Posted on 10/21/2010 11:16:48 AM PDT by COUNTrecount
Call me lucky. I had a pre-scheduled interview this morning with NPR CEO Vivian Schiller this morning before her speech at the Atlanta Press Club Newsmakers luncheon at the 191 Club in downtown Atlanta.
So lo and behold, the entire Juan Williams firing blew up the past 24 hours. I happen to be the first person to talk to her about it. Here is an abbreviated Q&A:
Q: Okay. What happened?
A: Let’s state a couple of facts. Juan is not an employee of NPR. He’s an independent contractor. He’s not NPR staff. He’s an NPR analyst. We have a contract with him for analyst opinions to provide news analysis. He is not a columnist or commentator. He also has an on-going relationship with Fox News. Mara Liasson is also on Fox News and is a full-time staffer. We accept that’s a whole other issue. However, we expect our journalists, whether they are news analysts or reporters to behave like journalists.
Q: So did Juan really get fired over just those Muslim comments? [He said he was uncomfortable with Muslims dressed in traditional garb on airplanes during a Fox News telecast yesterday.]
A: There have been several instances over the last couple of years where we have felt Juan has stepped over the line. He famously said last year something about Michelle Obama and Stokely Carmichael. [The quote on Fox News last year: Obama "has this Stokely-Carmichael-in-a-designer-dress thing going" and that she'll be an "albatross" for President Obama.]. This isn’t a case of one strike and you’re out.
Q: So this is obviously not an isolated incident.
A: There’s so much misinformation on the blogosphere, it’s nuts. This has been an on-going issue. When he does that, when anybody does that, it undermines their credibility as a journalist or in Juan’s case, a news analyst for NPR. Those two things cannot go together.
Q: Have you done this before with other analysts or reporters?
A: It’s impossible to answer that. Every circumstance is different and would create false parallels.
Q: As you mentioned, Mara Liasson appears on Fox News. Is there an issue with Fox News?
A: No. She behaves on Fox as a journalists. I have no issues with anything she has said on Fox. This is not about Fox News. It’s not about a political agenda. This is not about even validating or invalidating [Williams'] feelings.
Q: Mike Huckabee is now saying NPR has discredited itself and should have federal funding revoked.
A: Yes, I heard that. This has become a political issue. My God, I’m shocked!
Q: Could NPR live without federal funding?
A: Let’s go on a sidebar. There’s a misperception about federal funding and public radio. There’s the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. They receive $90 million a year and a vast majority goes to member public radio stations. Those stations pull in more than $1 billion collectively a year. It’s significant and important but not even close to the lion’s share of revenues for public radio. NPR gets no allocation from CPB. Zero. We are a private 501(c)3. We’ve had journalists call up and ask what department of the government we report to. That’s laughable. Have you listened to our shows? We do apply for competitive grants from the likes of the Ford Foundation and the Knight Foundation. As a result, some money from CPB does come to us when we win grants. Depending on the year, it represents just one to three percent of our total budget.
Q: What is your annual budget?
A: $160 million a year from station fees and dues, corporate underwriting, philanthropic contributions from individuals and corporation and earned income and earnings from our endowment.
Q: How healthy are you?
A: We had some issues the last couple of years and went into deficits. But we’ve regrouped and we’re back on track.
More to come. The luncheon is going to start. I’ll see what else I can get from that.
NOTE: I am a board member of the Atlanta Press Club.
Remember NPR’s website’s running Mark “How To Speak Teabag” Fiore’s crude cartoon? THAT apparently wasn’t a firing offense. I believe NPR still run’s Fiore’s cartoons. Maybe it’s because Fiore’s white!?
Racists!
So.
“We only fire NPR contract rep’s who agree to go on Fox News AND utter comments that can be claimed to be “anti-Muslim” but otherwise EVERYBODY else at NPR can say anything they want (against Christianity and conservative Republicans) for as long as they want any time they want.”
Totally unexpected! /sarcasm
It is TIME to DownSize DC! Close entire departments (U.S. Dept. of Education, EPA, etc) And stop all funding of NPR....... ALL of it, forever.
I am idiot.
I always thought NPR was part of the federal government and got some endowment money from corporations and individual donors.
The name is kind of misleading.
Congress should de-fund the thing immediately after the election and see how well they can do on Soros money alone. Of course, the GOP wouldn’t do that if they had every seat in the House.
I am an idiot.
I always thought NPR was part of the federal government and got some endowment money from corporations and individual donors.
The name is kind of misleading.
More lies and BS.
Is that an offense for invoking "God"?
Did I understand that correctly?
NPR get NO money from CPB (Center for Public Broadcasting)... that money goes out directly to the stations...
NPR just gets their money in the form of FEES FROM THE STATIONS???
Really? one pass through a radio station, and, it’s no longer “federal money”?
How about stopping ALL CPB funding... and, let’s see how long NPR stays on the air.
Basically, whenever Juan hit the mark it was a black mark against him at NPR.
That's right. She pussyfoots along the PC line, careful to never step over.
More undeniable proof that when a progressive/liberal speaks the truth he is summarily kicked to the curb and castigated for endangering the leftist controlled media!
Quite a few people will fall for the "we aren't federally funded" diversion. So yeah, defund the local stations. If I want to listen to US propaganda, I'll dial up Radio Free Cuba or something.
First interview with NPR CEO Vivian Schiller on Juan Williams firing
Access Atlanta ^ | Oct. 21, 2010 |Rodney HO
Rodney HO
Hi HO
Hi HO
Hi HO, Hi HO, it’s off to work we go.......
Sorry if I have offended any Dwarves.
As a matter of fact, she didn't.
According to wikipedia what she did study was Russian and Soviet studies. And she apparently will not be satisfied until NPR is run like the soviet era Pravda, or other soviet state run media organizations.
Long live the Party comrade!
Can someone explain this?
Juan and other NPR employees have been on a variety of talk shows for years and all have given personal opinions, especially bashing conservatives and conservative viewpoints.
Juan should sue those turkeys.
“we expect our journalists, whether they are news analysts or reporters to behave like journalists”
There’re all sorts of journalism, many of which no doubt are practiced by other NPR “analysts.” Fluff journalism, yellow journalism, gotcha journalism, hard journalism, info-tainment journalism, etc. Why not “Muslims identifying themselves as muslims by wearing full traditional garb on airliners bother me” journalism?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.