Is Fox News more tolerant than NPR?
posted at 9:57 am on October 22, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
So says Michael Barone in a must-read analysis of the firing of Juan Williams. But don’t take his word for it, because NPR’s omsbud says essentially the same thing in NPR’s defense. First, let’s start with conservative analyst Barone, a long-time friend of Williams and also a Fox News contributor:
I’ve known Juan Williams for 28 years. In 1982, when I joined the Washington Post’s editorial page staff, I took over what had been Juan’s office and his telephone number, as he was moving from the editorial side of the paper back to the news side. In the preceding weeks, Juan had been working on stories about prostitution in Washington, and during the first several weeks I received some pretty weird telephone calls—something we’ve laughed about ever since. Over the years I’ve admired Juan’s journalism and his excellent books—a history of the civil rights movement, a biography of Justice Thurgood Marshall. Most of all I admired him for writing Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America–and What We Can Do About It, which I think was a national service—and one that exposed him to a lot of criticism. He has faced all that with steadiness which is apparent in his angry but measured response to his firing today.
Reading between the lines of Juan’s statement and those of NPR officials, it’s apparent that NPR was moved to fire Juan because he irritates so many people in its audience. An interesting contrast: while many NPR listeners apparently could not stomach that Williams also appeared on Fox News. But it doesn’t seem that any perceptible number of Fox News viewers had any complaints that Williams also worked for NPR. The Fox audience seems to be more tolerant of diversity than the NPR audience.
The right-wing intolerants of Fox News’ audience didn’t complain as much about an explicitly liberal commentator on Fox as the tolerant, diverse audience at NPR did? Barone has to be joking, right? Not according to NPR, where omsbud Alicia Shepard tried claiming that Williams had been the radio network’s biggest problem for years:
In 2008, I received 378 emails complaining about remarks Williams made on Fox – but I heard very little about his comments on NPR. My February 2009 blog post on the Stokely Carmichael incident drew 216 comments – many asking why NPR put up with Williams’ dual role.
In fact, since I became Ombudsman in October 2007, no other NPR employee has generated as much controversy as Williams.
That said, Williams provided a valuable voice on NPR. His long experience as a journalist and background as an authority on the Civil Rights movement enabled him to offer insights that often enriched the network’s reporting.
Ultimately, however, it seems management felt he had become more of a liability than an asset. Unfortunately, I agree.
So …. it’s safe to say that Williams’ appearances on NPR weren’t a problem at all. NPR’s entire problem with Williams is that he shared his liberal perspective with the supposedly intolerant right-wing audience at Fox News, where people enjoyed an actual debate. It’s also pretty clear that NPR was looking for a reason to cut Williams, and leaped at what appeared on the surface to be their best opportunity without actually watching the whole clip and hearing the context of Williams’ remarks, which actually argued against the point of what Bill O’Reilly was making.
And so we have the rather amusing, if destructive, spectacle of a radio network casting out a true believer solely because he dared to take the faith outside the chosen circle. NPR insists that it hosts the most diverse forums for political debate, but based on their own actions, they’re not interested in diversity or even debate. Rather than relish having a liberal point of view presented in what they see as a conservative forum, they prefer to keep their liberal point of view within the compound — and so do their listeners.
For another perspective on this, Sean Hannity welcomed Dana Perino and Bob Beckel onto his show last night to discuss NPR’s treatment of Williams. Will Beckel become persona non grata at NPR after admitting to the same uneasiness that Williams disclosed, and for which NPR fired their eleven-year correspondent?
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So, let me get this straight…..Holder will investigate the IRS to see if “laws were broken”, recused himself of the AP wiretapping scandal, because “laws may have been broken” by his department, and attacking Hillary for her performance, (lying to just about everyone that “it was a video”) on the Benghazi scandal “is a side-show”, AND Barack Obama knows absolutely nothing about what’s going on in his administration! Does this just about cover it?
Rovin on May 15, 2013 at 9:42 AM
Whatever happened to “Question Authority”?
kirkill on May 15, 2013 at 9:50 AM
Gravity will be reverse before that happens. They will contort themselves into insanity over the next few days and weeks. And after accepting things the way they are for the greater good, they will be right back to licking Obamas………boots.
oldroy on May 15, 2013 at 9:54 AM
“Four legs good, two legs
badbetter.”Kenosha Kid on May 15, 2013 at 10:05 AM
Administration intimidation. If even the lefty media outlets have their phone records seized, they will be afraid of saying something that could be used against them in a court of law, and take the Fifth Amendment.
Obama and Holder are channeling Hugo Chavez, while it’s OK for New Black Panther thugs to scare little old ladies from the polls in Philly.
Sharyl Attkisson probably needs some new burly bodyguards…
Steve Z on May 15, 2013 at 10:06 AM
The MSM whores will complain for a few days, then things will get back to worshiping the Obamassiah on bended knee once again.
GarandFan on May 15, 2013 at 10:09 AM
Hillary doesn’t read memos, Holder doesn’t sign all requests or doesn’t know what’s in them, Oblamo can’t see any problems in his regime, Big Sis declares the border secure, and Sebellius is
shaking downasking for donations from those she regulates to support a failed piece of legislation that none of us wants. The Sgt. Schultz defense has been stretched beyond the breaking point. Look out for the stuff to hit the fan, soon.Kissmygrits on May 15, 2013 at 10:10 AM
You know, he’s kept in the dark and fed crap all day.
txhsmom on May 15, 2013 at 10:11 AM
Media Matters makes major mis-step?
Media Matters Distributes Talking Points To Defend DOJ Spying On AP Reporters
petefrt on May 15, 2013 at 10:12 AM
Holder: All your phone records are belong to us.
kpguru on May 15, 2013 at 10:16 AM
They didn’t mean their authority.
ghostwalker1 on May 15, 2013 at 10:20 AM
Just makes me wonder how outrageous those “few” were that he rejected. Or maybe more interesting to see if those he rejected had anything to do with ‘friends” of the administration.
taznar on May 15, 2013 at 10:26 AM
I can’t WAIT for President Cruz, Rudio, Paul or one of our guys to get control of DOJ and IRS!
We’ll show ‘em then!
questionmark on May 15, 2013 at 10:28 AM
What do you mean I wasn’t supposed to say that out loud?
questionmark on May 15, 2013 at 10:28 AM
Media Matters should lose their c(3) over this. I hope they realize that they will undergo “increased scrutiny” when a Republican is back in office, too.
alwaysfiredup on May 15, 2013 at 10:30 AM
This story will be forgotten and forgiven within a few weeks. The Press still loves the cause more then they love their constitutional rights.
Egfrow on May 15, 2013 at 10:59 AM
Done it so many times he can’t remember how many?
Sounds like Special Prosecutor time…
ajacksonian on May 15, 2013 at 11:02 AM
If he can’t remember how many, it was clearly more than 1 time. Were all those other seizures related to the case in Yemen as well? I doubt it.
Hello journalists! How you respond to this case could determine whether or not we devolve into a dictatorship. And you’re getting a taste of what that will mean for your jobs.
hawksruleva on May 15, 2013 at 11:08 AM
That’s one thing liberals don’t understand. “We” is pretty ambiguous. You can be on the side of the folks in power one moment, and find yourself destroyed by those same folks the next.
hawksruleva on May 15, 2013 at 11:09 AM
So Atty General Eric Holder attempts to save his own arse by recusing himself while blaming his Deputy, attempting to convince America that at no time did he EVER know about the idea, the planning, the request to wire tap, any approval of such, or the actual wire-tapping….
After all, Holder has never given us cause to doubt his integrity or question his ethics or morality…right?
Consider Holder’s past for the answer to that question:
Holder has proven to be a friend & protector, sympathizer and defender, of Criminals who have engaged in massive fraud resulting in Americans being bilked out of their life savings – their lives destroyed – while ensuring the perpetrators escape justice by either fleeing the company or never being charged in the 1st place, of terrorists who have attacked/bombed/mutilated/killed Americans, of racist militant organizations that have engaged in voter intimidation, of Illegals who crossed our borders only to commit crimes – ensuring no accountability, & of Presidents – covering their backside scandal after scandal – even perpetrating multiple Felony counts of Perjury to do so.
Eric Holder lobbied on behalf of Global Crossing, one of the 10 largest corporate bankruptcies since 1980, on a level with Enron and WorldCom. It was the 7th largest filing in American history. While Global Crossing was accumulating debt like mad, its executives were spending like mad, taking tens of millions in personal loans from the company, operating corporate jets, and selling as much inside stock as Enron. Meanwhile Global Crossing executives were covering their asses with a million dollar donation to Bill Clinton’s library. The same bribe route used by Marc Rich, another Eric Holder beneficiary.
Holder played a part in the pardoning of Marc Rich, the billionaire fugitive-from-American-justice who fled to Switzerland in 1983 after being charged with tax evasion, racketeering, and trading with the enemy – It was one of Slick Willey’s controversial pardons on his last day in office.
John Corzine ‘lost $1.6 Billion in MF Global scandal…and was never punished in any way. “I don’t know what happened to it’ were the magic words that got him off free & clear. Corzine’s MF Global was a client of Atty General Eric Holder’s Law Firm….what a coincidence…
Holder knew about the Patraeus scandal but ‘supposedly’ never told Obama about it until it hit the news…“Bad judgment on a matter of large consequence,”
Holder perpetrated 3 Felony Counts of Perjury before Congress over Fast-and-Furious, 2 oral & 1 written; was protected by his hand-picked DOJ who refused to charge him with his crimes, leaving Congress the only option of Censuring Holder – Holder became the 1st Atty General to be Censure in US History.
– This was not the 1st time Obama’s DOJ refused to do its job. Obama ordered Holder NOT to detain/arrest/sentence/jail/deport any Illegal who perpetrates any crime less than a Felony, creating a ‘right’ that American citizens don’t even have.
Holder also worked on other controversial pardons, to include the pardoning of Weathermen Underground terrorists Linda Evans & Susan Rosenberg who were transporting 740 pounds of explosives for use in bombings here in the U.S. (The explosives were intended to be used to blow up the U.S. Capitol building, the National War College, the Navy Yard Computer Center, the Navy Yard Officers Club, Israeli Aircraft Industries, the FBI and the New York Patrolman’s Benevolent Association.)
Holder also backed clemency for 16 FALN terrorists, withholding information from Congress and even Attorney General Janet Reno and overriding the FBI’s own opposition to clemency for the FALN terrorists who were part of a terrorist campaign that included a wave of terror carrying out 130 bombings over nearly a decade. (A list of FALN documents withheld from Congress shows that many memos on the FALN clemency decision went directly to Holder, while Reno’s role was minimal.) Holder was working on freeing the FALN terrorists, even though they had not made any such request… and was actually passing messages along to them to make a show of remorse in order to move the process along. Eric Holder’s work on behalf of FALN resulted in a special congressional measure to reform the process, preventing such actions taken by Holder to be done in the future. (I encourage people to research this group, their heinous actions, & consider why Holder would work so hard to free such terrorists…)
As Debbie Schlussel points out, Eric Holder’s appointment along with Greg Craig reunites 2/3rds of the Elian Gonzalez kidnapping team. (Remember how armed agents barged into a US home in the middle of the night & took a little boy at gun-point to send him off to Cuba?)
It might be too early to say, but it might be time for Holder to don an orange jumpsuit for a few years…of course Obama is bound to pardon his arse. Of course, if Holder was tried AFTER OBAMA WAS IMPEACHED////just saying…
easyt65 on May 15, 2013 at 11:12 AM
We are supposed to believe:
Obama knew nothing about Benghazi because:
1) Sect of State Clinton didn’t tell him anything
– 1.1) Hillary didn’t know anything because those who worked for her didn’t tell HER anythig
2) Sec of Defense Panetta didn’t tell him anythnig
– 2.1) Panetta didn’t tell Obama anything because his workers/generals/Intel told him nothing
Obama knew nothing about the IRS Scandal because:
1) Holder never told him anything
– 1.1) Holder didn’t tell him anything because his people said nothing & the Inspector General who had discovered the CRIMES did not think to tell the Atty General about it
2) The Inspector General informed the WH on 22 Apr that a report on the IRS was coming out soon but did not tell him anything about what the report entailed – that there was a massive crime perpetrated against the American people – As Pelosi said, Obama says the report had to be passed/posted before he found out what was in it…
3) Obama’s campaign co-chair did not tell Obama that the IRS leaked info about Romney’s tax returns to him & that he used that info to attack Romney during the campaign
Obama knew nothing about the Wire-Tapping Scandal because:
1) Holder never told him about it…
– Holder didn’t tell him, though, because his DEPUTY was running the entire wire-tap plan and execution & never once mentioned it to his boss
THOUGHTS: If all this is true…
1) This is the MOST INCOMPETENT, INGNORANT, INEFFICIENT & SCANDALOUS administration in U.S. History!
2) For not having an ounce of control over his hand-picked cabinet, for being the guy/place where the buck stops, for campaigning & going on vacation every month instead of being more ‘dialed in’ & knowing what the h#ll is going on in his administration…Obama should be IMPEACHED immediately. On his watch his own administration has left Americans un-protected after several previous terrorist attacks & left them to die. On his watch criminals have been protected by the Justice Department stepping in & dropping charges on millions of criminals – from ‘lowly’ Illegals to Billion dollar con men like Corzine. On his watch Americans have been targeted, intimidated, villainized, & punished by the IRS for their political (TEA Party) & religious (Jewish groups) affiliations/beliefs. On his watch the Justice Dept has illegally, unethically, immorally spied on a news agency (or agencies).
3) For having no control of their Departments, for complete incompetence * failed leadership, & for the massive crimes committed by & failures of their departments , Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder, & Leon Panetta should be fired (& those who already stepped down should be punished to the full extent possible).
easyt65 on May 15, 2013 at 11:34 AM
They will put on a very gossamer thin vineer of illusory distance, and continue to be the administration’s fluffers (all the while wondering what they could have done to make their lord so unhappy with them).
krome on May 15, 2013 at 11:42 AM
May most of the media, those who lived in Obama’s azz for so long, all suffocate from what they fed on, not Beluga caviar, utter fools.
Schadenfreude on May 15, 2013 at 11:45 AM
THE Most Powerful Man on Earth!
Obama simply does not want to be bothered with governing. (snort)
Sir Napsalot on May 15, 2013 at 12:05 PM
All this is nothing more than fuel for blogs and sites like this. But the low information voters don’t read blogs because THEY DON’T READ. Period. They watch Honey Boo Boo, the Kardashians, Real Housewives, Hillbilly Handfishing, etc. All this stuff — they know nothing about it. Nothing.
SunSword on May 15, 2013 at 12:30 PM
From the headline:
…doesn’t remember what he’s watched, or read, but by golly he sure did something about it in order to make our kids safer in the future! But he doesn’t remember what he did, either, whenever someone asks….
But just remember, for
57 years, this inexperienced chief executive has been telling us to trust him because he cares more than W did.So if his entire administration has proven to be untrustworthy, by his own definition it is because he cares less than he should have.
Which is 100% true, though your logic is better than his.
rwenger43 on May 15, 2013 at 2:13 PM
The illegal actions that were conducted by the IRS were intentional. This is the shitcargo way of doing things. You attack your opposition in every way possible. When will justice finally be done and the domestic terrorists in DC be sent to Gitmo with the other terrorists. Everybody involved in helping Odumba get so-called elected should be charged with treason if they knowingly permitted the non natural citizen to run for office. This is the worst crime ever perpetrated in our history. When the mudslime domestic terrorists get in office what is the first thing he does? He appoints members of the mudslime brotherhood ( our enemies ) to high security clearance job so they can give the confidential data to the people that are killing our military personnel.
harvey1 on May 15, 2013 at 2:45 PM
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