ALL THE HOOPLA FROM FOX AND THE RIGHT WING OVER THE FIRING OF JUAN WILLIAMS, WHERE WERE BILL O'RILEY, NEWT GINGRICH AND fox "news" AND ALL THE OTHER RIGHT WING MEDIA TALKING HEADS AND POLITICIANS WHEN MISSISSIPPI PUBLIC RADIO DROPPED THE NPR PROGRAM 'FRESH AIR' FROM THEIR BROADCAST DUE TO A DISPUTE OVER PROGRAMMING IN JULY OF THIS YEAR? I am conflicted on this issue as I have heard Juan Williams many times on NPR, and though often didn't agree with him, I respected his analysis of current events. Unfortunately I think he crossed the line on the bill o'reilly show on fox, speaking as a national reporter/analyst but expressing his personal views, views that should have been kept to himself, expressed privately, not on national T.V. See below for the post on 'Fresh Air' and the Juan Williams controversy.
NPR Ends Williams' Contract After Muslim Remarks
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130712737&sc=nl&cc=nh-20101021
Stephen Voss/©2007 NPR
Williams appeared Monday on The O'Reilly Factor, and host Bill O'Reilly asked him to comment on the idea that the U.S. is facing a dilemma with Muslims.
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.
But strong criticism followed Williams' comments.
Late Wednesday night, NPR issued a statement praising Williams as a valuable contributor but saying it had given him notice that it is severing his contract. "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," the statement read.
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.
His status was earlier shifted from staff correspondent to analyst after he took clear-cut positions about public policy on television and in newspaper opinion pieces.
Reached late Wednesday night, Williams said he wasn't ready to comment and was conferring with his wife about the episode.
Mississippi Public Broadcasting Drops 'Fresh Air', Citing 'Inappropriate Content' [UPDATE]
15JUL10 post on this blog
If you happen to live in Mississippi and like to listen to the deeply non-controversial offerings of "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross, well, you are S.O.L. forevermore, because Mississippi Public Radio has dropped it from the lineup. Why have they done this? Well, it all depends on who, and when, you ask.For instance, a "former MPB employee" tells Gawker's Hamilton Nolan that the show was "cut last fall due to budget cuts (that also cut my job). listener complaints brought back the show. then it disappeared again monday [sic]." That squares with the timeline of "Fresh Air" interruptions. But it wasn't the reason cited in a July 12, 2009 email from MPB director Kevin Farrell, who stipulated fairly specifically: "MPB no longer airs this program [Fresh Air] due to recurring inappropriate content."
This blogger runs down the recent topics covered by the show, in search of what might have constituted "inappropriate content." But, like Nolan, I'd highlight the episode that aired immediately before the recent decision to cut the program again:
UPDATE: Given the timing, the content, and the state (of the state of Mississippi), I speculated that Fresh Air got discontinued for it's Ford-Firth-Cholodenko line-up on the Friday before the show got kicked off the airwaves. It would appear that the reason for Fresh Air's demise was actually an interview with comedian and Louie star Louis C.K. (hat tip: Gawker). Knowing this, I'm somehow more depressed and dismayed than I was before. Louis C.K.'s got heart, people.
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