Juan was expressing a personal reaction to a grave fear we all have.
I don’t have that fear.
Here in this forum, we are anonymous private citizens, not news analysts who are trusted to remain as impartial as possible.
Free speech is free speech, if you like it or not.
I wonder how Juan would have felt if someone would have said “You know I get real uncomfortable when an African American gets on the plane with an afro, or wearing a dashiki…” or “A white person who looks like Tim McVeigh…”
Free speech has nothing to do with this issue. NPR is not the government, and by the way even the government is allowed to tell its employees what they can and can’t say (otherwise things like top secret clearances would be pointless). An employer, especially one with a public face, can impose any restrictions it wants over your conduct off the clock. How long do you think you’d last working for, say, Ford if you got off work and went around to various TV and radio stations telling the audience how much Ford sucks?
The first amendment says that Congress can’t pass laws restricting free speech. It doesn’t say anything about a news organization being forbidden from imposing standard ethical guidelines on its staff.
The problem is [i]Juan Williams wasn’t fired for this single incident. He was fired because this was just the latest example of him breaking NPR’s rules, rules he agreed to follow when he signed his NPR contract.[/i] He worked for Faux News before he took the job at NPR, so he should have never signed a contract stating he would abide by NPR’s rules about news analysts expressing their personal opinions.
NPR is not the government…
Exactly! NPR receives about 2% of its funding from taxpayers. Most of the rest comes from grants and underwriters, and the rest comes from pledge drives.
I think I will double my contribution to my local NPR station this year. They deserve it for keeping their employees in line and maintaining their objectivity.
I was discussing this incident with a friend a few minutes ago, and he offered an interesting scenario:
Imagine that Mr. Williams had been offered a nice raise if he rejoined the Fox Faux News staff.
Imagine that he purposely made some intemperate remarks that were not in accordance with his NPR employment contract, in order to force NPR’s hand and to simultaneously create a situation that the Faux News folks could then exploit in order to further their agenda and to increase the viewing audience when they rehire Mr. Williams.
This is, of course, merely speculation. However, if anyone thinks that news organizations are not capable of stooping to this level in order to make more money for themselves, I suggest that you re-read your Spanish-American War history in regard to the role played by a couple of newspaper publishers (Hearst and Pulitzer) in fanning the flames sufficiently to push us into that “splendid little war”.
Speculation, yes.
Impossible, no.
Yes, it should find another outlet. NPR is way too political (and on the wrong track). I’m glad I didn’t contribute to the fund drive. And the federal government should stop contributing as well.
Yes, they should find another carrier. I tried to read responses here but they are coming from the liberal twilight zone.
Car Talk has lost hoards of listeners. Business is business, a new carrier is in CT’s best interest, period. Then there is ethics! Could CT really support firing Juan Williams for telling the truth a truth that most Americans feel when flying??
If CT guys do agree with Shiller, well, well, goodbye forever boys!!!
“Juan was expressing a personal reaction to a grave fear we all have.”
What’s this “we all” crap? Speak for yourself. Personally, I choose not to live in fear. To give in to this kind of fear is to let the terrorists win.
You would be happier watching Fox News anyway. Don’t leave angry, just leave.
‘liberal twilight zone’…hmmm, ok. And what facts do you have regarding ‘lost hoards of listeners’? As for CT, I don’t think they have any need to get involved in this whole dust-up. Why do they have to agree or disagree with Shiller? It’s a CAR discussion show!
Those with small minds aren’t capable of tolerating those who don’t share their political views. They prefer a divided country rather than a united country. Personally, I value the opinions of those who respectfully disagree with me. I learn a lot from them.
NPR may only get 2% of its revenue directly from the Federal government, but is it not tex-exempt? And aren’t contributions to NPR stations tax-deductible? To answer the main question, Tom and Ray should not get involved in this fracas, and should continue to collect their checks from NPR (or whoever makes them a better offer), because they are the best thing on NPR and the only show I listen to on NPR.
texases, check out NPR’s website and all the comments on their firing Juan, you will see the hoards that have left NPR for ever, period.
CT is a fun show, but as part of NPR they are going to suffer listener loss. Why should they settle for that just because you left wing folks, are glad to see Juan fired (the only black on NPR!!)???
“you left wing folks”…if you only knew…
VDC’s thoughts about Jaun orchestrating his own exit have a counter part. O’Rielly has suggested it was George Soros who demanded that Jaun be fired and that George made a 1.8 million dollar contribution to NPR the same day Jaun was fired. Conspiracy theories, can’t live with them can’t live without them.
Non issue, for sure, except for those who are overly politically correct (about the behavior of OTHER people). If I am a passenger on a plane with empty seats beside me and see an overwhelmed parent board, dragging along a couple of small, screaming kids, I immediate think "I hope they don’t sit close to or behind me."
This is no different from what Williams said. Certain things just make an experienced person think twice. It doesn’t mean that I hate all parents or all kids (though I tend to if they are screaming or otherwise misbehaving), and it is NOBODY ELSE’S BUSINESS if I do, anyway.
Don’t you think Andy Rooney would react the same way as I do? I haven’t asked him, but I would guess that he would (though he’d probably be in First Class, where he’d be undisturbed by middle-class riff-raff, anyway). Would CBS fire him if he brought this up some Sunday evening? Should CBS be boycotted if they did?
texases, so you are not LEFT WING??? Only Left wingers are condoning what NPR did to Juan.
Anyone else would support Freedom of Speech!