Joan Walsh, Salon: "Punishing journalists for having opinions is a terrible idea"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Thursday, Oct 21, 2010 18:35 ET

NPR was wrong to fire Juan Williams
The left is crowing, but punishing journalists -- even Fox News toadies -- for having opinions is a terrible idea
By Joan Walsh

http://www.salon.com/news/fox_news/index.html?story=/opinion/walsh/politics/2010/10/21/standing_up_for_juan_williams



I'm the last person who ought to be feeling sympathy for fired NPR analyst Juan Williams today. It was a little over a year ago, playing his role as Bill O'Reilly's liberal toady, that Williams joined the Fox bully in trashing me after I challenged O'Reilly on his nasty crusade against murdered abortion provider Dr. George Tiller. He accused me of threatening poor Bill.

Williams did much the same thing this week with O'Reilly: He defended the Fox host against liberal critics, this time for O'Reilly's false and silly remarks on "The View" that "Muslims killed us on 9/11."

Still, I find something a little bit off about what NPR has done here. Let's be clear: Williams regularly comes to O'Reilly's rescue, and the words that got him in trouble this time were telling O'Reilly he was "right" about his anti-Muslim views -- even though he later challenged him. Williams starts out: "Well, actually, I hate to say this to you because I don't want to get your ego going. But I think you're right. I think, look, political correctness can lead to some kind of paralysis where you don't address reality."

He then goes on to express fear when he sees Muslims on an airplane, especially those "who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous." That's bigotry, pure and simple.

[polichick]

1. Great example of how lefties remain rational and fair even toward...

...those who don't deserve their help.

[roguevalley]

21. then again, he can have his opinion but if he violates some

stricture of his employer, he is not entitled to have his job. But I wouldn't worry. He has his fox
job and a new three year contract there.

[CBGLuthier]

2. Large Black Men Make me Worried and Nervous.

No, not really and even if they did I wouldn't go on TV and say it. Because it sounds bigoted. Like what Juan Williams said.

[DFLforever]

3. Exactly.

[roxiejules]

12. Jesse Jackson said it...

"There is nothing more painful to me ... than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery, then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved." - Jesse Jackson (1993)

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jesse_Jackson

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/opinion/articles/960318/archive_010008.htm

[FirstTimeVoterAt37]

19. If he'd changed one word in his rant, nobody would be defending him

You nailed that one.

Hate speech is hate speech is hate speech, and all we can do is stop tolerating it. I couldn't cheer enough that Dr. Laura got Schlessingered.

Let the Islamophobes join the white supremacists in YouTube comments, that's all the free speech any of us can expect when promoting a dangerous philosophy.

[timefortherevolution]

24. I wasn't sure what the fuss was about

..until a Muslim friend described it to me exactly the way you just did---using the scary Black Guy analogy.

Made all the sense in the world to me.

[Ramulux]

4. Shes wrong

Juan Williams is a bigot. He is prejudiced against people of a certain religious denomination, he does not deserve to work for any legitimate news organization. Oh yeah, and he specifically broke his contract. NPR was absolutely right to fire him, they should have fired him years ago. He is a disgusting individual.

[islandmkl]

5. Dear, Dear Joan:

you can be a journalist, and REPORT...

or you can be a pundit, editorialist, whatever...

you cannot, you SHOULD NOT, presume to be both...

if you want to express your opinion professionally, then you are not a journalist...there is no cross-over

she's just covering her ass because she is a 'commentator' and not really a journalist...except by 21st century cable-TV standards...

[roguevalley]

22. that dog rules

[Abq_Sarah]

6. A group of loud, evangelical Christians

On a plane is going to make me nervous.

I'm an agnostic but that doesn't preclude the possibility of lightning strikes.


bigotry:


stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one's own.

That, by the way, includes political differences of opinion. I guess you could say I'm a bigot. I have a complete intolerance of anyone who labels themselves a member of the Democratic party who actively supports limiting or eroding the Constitutional rights of others.

[hlthe2b]

7. It isn't that he had "opinions"...

It is that those "opinions" dramatically changed, depending on the venue--Faux news versus NPR. On Faux, he became a sycophantic bigoted fear-monger to ingratiate his "masters" (no, I mean no racially offensive depiction here). On NPR, he felt the need to tone down and sound "reasonable." NPR heard complaints for years about this and finally got fed up.

[ixion]

8. Having an opinion is one thing. Making that opinion a matter of public record is quite another

as Mr. Williams is aware, I'm sure.

[rpannier]

9. Joan Walsh is dead wrong

Juan is feeding incendiary rhetoric.
I'm tired of some members in the progressive community who take on the plight of bigots and hate-enablers.
The first part of what Williams said is the only part that anyone would have remembered anyway.

[pnwmom]

10. So O'Reilly stays on the air. Juan Williams does not.

Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

:shrug:

[Jim__]

18. Williams remains on the air too - Faux air rather than NPR air. - n/t

[enough]

11. I have never thought of Mr. Williams as a journalist. (nt)

[BlueMTexpat]

16. My first reaction too. n/t

[Cobalt-60]

13. Maybe it was unfair

but since he's a Faux toady - F*ck Him.

[burning rain]

14. I'm inclined to agree with Joan.

This business of canning people for opinions isn't healthy for free expression and the cause of a liberal society. While I realize Williams had gone downhill and let increasingly conservative views intrude into nearly everything he says, even what's supposed to be neutral analysis, I think NPR would have done better to wait until his contract came up, and not renew it.

[BlueMTexpat]

15. We'll have to agree to disagree on this, Joan.

And Juan Williams doesn't need you to help him with his already profound self-pity.

[Jim__]

17. I tend to agree - but the problem here is not just journalistic ethics but contractual agreements.

NPR doesn't allow its news analysts (I believe this was Williams' title) to express personal opinions. Williams agreed to this then violated the agreement - multiple times according to NPR. If the agreement was wrong, he should have challenged that.

I believe opinion from our news people is good - but it must be labeled as opinion.

Enforced silence on certain topics and certain opinions is not a healthy condition for a society.

[struggle4progress]

20. Where, exactly, would you like to draw the line, Joan? Surely you think some lines should be drawn?

Would you regard it as acceptable for a major news outlet to use a reporter who admired the Nazis "solution" of the Jewish "problem" or who thought the United States should return to lynch law or who wanted a constitutional amendment to outlaw Islam or who regularly told racist jokes?

[Jim__]

23. I don't think you can draw an exact line.

But, I don't think Williams stepped over any reasonably drawn line. Why? I think there are a large number of Americans who would agree with him - Muslims getting on a plane makes them nervous. If there are a large number of Americans who agree with Williams, then firing him for expressing his opinion sends a message to these people that their opinions are offensive and to be censored.

Also, if a large number of Americans agree with Williams, forbidding public discussion of these opinions is not healthy. I believe his opinion, his nervousness, is wrong. But, I can never convince him, or anyone else of the incorrectness of this opinion if we don't openly discuss it.

The examples you gave are of issues where very few (I'm going to guess less the 0.1%) of the American people would agree and a large number would be offended and public expression of such opinions would cost the network listeners and so firing is more justified by market, rather than political, concerns.