What WON'T Get You Fired From NPR
By AnjaP
@Rollo1 (16676)
Boston, Massachusetts
October 21, 2010 5:03pm CST
1. Wishing AIDS on a political opponent
NPR Producer Nina Totenburg in 1995: "because if there is retributive justice, he’ll [Jesse Helms] get AIDS from a transfusion. Or one of his grandchildren will get it."
2. Fantasizing about the death of Rush Limbaugh
Sarah Spitz, producer for NPR affiliate KCRW for the show Left, Right & Center:
Spitz wrote that if Limbaugh suffered a heart attack in her presence she would "Laugh loudly like a maniac and watch his eyes bug out". "I never knew I had this much hate in me," she wrote. "But he deserves it."
3. Calling the Catholic church a cult of hate and racism
Michel Martin of NPR responding to a suggestion that the Ground Zero Mosque could be moved: "Did anybody move a Catholic church? Did anybody move a Christian church after Timothy McVeigh – who adhered to a cultic, white supremacist cultic version of Christianity – bombed the Murrah building in Oklahoma?" Incidentally, McVeigh declared himself to be an agnostic but his parents were Catholic.
The rules are even more lax for guests. Naomi Wolf, former advisor to Al Gore was allowed to give a rather detailed (if paranoid) dissertation on why Bush was the same as Hitler:
"I stick very rigorously to the evidence. You had the Nazis unloaded coffins at night. We saw coffins being unloaded at night. They talked about enhanced interrogation, meaning torture. Karl Rove talked about enhanced interrogation, meaning torture. They said, you know, we’ve got to invade Czechoslovakia, because it’s a staging ground for terrorists. We said we had to invade Iraq, a country we’re not at war with, because they’re torturing their ethnic minorities, it’s a staging ground for terrorists, and they hate our freedoms. I don’t need to draw an analogy. The analogies are there."
Now, you're not allowed to compare Obama to Hitler and if anyone did so on a television or radio program, there would be an outraged response to such calumny. But NPR allows you to compare presidents to Nazi dictators if the president is not a liberal democrat.
Come on NPR, we know for a fact you didn't fire Juan Williams because you found his comments to be bigoted. It was because CAIR demanded that you fire him and because he is part of the "balance" on Fox. Recently NY Times journalists have had their jobs threatened because they have appeared on Fox. They don't mind outrageous and bigoted statements at NPR, they just don't like any statement that isn't in line with their political views. And since it's called National Public Radio, they shouldn't have one perspective. Whatever funding they receive from the federal government ought to be cut off.
1 person likes this
4 responses
@TTCCWW (579)
• United States
22 Oct 10
If you listen to NPR you know that there are news story's and call in programs where all opinions are voiced the programs you are citing above aree all call in programs..
NPR has gotten rated by the independent agency's for being the most balanced except during four years of the Bush administration where they were acussed of having to many republicans story's and not ginving fair time to dems.
Soros donated a million bucks for reporters to be supported in local reporting.
NPR who is not owned by a mega corporation or by a single person like Rupert Murdoch (fox).
Rupert maks billions around the world and tells all of his people what he wants on the air to support his next money making porject. NPR is supported by donations by the people who listen to it and yes it gets a verry tiny portion of it's support from the government.
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@Rollo1 (16676)
• Boston, Massachusetts
22 Oct 10
Sorry, the examples are from employees of NPR and not some listener who called in. In fact, the Spitzer quote wasn't even spoken, it was written.
I can find no studies conducted by independent agencies regarding bias on NPR. I can find two polls conducted by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that show that their audience doesn't think they are biased and a study of nbews coverage done by the Ombudsman of NPR (which he admits is not a scientific study) in which he decides that they are not biased.
Soros donated $1.8 million to NPR. He donated a million even to Media Matters to specifically attack Fox news and Glenn Beck. You know, Beck talks about Soros all the time. You'd think that if what Beck was saying was untrue, Soros would simply sue him for slander or libel. He's a rich guy, he can afford a lawyer and if a court found that Beck was making this stuff up, they'd stop him from saying it and it would destroy Beck at the same time. I guess it must all be true and so he needs to get others to do his dirty work of getting Beck off the air. Seriously, think about it for a minute... Why would Soros hesitate to sue Beck if he was lying about him daily?
Rupert Murdoch is not at issue here at all, he's just thrown in to deflect the attention away from the real situation here. Say what you want about Fox news, but even the most opinionated of opinion hosts has regular liberal contributors and both sides are given time to state their views. And Shepherd Smith who dominates the daily slots for news programs can certainly be said to lean left, so they don't have just conservative news readers or analysts. The left doesn't hate Fox news because they are not "fair and balanced", they hate them because they do provide a balance, and both sides can be heard and meaningful debate is allowed between people of differing opinions. The left doesn't want anyone to hear the other side, that's the problem.
@TTCCWW (579)
• United States
22 Oct 10
My point is that Soros 1.8 million spread acroos the country is a very small donation and will provide a little money to up and coming journalist. Million dollar donations are not uncommon and the only way they stay on the air.
Our local NPR station has to have several million a year to stay on the air I don't think a few thousand from Soros to hiore a local, part time reporter puts him high on their suck up list.
Rupert gets in the conversation because he is the one making the Soros conversation an issue. Nobody thought about a million dollar donation until Rupert made it an issue.
Rupert and Soros don't like each other and should not be news.
I don't get my news from opinion news agency's so foxed and MSNBC are not on my list of watched news. I like to decide what I think of an issue and do not want a talking head telling me what to think about anything.
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
22 Oct 10
Nice how you ignored the main point of what Rollo said.
"Sorry, the examples are from employees of NPR and not some listener who called in."
Did you ignore this because you can't deny their hypocrisy?
"NPR has gotten rated by the independent agency's for being the most balanced"
Please provide a link to the independent agency that gave them this rating. I would love to see it.
"Nobody thought about a million dollar donation until Rupert made it an issue."
Wrong, the left wingers, including those here on mylot, flipped out when Murdoch made a million dollar donation to the republican governor's association. Were you around when they were all screaming that Fox should put a "disclaimer" on all their programs because of it? In the case of NPR they were GIVEN over a million dollars by a left wing extremist. Do you really think someone like that just hands money out with no strings attached?
@bobmnu (8157)
• United States
22 Oct 10
Where is the NAACP when a media outlet can fire the only Black Man on their news team? Even Rev. Jessie Jackson made the statement that he feels more unsafe at night when being followed by a group of Blacks than a group of whites.
This is just another example of example of the hypocrisy of the liberal left. NOW endorses Jerry Brown when he or his campaign calls a woman a Wh0re and does not defend the woman. The NAACP wants to investigate the TEA party for being racist yet has so far been silent on the Firing of a Black Man for expressing his fears. If you remember the comment it was when a person appears on the plane in full Muslim garb he (Juan Williams) is afraid. He did not say when a Muslim looking person is on the plane.
We have seen Liberals in action when they hear something that they do not like. On the View they walk off the set, with NPR you get fired if you say something that management does not agree with. According to NOW you can call any woman who is a Christian or Conservative any demeaning name you want and they will support you.
i guess the new improved 1st Amendment is you have freedom of speech as long as you speak what the liberal left wants you to say.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16676)
• Boston, Massachusetts
23 Oct 10
I watched Juan Williams host the O'Reilly show last night. He expressed his disillusionment with the liberal left that he had been a part of because he believed they were open-minded and tolerant. He says now he has had to re-examine his beliefs about liberals.
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
22 Oct 10
Well done Rollo. I was going to compile a similar list, but haven't had the time yet as my breaks today have been filled with more work than usual. I think everyone who has actually looked at the situation knows full well that the real reason he got fired was both for being a regular on Fox News and not being liberal "enough" for their organization.
I don't know the exact terms of his contract with them, but I do believe he may have a solid case for a lawsuit based on what they consistently allow on their station compared to what they supposedly fired him for.
I also think that, as a left wing organization, they should not be privy to taxpayer dollars. Our money should not be funding such garbage and bigotry.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16676)
• Boston, Massachusetts
22 Oct 10
Part of the problem is that they just received 1.8 million from George Soros to hire 100 NEW reporters and their mission is to destroy Fox. In addition to the CAIR demand that they do something about Williams is their concern with pleasing their large donors as well as their definite left bias.
I am sure there are many more examples of this type of bias on NPR so if you find any please add to the list. This story has been trending like mad on Twitter all day.
Megyn Kelly also expressed her opinion that even if there is something in Williams' contract regarding his appearances on Fox or his giving out of opinions, that snce they've never invoked it before they probably cannot now and he has a good case for a lawsuit.
NPR took great pains today to say "neener neener, we get only a tiny portion of our funding from the federal government" (not an actual quote, just a liberal interpretation of their statement) but it doesn't matter because government should not be subsidizing any form of political propagandizing.
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
22 Oct 10
Don't forget that George Soros recently made a huge contribution to NPR. While I'm sure CAIR had a lot to do with it, the voice of Soros was probably the deciding factor. When our free speech is taken away, dictatorship can thrive.
I hope Mr. Williams takes it to court. I saw an attorney on a show last night that says he has a very, very good chance of winning and the trial would be very short.
It was sad to see him last night on TV. He is usually bright and cheerful and he looked and acted so despondent. I like the man. I rarely agree with him but he has a knack for presenting opposing points of view in a way that make me think instead of bristle. We need more like him on both sides of any issue.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16676)
• Boston, Massachusetts
22 Oct 10
I thought the same, that Juan Williams seemed a bit hurt, embarrassed, maybe just in shock from being treated so rudely by his employer. I don't agree 3with Williams on most things, but he has a way of putting his view out there in a calm and reasonable way, so that you can at least see his reasoning and logic.
I think he could sue, but maybe he's better off in the long run and maybe dragging it out wouldn't benefit him in the long run. He should do what he thinks is right to do. In the meantime, he's signed a $2 million contract with Fox - and they won't tell him what to say just as they never have told him what to say or tried to stifle his free speech or opinions.
