Fox News Employee Juan Williams Attacks NPR

When grudge-carrying disgraced former NPR employees attack

WingnutsMarch 2011 • Views: 30,182

Juan Williams is earning his two million dollar salary from Fox News today, with a vindictive attack on NPR published at The Hill: WILLIAMS: Now it’s time to defund NPR.

Here’s the statement Williams thinks is the outrageous final straw:

Last week my line of defense for NPR ran into harsh political realities. Rep. Steve Israel (D- N.Y.) chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent out a fundraising letter with the following argument for maintaining public funding of NPR:

“They [Republicans] know NPR plays a vital role in providing quality news programming — from rural radio stations to in-depth coverage of foreign affairs. If the Republicans had their way, we’d only be left with the likes of Glenn Beck, Limbaugh and Sarah Palin to dominate the airwaves.”

With that statement, Congressman Israel made the case better than any Republican critic that NPR is radio by and for liberal Democrats. He is openly asking liberal Democrats to give money to liberal Democrats in Congress so they can funnel federal dollars into news radio programs designed to counter and defeat conservative Republican voices.

The hypocrisy is absolutely stunning. Williams was fired from NPR for making bigoted anti-Muslim statements on Fox News, and is now a shill for the most biased right wing media source in the country — even substituting for Bill O’Reilly — but he has the gall to act outraged about a simple statement of fact. If Republicans had their way, they would destroy any news sources that contradict the propaganda from the hundreds of right wing radio hosts and the non-stop disinformation of Fox News.

And that’s exactly what they’re trying to do to NPR.

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55 comments

Nervous Norvous Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:26:58am

Next they'll be going after the BBC.

Kronocide Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:29:23am

Williams just projected on a grand scale: if it's not Fox/Limbaugh, it's gotta be 'librul media.' There is no other, see?

'You got left wing media, you got right wing media. Tide goes in, tide goes out. Explain that.'

The mask just fell off.

Wozza Matter? Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:29:34am

re: #1 PT Barnum

Next they'll be going after the BBC.

Hey, they are already laying claim to Stephen Hawkings remarkable medical survival..........why not?.

Jeff In Ohio Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:32:14am

We are appalled by former NPR reporter Juan Williams remarks

oh fuck it. Juan's a first rate ass clown.

Wozza Matter? Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:32:39am

Juan has been a shill for the rightwing media for quite sometime - he was slumming it at NPR util Fox offered him a better deal. That was all.

Obdicut Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:32:40am

What makes this really bizarre is that the NPR statement says this:

NPR plays a vital role in providing quality news programming — from rural radio stations to in-depth coverage of foreign affairs.

And he somehow gets this out of it:

news radio programs designed to counter and defeat conservative Republican voices.

It's almost as though they're acknowledging that quality news programming is something that conservative Republicans are opposed to, because it's an enemy of their party.

Gus Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:33:37am

Juan Williams thinks "now is the time to defund NPR"? Had it not been for the likes of NPR or PBS no one would even know of Juan Williams. Yes, he was fired by NPR but a) he was his own catalyst in that firing and b) National Public Radio put him in the spotlight.

Nervous Norvous Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:34:26am

Right wing principles:
1) Government bad, business good
2) The US should be run as a Christian theocracy. (with over 3000 brands of Christianity out there, it'll take us a while to figure that one out.)
3) Taxes bad, no matter what.
4) Deficits bad, unless we're in power, then "Deficits don't matter"
5) The government should stay out of your life and not tell you what to do unless you're a woman, non-white, non-Christian, non-heterosexual, or anything else that might make you different from us.
6) America! F$%& Yeah! (see Team America)
7) Wars are free or at least should stay off the books.
8) Acting unilaterally is a sign of just how awesome we are. (see 6)
9) Anybody who disagrees with any of the above is a RINO, a mushy moderate, a liberal, or whatever name we can think of to call them.

Kronocide Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:34:52am

re: #6 Obdicut

Exactly. It's a major leap of logic, fallacy.

Many will think Williams' statement to be sound. I bet it makes Echo Chamber Top 10.

Wozza Matter? Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:35:14am

re: #8 PT Barnum

Right wing principles:
1) Government bad, business good
2) The US should be run as a Christian theocracy. (with over 3000 brands of Christianity out there, it'll take us a while to figure that one out.)
3) Taxes bad, no matter what.
4) Deficits bad, unless we're in power, then "Deficits don't matter"
5) The government should stay out of your life and not tell you what to do unless you're a woman, non-white, non-Christian, non-heterosexual, or anything else that might make you different from us.
6) America! F$%& Yeah! (see Team America)
7) Wars are free or at least should stay off the books.
8) Acting unilaterally is a sign of just how awesome we are. (see 6)
9) Anybody who disagrees with any of the above is a RINO, a mushy moderate, a liberal, or whatever name we can think of to call them.

Defund Title X
Fund Nascar.

Nervous Norvous Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:36:56am

re: #10 wozzablog

10) Government is always more incompetent than business and we'll prove it any chance we get back in control of the government.
11) Real Americans only use talking points. Mature debate of the issues is for elitists.

Gus Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:37:26am

Yeah. Defund NPR. Then let Clear Channel take over.

Unbelievable.

darthstar Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:37:39am

I didn't like Juan Williams when he was on NPR, and that hasn't changed.

laZardo Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:38:49am

New thread, time for bed. Nighty.

SanFranciscoZionist Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:39:16am

re: #13 darthstar

I didn't like Juan Williams when he was on NPR, and that hasn't changed.

I had never heard of Juan Williams until he left NPR, and I'm still not interested in him.

Nervous Norvous Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:39:17am

We jumped the shark on having any kind of rational discussion of the issues when the Fairness Doctrine got scrapped, and the rules on ownership of media outlets got thoroughly mangled during the Reagan years.

Kragar Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:42:26am

Charles, one of the ads loading keeps causing IE to suffer an app crash when you load the page.

Gus Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:45:25am

re: #9 BigPapa

Exactly. It's a major leap of logic, fallacy.

Many will think Williams' statement to be sound. I bet it makes Echo Chamber Top 10.

Yep.

@SpeakerBoehner Speaker John Boehner
Juan Williams: Now it's time to defund NPR [Link: bit.ly...] via @thehill

Gus Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:46:27am

re: #18 Gus 802

Yep.

@SpeakerBoehner Speaker John Boehner
Juan Williams: Now it's time to defund NPR [Link: bit.ly...] via @thehill

I had to reply.

@Gus_802 Gus
@SpeakerBoehner @thehill If it wasn't for NPR no one would even know of Juan Williams. BTW, it's the economy stupid. Not NPR. #LGF #NPR

Batman Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:49:04am

Says the Democrat: NPR provides quality news programming.

Says el Juan: This proves NPR is liberal!

Says me: This says more than any liberal could that reality has a liberal bias. Straight from Juan Williams' own mouth.

Obdicut Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:49:33am

The GOP doesn't appear to be taking any action that is in any way a well-thought out benefit to the country and the economy. Instead, they are attacking unions because they are a Democratic power base, clearly are attacking NPR because they see it as somehow a political threat to them, etc.

From a cynical point of view, every action is taken to try to eke out a few more years of legislative wins for the GOP, this time by directly attempting to cut the ability of those on the Democrat's side to raise money.

makeitstop Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:53:10am

re: #16 PT Barnum

We jumped the shark on having any kind of rational discussion of the issues when the Fairness Doctrine got scrapped, and the rules on ownership of media outlets got thoroughly mangled during the Reagan years.

Truthfully, Bill Clinton delivered the death blow to free and fair media in this country when he signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996. It removed the limitations to how many broadcast outlets could be owned within one market and killed local ownership of TV and radio outlets, allowing Clear Channel, Infinity and the rest to buy up wholesale chunks of the radio and TV spectrum.

For instance, in New York City Infinity Broadcasting now owns both WCBS-AM and WINS-AM - the two biggest news radio outlets in the city, and once direct competitors in the market. Now between them, they are owned by one company and occupy a half-dozen frequencies on the AM, FM and HD radio spectrum.

There is no chance that news radio listeners in NYC will get and variety of news coverage. One company controls it all now, along with the biggest sports radio outlet in the market (WFAN) and a network TV outlet.

That law would need to be severely rolled back, and the broadcast entities forced to divest and open up markets again, before we'll see any type of quality broadcasting. Fat chance of that happening.

Obdicut Mon, Mar 21, 2011 9:56:09am

re: #22 makeitstop

To a certain extent online sources have provided a stopgap in terms of quality reporting, but not to the extent that the optimists thought, back at the birth of the web. There's as much disinformation floating around as information, as can be seen by searching climate change terminology.

Darlington Mon, Mar 21, 2011 10:00:57am

Fox News clearly doesn't care about Juan William's outrageous comments, but NPR did. Yet he claims to be now at the "unbiased" channel. If NPR is really so horribly biased- would they have really overreacted so much to that fake edited video from O'Keefe?

Fox has a clear interest in taking down NPR. The less sources of real news available to people, the more likely people are to tune in to the propaganda broadcasted from Fox News.

Gus Mon, Mar 21, 2011 10:03:28am

re: #22 makeitstop

Truthfully, Bill Clinton delivered the death blow to free and fair media in this country when he signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996. It removed the limitations to how many broadcast outlets could be owned within one market and killed local ownership of TV and radio outlets, allowing Clear Channel, Infinity and the rest to buy up wholesale chunks of the radio and TV spectrum.

For instance, in New York City Infinity Broadcasting now owns both WCBS-AM and WINS-AM - the two biggest news radio outlets in the city, and once direct competitors in the market. Now between them, they are owned by one company and occupy a half-dozen frequencies on the AM, FM and HD radio spectrum.

There is no chance that news radio listeners in NYC will get and variety of news coverage. One company controls it all now, along with the biggest sports radio outlet in the market (WFAN) and a network TV outlet.

That law would need to be severely rolled back, and the broadcast entities forced to divest and open up markets again, before we'll see any type of quality broadcasting. Fat chance of that happening.

Of course people will claim that there are now more alternatives via the internet. The internet cannot provide the same viewing experience as broadcast television and radio -- which are now dominated by a literal monopoly of ownership. Back to the so called alternative of the internet. My cynicism is based on a rather easy assumption. Internet access has two basic requirements of a) an ISP/internet connection and b) a computer and in this case a computer with audio including speakers or headphones. These are major investments for the poverty stricken in America -- and this is disregarding the technical challenges required for operating a computer. It is not as simple as plugging in a radio and tuning into your favorite radio channel. Which in this day and age will likely be operated by the like of Clear Channel. In the end, we have created a technology gap in which the poor will be short changed.

Charles Johnson Mon, Mar 21, 2011 10:05:23am

re: #17 Kragar (Proud to be Kafir)

OT

Charles, one of the ads loading keeps causing IE to suffer an app crash when you load the page.

That's not good, but I can't do anything unless you can identify which ad is causing the problem...

Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton Mon, Mar 21, 2011 10:07:11am

Allegedly the Ukraine's general prosecutors' office has started a criminal case against ex-Pres Kuchma in relation to the Gongadze murder. (Not firmly confirmed yet.)

Killgore Trout Mon, Mar 21, 2011 10:08:25am

An interesting report from Libya...

Liveleak Video

Evidence of shredded uniforms with no blood indicates some soldiers removed their uniforms and fled before the bombing. Also the rebels seem pretty happy with Sarkozy and Obama for now. We'll see how long that good will lasts.

Amory Blaine Mon, Mar 21, 2011 10:17:05am

Americans love their fascists.

Buck Mon, Mar 21, 2011 10:19:46am

re: #28 Killgore Trout

As in Iraq, the soldiers change out of their uniforms and blend into the civilian population.

Will they begin to use terror techniques against the rebels? Use civilians as shields? Create civilian casualties that will make the UN lose their stomach for this?

Seems so predictable to me.

mikec6666 Mon, Mar 21, 2011 10:28:08am

He never complained when it partially paid his salary. I suppose $2M makes you forget a lot of things.

HappyWarrior Mon, Mar 21, 2011 10:37:12am

Juan Williams is a jackass. Seriously, dude you got booted from them because you acted like a bigoted jackass and now you're just like everyone else on your new channel. Bravo Juan.

baier Mon, Mar 21, 2011 11:15:50am

Personally, I think Williams got screwed by NPR and he has a legitimate grudge. - I'm not defending what he said, btw. NPR's executives failed the organization - at best they acted ineptly. And yes, NPR news has a liberal bias -(seriously people?) but that doesn't mean it should be defunded. SO many small communities rely and love NPR. It would be a shame for it to be taken away.

Charles Johnson Mon, Mar 21, 2011 11:30:06am

re: #33 baier

Personally, I think Williams got screwed by NPR and he has a legitimate grudge.

I disagree. Williams had been warned before about his Fox News work, which was a clear violation of his contract, and NPR was completely within their rights to fire him. Where NPR went wrong was in the aftermath - they should have defended their position more strongly, because they were not wrong.

MinisterO Mon, Mar 21, 2011 11:33:04am

So, in Juan's world, voices on news radio that are unlike Glenn Beck, Limbaugh and Sarah Palin must serve to counter and defeat conservative Republican voices.

The admissions implicit in this are astonishing, or they would be if we didn't already know that these boorish race-baiting assholes are the voice of the Republican party and anyone who doesn't sound like them is considered an enemy.

Charleston Chew Mon, Mar 21, 2011 11:36:43am

re: #33 baier

Personally, I think Williams got screwed by NPR and he has a legitimate grudge. - I'm not defending what he said, btw. NPR's executives failed the organization - at best they acted ineptly. And yes, NPR news has a liberal bias -(seriously people?) but that doesn't mean it should be defunded. SO many small communities rely and love NPR. It would be a shame for it to be taken away.

I don't take seriously any grudge Williams has - he's got to earn every penny of his $2 million paycheck from Fox. That's what it's really about. You don't think they were just going to give away that money? Williams knows what he has to do to earn it and trashing NPR is part of the deal.

As for the so-called 'liberal bias" of NPR, well, Stephen Colbert said it best: "Reality has a well-known liberal bias."

spiderx Mon, Mar 21, 2011 11:38:06am

Juan Williams used to be a journalist. It's amazing what some people will do for money. He's a disgrace .

Charles Johnson Mon, Mar 21, 2011 11:41:42am

I suspect the whole thing was staged, anyway, to hype Juan Williams' switch to Fox News. The way he suddenly ended up with a $2M contract a day after being fired from NPR is just a little too neat.

baier Mon, Mar 21, 2011 11:49:48am

re: #34 Charles

Other NPR personalities and reporters offer opinion on Fox and other networks without a problem. NPR's enforcement is inconsistent. To me, this signals a failure of leadership at NPR. Cokey Roberts and Mara Liasson seem to get a pass, but Juan Williams gets fired?

baier Mon, Mar 21, 2011 11:50:56am

re: #37 spiderx

Juan Williams used to be a journalist. It's amazing what some people will do for money. He's a disgrace .

Juan Williams is not a Journalist, he is an analyst.

andres Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:06:59pm

re: #39 baier

Other NPR personalities and reporters offer opinion on Fox and other networks without a problem. NPR's enforcement is inconsistent. To me, this signals a failure of leadership at NPR. Cokey Roberts and Mara Liasson seem to get a pass, but Juan Williams gets fired?

Juan didn't get fired because he worked at Fox. He got fired because of these comments.

Baier Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:26:41pm

re: #41 andres

Juan didn't get fired because he worked at Fox. He got fired because of these comments.

I know what he said. I certainly think he should have not been fired (but that's my opinion), especially over the phone, and I think he should have been given a chance to explain himself. This kind of inept management at NPR does nothing to help its cause.

andres Mon, Mar 21, 2011 12:42:34pm

re: #42 Baier

I know what he said. I certainly think he should have not been fired (but that's my opinion), especially over the phone, and I think he should have been given a chance to explain himself. This kind of inept management at NPR does nothing to help its cause.

Your argument on #39 wasn't on why and how Williams was fired, but that NPR was inconsistant in applying the same standards to Roberts and Liasson. The only standard I see is that all three comment at NPR. Neither Roberts nor Liasson had said anything outrageous or bigoted on Fox, and neither had been warned about their comments.

acacia Mon, Mar 21, 2011 2:22:32pm

I don't quite understand the logic here. I love NPR but honestly don't understand the government funding aspect. Especially since it doesn't appear to be much of its budget. I'm probably missing something but shouldn't the government be totally out of regulating or influencing speech content? I can understand the rural area thing, but that's about the only reason I can see for public funding. Another question to throw out... Why are there so many conservative talk show hosts but very few liberal ones on radio and TV? Is it because the country is conservative; the advertisers like those views; it's easier to do.... I don't know but would be interested in your thoughts.

WINDUPBIRD DISEASE [S.K.U.M.M.] Mon, Mar 21, 2011 3:07:17pm

re: #2 BigPapa

Williams just projected on a grand scale: if it's not Fox/Limbaugh, it's gotta be 'librul media.' There is no other, see?

'You got left wing media, you got right wing media. Tide goes in, tide goes out. Explain that.'

The mask just fell off.

Williams is paid to repeat the fox line, he's reading a script.

Two million dollars is a lot of bread! No mask, he's just a guy doing what he's told by the Fox brass. Would you repeat some pablum for rubes in the heartland for a 2 mil contract, laughing all the way to the bank?

WINDUPBIRD DISEASE [S.K.U.M.M.] Mon, Mar 21, 2011 3:07:47pm

re: #40 baier

Juan Williams is not a Journalist, he is an analyst.

he's neither, he's an employee of fox news paid to pretend he's an anaylyst. I analyze more than that guy does before breakfast, hahaha

WINDUPBIRD DISEASE [S.K.U.M.M.] Mon, Mar 21, 2011 3:08:46pm

re: #6 Obdicut

What makes this really bizarre is that the NPR statement says this:

And he somehow gets this out of it:

It's almost as though they're acknowledging that quality news programming is something that conservative Republicans are opposed to, because it's an enemy of their party.

webevintage Mon, Mar 21, 2011 3:28:41pm

Really Juan?
I think it might be time for NPR to just tell you to "fuck off".

spiderx Mon, Mar 21, 2011 4:03:34pm

re: #40 baier

Juan Williams is not a Journalist, he is an analyst.

I said that he used to be a journalist. At one time he was an investigative reporter for the Washington Post.

simoom Mon, Mar 21, 2011 4:19:52pm

re: #39 baier

Other NPR personalities and reporters offer opinion on Fox and other networks without a problem. NPR's enforcement is inconsistent. To me, this signals a failure of leadership at NPR. Cokey Roberts and Mara Liasson seem to get a pass, but Juan Williams gets fired?

Juan Williams was frequenting the Fox personality shows: Hannity, O'Reilly and Van Susteran. On those shows he was being introduced as a Senior NPR Correspondent, and the hosts would often reference his status at NPR to emphasize their reasonableness the many times Juan would mostly agree with whatever they were pushing. He had been told not to do both of those things (appear on the Fox opinion shows and when he did trading in his status as an NPR journalist) many times by his bosses (at NPR) and he ignored them.

simoom Mon, Mar 21, 2011 4:25:13pm

Here's a video of Juan Williams hosting O'Reillys show a few days ago:

Youtube Video

Jump to about 4:30 to see him covering NPR. In particular see @ around 9:10 where his guest, Professor Caroline Heldman labels his Muslim comments bigoted. This triggers some spluttering from Juan where he attempts to defend himself saying he's scared of Black people too.

rwmofo Mon, Mar 21, 2011 5:43:59pm

"If the Republicans had their way, we’d only be left with the likes of Glenn Beck, Limbaugh and Sarah Palin to dominate the airwaves."

Heh. As if...

Conversely, if the media/Democrat Party had their way, there would be no Fox News and conservatives wouldn't be allowed on AM radio. Further, they'd have George Will fired, just to ensure conservatives have no voice in the major media. For a hat trick, the media/Democrat Party would also target blogs to keep us rascals totally away from any information dissemination. There's your balance: 100% Left - 0% Right.

Go here for details.

Baier Tue, Mar 22, 2011 6:25:21am

Jeeze, you guys have the wrong end of the stick... Not even the NPR journalists are defending their executive team, in fact they signed a letter denouncing them. LGF the last bastion of NPR's failed leadership?

On-air personalities such as Robert Siegel, Scott Simon, Renee Montagne, Cokie Roberts and Nina Totenberg signed the letter, which comes a day after NPR's president and CEO, Vivian Schiller, resigned in the wake of the controversy that erupted after NPR executive Ron Schiller was caught on video by conservative activists denigrating the tea party movement.

The letter reads as follows:

"We, and our colleagues at NPR News, strive every day to bring you the highest-quality news programs possible. So, like you, we were appalled by the offensive comments made recently by NPR's now former Senior Vice President for Development. His words violated the basic principles by which we live and work: accuracy and open-mindedness, fairness and respect.

"Those comments have done real damage to NPR. But we're confident that the culture of professionalism we have built, and the journalistic values we have upheld for the past four decades, will prevail. We are determined to continue bringing you the daily journalism that you've come to expect and rely upon: fair, fact-based, in-depth reporting from at home and around the world.

Baier Tue, Mar 22, 2011 6:30:25am

re: #43 andres

Your argument on #39 wasn't on why and how Williams was fired, but that NPR was inconsistant in applying the same standards to Roberts and Liasson. The only standard I see is that all three comment at NPR. Neither Roberts nor Liasson had said anything outrageous or bigoted on Fox, and neither had been warned about their comments.

I don't agree that what Williams said was bigoted. He expressed how he felt and right after denounced those feelings. He was clearly was trying to make a point about bigotry, not slam Muslims.

[deleted] Tue, Mar 22, 2011 12:33:40pm

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