NPR Exec resigns over Juan Williams’ firing
By Brian Kirwin | Friday, January 7th, 2011 | PolicyVP Ellen Weiss of National Public Radio has resigned in the wake of an independent review of the procedures used to fire Juan Williams. The review raises questions whether proper procedures were used, and found the firing was not the result of pressure from donors or special interests.
Not good enough.
The NPR Board of Directors is keeping Vivian Schiller as CEO, even though the Board expressed “concern” over her public comments that Williams needs a psychiatrist.
Her punishment? She won’t get a bonus this year.
AWWWWWWW
In the middle of the biggest recession in a generation, NPR’s idea of a punishment is not giving a bonus?
Vivian Schiller’s comments show what was behind Williams firing. Her partisan venom showed itself when she implied that people holding differing opinions from her have psychological problems.
Schiller’s resignation should follow Weiss as soon as possible.
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About the author
The right wants to jeer him. The left wants to censor him. Moderates usually want both. Brian Kirwin is a political consultant and public relations strategist in Virginia Beach with a lightning-rod flair. Brian also serves on the VB Arts & Humanities Commission and frequently appears on Hampton Roads theatrical stages, if only to prove that all actors aren’t liberals. Kirwin’s columns stir up debate and hit the political scene with no punches pulled.
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10 Responses to "NPR Exec resigns over Juan Williams’ firing"
Schiller remaining as the face of NPR just makes it easier to defund them. We need to do to Soros what Reagan did to the Russians; force him to spend ever increasing amounts of money to prop up his leftist buddies.
Just one vote will do.. Let npr live up to their liberal ideas. Let them scold executive bonuses all they want but lets see them demand the same for themselves first.. Its high time sesame street merges with wall street.
We need to have this snake where we can see and hear her. If she was fired, she would reappear as an Obama czar and do some real damage.
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I understand that in addition to withholding her bonus, they also sent her to bed early with no dessert.
As I posted on another thread, NPR seems to be circling their wagons as the new Republican House appears to be moving towards ending taxpayer funding of public broadcasting. They threw Ellen Weiss under the bus in an attempt to placate the Republicans. Isn’t is amusing to watch the liberals resort to cannibalism for self-survival?
This debate is getting to the just-plain-stupid level. -First, NPR radio is completely separate from PBS television. While both come under the CPB umbrella, blaming PBS for actions/statements by Weiss & Schiller makes about as much sense as censoring Fox in response to Paul Carlucci.
-Second, the amount Congress funds CPB is pissant ~ $420 million in 2010. (We spend double that EACH DAY to fund the Gulf!) At $1.36 per/year per/capita cost, CPB is a great deal.
-Will defunding CPB kill off public broadcasting? In large mega-markets, not likely ~only 8-10% of KQED’s budget is federal funds. But the little guys, the smaller market stations (especially those serving rural communities with already far fewer options for arts, education & private funding) will likely fold. City-bird lives; Country-bird croaks.
-Kirwin argues that PBS is irrelevant because similar programming can be found elsewhere. Wrong. Oh sure, a few decent shows are aired (again and again!) on Discovery, History, A&E, etc. … but to get to the good stuff, you must wade through Bizarre Foods, Man vs. Food, Ghost Adventures, Deadliest Catch, Ancient Aliens, Pawn Stars, Ax Men, Monster Quest, Housewives of…, Intervention, Hoarders, Dog the Bounty Hunter, Billy the Exterminator, Dirtiest Jobs, Swamp Loggers, American Choppers, the Colony, and endless reruns of Shark Week, Disaster Week, etc.! Ugh. If this is your idea of excellent educational programming, we’re sunk. For-profit cable stations (for the most part) churn out formulaic Cliff-notes-version programming with about as much substance as a Twinkie. PBS remains unique in today’s media and is a service still much needed and appreciated, especially by those of us in the hinterlands.
-If Congressman Lamborn is serious about debt reduction (his reason for the recycled bills), I suggest he start by cutting defense and old-folk entitlement programs (social security, medicare, medicaid) instead of using Juan Williams (who now has a new $2 million/3 year deal with Fox plus a book deal) as an excuse to kill off public broadcasting. This is NOT where Republicans should spend/waste one ounce of energy or goodwill. The payoff is incredibly small; the risks are great. Kirwin may not be a fan, but plenty of Republicans support and appreciate PBS’s programming. In the end, it may have to go … but let’s see some hard, tough, significant cuts first, before you go after Big Bird???
I am getting so sick and tired of the liberal mantra “It is only x% of the total budget” used whenever someone suggest cutting spending. Cutting has to start somewhere, and so called public radio and television is a good place to start. When these government financed operations started, television reception was limited, and they provided programing one could not get. Nowdays, they are just illegal government compitition with commercial stations. As for the savings of s
doing away with this leftist propoganda machine, a billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you are talking real money.
Jay D,
As I have posted on similar thread, my objection to taxpayer funding of public broadcasting is not fundamentally based on the liberal bias of the programming. It is based on the fact that public broadcasting produces little, if any, content of interest for the investment that we make in it. “Educational TV,” as it was originally known as when it debuted, was a valuable alternative to the three commercial networks. Today, with hundreds of cable channels, public broadcasting serves no purpose that warrants taxpayer funding.
You go to great lengths to catalog, and by inference ridicule, the Discovery Channel and other for-profit cable programming. Can you kindly name some PBS programming that is better? Would that perhaps be “The Truth About Obesity” or “5 Things You Need to Know About Venus?” How about “Antiques Roadshow” or “Tavis Smiley?”
Sorry, but public broadcasting is a sacred cow. And sacred cows make the tastiest hamburgers.
@JohnMSchwab: “Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.” ~Mark Twain
Much has been made of the “liberal bias of the programming”, but overall, in aggregate, only a small percentage of PBS programs can be categorized as such. Folks beating this drum fail to acknowledge PBS is (or was) home to William Buckley’s Firing Line and includes a FoxNews type lineup of conservatives that have hosted or produced public television shows over the years: John McLaughlin The McLaughlin Group, McLaughlin’s One on One, Peggy Noonan On Values, Ben Wattenberg Think Tank and Values Matter Most, Laura Ingraham and Larry Elder National Desk, Tony Brown Tony Brown’s Journal, William Bennett Adventures From the Book of Virtues, Milton Friedman Free to Choose, Tyranny of the Status Quo, Fred Barnes National Desk, Reverse Angle, Morton Kondracke Reverse Angle, American Interests and Tony Snow The New Militant Center. Add to this list the Wall Street Journal–produced Journal Editorial Report, Unfiltered (originally hosted by Tucker Carlson) and other corporate and investment-oriented staple shows such as Wall Street Week, Adam Smith’s Money World, The Nightly Business Report and CEO Exchange. Oh sure, Bill Moyer’s NOW , and POV have definitive left wing views, but it’s a real stretch to tar and feather the entire programming line-up as liberal. The facts just don’t support it.
It’s also worth mentioning that PBS’s flagship show NewsHour is one of many PBS programs often accused of REPUBLICAN party bias by progressive media watchdog groups. Also, this “leftist propaganda machine” is run by … a Republican – Patricia Harrison (CPB President/CEO), previous co-chair of the RNC and Colin Powell’s Asst. Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs. And the current Board Chairman is “leftist” Bruce Ramer, appointed by George W. in 2008. Also, FYI, the 1967 Public Broadcasting Act prevents the President from appointing more than 5 persons of the same political party to fill the 9 CPB board seats.
@HisRoc: It’s too easy for us living in or near urban areas to take hi-speed internet and our “hundreds of cable channels” for granted. Yet millions of US households remain not served by either (http://www.ncta.com/Statistics.aspx) or not plugged in because of cost – $900 to $1200/ year and growing. (http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/06/news/companies/cable_bill_cost_increase/index.htm) Regarding “the fact that public broadcasting produces little, if any, content of interest for the investment that we make in it”, perhaps you’re right. According to ratings, Americans are much more interested in WWE Raw, Jersey Shore, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, Keeping up with the Kardashians, Teen Mom, The Bachelorette and Big Brother 12 (http://www.tvguide.com/top-tv-shows). So yes, I guess PBS doesn’t produce enough ‘content of interest’ – but it DOES produce a terrific lineup of arts and educational programming, second to none. In addition to funding PBS KIDS programming and educational services for students, teachers and adults, the evening lineup carries interesting and often meaty stuff– if learning is your objective. Several immediately come to mind: Charlie Rose (his brain-series was ground-breaking) http://www.charlierose.com/view/collection/10702, American Masters, American Experience, Frontline, Nova, Nova Science Now, Nature and Masterpiece are several of my favorites. I’ve also found programs to view online – watch Harvard professor Michael Sandel’s Justice, What’s the Right Thing to Do? series ( http://forum-network.org/series/justice-whats-right-thing-do-series) and you’ll understand why I remain totally unconvinced there is no cable channel that beats PBS for consistent, high quality, educational and cultural programming. And it’s the best public/private partnership success story I know.
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