants and programs, chiefly the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; the remainder comes from member station dues, foundation grants, and corporate underwriting.
So it appears NPR, as a recipient of government money, may not have the right to fire Juan Williams for the reasons they claim to be firing him.
Of course, NPR's real issue with Juan Williams was his being on FOX News.
out
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