Juan Gone

[YOhio]

What do you dudes think? Did NPR overreact?

[NorthShoreCoug]

Maybe, just a tad...

[Indy Coug]

Absolutely.

[hostile]

Yeah. In reading NPR's reasoning it seems like they were looking for a reason to let him go based on allegations of previous journalistic indiscretions.

[myboynoah]

I find it odd that progressives are so wont to defend Islam.

[Maximus]

Overreact or not, what he said is a joke and offensive. Basically, Muslims are the "others" that we should be afraid off.

[RobinFinderson]

It was a clear breach of standards, and Williams hasn't seemed that important to NPR since he stopped hosting Talk of the Nation. In other words it looks like NPR had more to gain from canning him than keeping him on, and clarity of the breach means NPR had good cause. With his ties to Fox already established, along with the Fox vs. Liberal Media narrative that helps fuel Fox, plus the fact that he is a minority reporter that has written about civil rights while still having an overall conservative bent, I'm sure that Williams will have a soft landing at Fox.

As to what he actually said, it was a stupid and unnecessary personal fact that, if true, should never be shared by any public figure. I'm sure many public figures have all kinds of stupid personal beliefs on all kinds of subjects. If these public figures value their reputation, they need to keep these ideas to themselves.

[Clark Addison]

Yes, they did. I haven't seen a video of Juan's comments, but they reminded me a bit of Jesse Jackson several years ago when he admitted that, when walking down the street toward a group of youths, he was relieved to see they were white. Jackson's comments were more self-reflective, but they are in the same vein. No reason to fire that I can see.

NPR is the only over-the-air radio I listen to. I know some will disagree with me, but I think their news is the least biased out there (several opinion and analysis shows skew left, but the news is pretty even). This doesn't help their image.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Yeah, I think they overreacted.

[Clark Addison]

It was a clear breach of standards, and Williams hasn't seemed that important to NPR since he stopped hosting Talk of the Nation. In other words it looks like NPR had more to gain from canning him than keeping him on, and clarity of the breach means NPR had good cause. With his ties to Fox already established, along with the Fox vs. Liberal Media narrative that helps fuel Fox, plus the fact that he is a minority reporter that has written about civil rights while still having an overall conservative bent, I'm sure that Williams will have a soft landing at Fox.

As to what he actually said, it was a stupid and unnecessary personal fact that, if true, should never be shared by any public figure. I'm sure many public figures have all kinds of stupid personal beliefs on all kinds of subjects. If these public figures value their reputation, they need to keep these ideas to themselves.

I disagree on a couple of points. I think NPR has a couple of things to lose. FIrst, federal funding, which some are calling for. Second, they already have a reputation as left-leaning (which, as I said in my earlier post, I don't think is true for the news organization). This move reinforces that image.

I also disagree that things like this shouldn't be shared. We all have biases and stereotypes. It doesn't do us any good to hide these and pretend that anyone who holds any bias is a bad person. I admit that, especially soon after 9/11, I didn't feel as comfortable flying with obvious Muslims. I recognize that it is a mostly unfounded bias, but it doesn't mean I should never mention it, and it doesn't mean I am a member of the Hitler youth.

[creekster]

Big overreaction, for reasons stated here already.

[Uncle Ted]

Yes, but who cares about NPR? IMHO, NPR is was only good for broadcasting car talk. Now I get my fix of Click and Clack by downloading their podcasts directly from the source.

[Coach McGuirk]

I like Juan Williams and NPR is wrong. You can tell what this is about from the comments of the NPR CEO. Juan will be fine and NPR lost a good journalist.

[New Mexican Disaster]

I love NPR but they were way too hasty and they pulled a Shirley Sherrod on Juan.

[RobinFinderson]

It was a CLEAR breach of standards, by a LONG shot. For those who think that NPR is overreacting, is it because you think the standards are wrong, or because the enforcement is wrong?

To people in the first camp (you believe that journalists should be able to share their prejudice without professional reprisal), do you also think that the handling of Helen Thomas was also an 'overreaction?'

To people in the second camp (you think NPR was right, but that firing went too far), what do you think of the Helen Thomas situation, AND how far would one have to cross the line before one had gone too far? If a person shared the bias that, after spending a lot of time around polygamist Mormons who married underage girls to old men (a small radical subset of all Mormons) that he felt uncomfortable around ALL Mormons, would that be going too far?