An Old Media Panic Always Results in a Ceremonial Firing
The "whole world" (read: not the whole world) is abuzz regarding this morning's forced resignation of short-term NPR head Vivian Schiller, over an expose video of an employee there acting dumb at a fundraising lunch, which, maybe I should care more about the operational management of nonprofit radio? I do not! In any event, let it just be repeated that NPR is not your radio station, it is not America's radio station, and it is almost entirely endowment- and sponsorship-supported. (Member stations, which pay NPR for syndication and membership, in essence, also overall have a very small budgetary percentage of public grant-taking.) That means it's pretty easy to make NPR less of a target to wingnuts, but you know what's even easier? Not panicking under some ANGRY BLOGS and FOX NEWS BREAKING UPDATES and firing people. Jesus Christ, people who run NPR, wait it out, there'll be a new outrage by Thursday. Liberals really are wusses.
It's going to be hard to get through today, isn't it?
YES. Exactly.
Why is NPR pandering to the maybe 30 percent of people in this country that don't already know James O'Keefe to be a shameless, lying scumbag? WHY?!?!
FOR REAL
Because on tape they insulted the Republican Party, well mainly the Tea Party, at a time NPR is going to go hat in hand to Congress for money. It's hard to ask Republicans for funding if you are calling them morons on tape.
Also, they chuckled at the phrase "National Palestinian Radio" and stated emphatically that "the Jews run the newspapers in this country" but they don't run NPR. That can't help WNYC's membership pledge drive this week.
he also stated emphatically that all political comments were his opinions and not those of NPR.
Honestly though, Schiller took a lot of heat for the (imho totally justified) firing of Juan Williams and nearly buckled under that pressure. If NPR can't take the FOX news-generated hot air, they should definitely start hiring people who can.
What makes me extrasad is that it will obviously encourage the numbnuts who made the video (also responsible for the inanity where he dressed as the world's most implausible pimp and harassed ACORN employees) to continue in this vein.
I'll bet they didn't even get the money.
They refused the offered money.
As someone who works at a local public radio station, she needed to go. NPR's reaction to this debacle was done without local stations in mind. We are receiving the financial fall out from this, not NPR.
Seriously – I worked there under the last CEO and this seems pretty huge to me. Member stations around the country are going to be (or are already) pretty angry.
They were angry when NPR fired Juan Williams in the middle of the coordinated campaign. I guarantee you the decision to force Schiller out came from prodding both from the right and from local stations, particularly smaller markets who have felt ignored and slighted under Schiller's leadership.
@contradicto: This whole stinking "story" has basically motivated me to dig even deeper for my NPR contribution this year, so there's that.
Also, based strictly on the quality of his NPR segments, Juan Williams could not have been let go soon enough. Those directionless, pointless Morning Edition "interviews" he used to do … God, I'm gritting my teeth RIGHT NOW.
That shirt is freaking me out
Nyuk nyuk nyuk CAHburetah
Would you rather stare at another picture of Ira Glass?
I always thought Face For Radio was the secret name of 80% of indie bands?
So, in a week when it turns out that this tape was heavily edited, does she get her job back?
She gets a call from the President, too. Wonder what she'll wear for that?
Such a pick-me-up, listening to the tail-between-legs report on the morning drive about how they're going to let themselves be bullied by some suspenders-wearing, cigar-smoking rich kid twerp and a bunch of blathering, phony hypocrite congressmen. Way to give the defunding monkeys the ammo they need.
Counting the hours until the end of the pledge drive, are we.
THE TOTE BAGS AREN'T EVEN MADE OF CANVAS ANYMORE.
I don't see the timing of this hurting the pledge drive, actually.
Look, Yucko, if Kim Noble is the one reading the report, I'm listening. So noble, indeed.
KEEEEEEEHM NOOOOOOOOOOOOO-BEHL.
Where will the funding for bad compilation CDs given as pledge premiums come from now?
They'll be sorry when she takes hostages at the VFW in Lake Wobegon.
There's nothing more pathetic than watching a news organization with actual integrity allowing itself to be scolded by another news organization that employs Glenn Beck.
lol @ calling Fox a "news organization"
@boy: Fox is a noose organization.
Republicans are assholes, and not enough people say it and say it publicly.
Embarrassing? Sure. But hardly more embarrassing than what Glenn Beck says every single night on his show.
But Glenn Beck does not need Congressional funding for his rants.
It seems like the issue here is maybe less funding than licensing? I appreciate the Fox News comparisons and all, but NPR is actually broadcast over the public airwaves, whereas Fox News comes to you via privately-owned cable lines. So while NPR could give up government funding, it could get into a whole lot of trouble from the FCC if they're perceived not to be serving the public interest, which conceivably thinking that half the country is racist (which, you know, but still) could look bad for?
I guess I'll just resign myself knowing that Lourdes Garcia-Navarro is in the middle of fucking Libya and I'm just here reading The Awl.
Liberals are ridiculous. Regardless, I hope someday James O'Keefe gets some serious legal payback for his slimy, underhanded hatchet work.
If every n-f-p executive director resigned over something the development staff said or did to get a crazy rich person to donate, there wouldn't be anyone in charge of any theater, dance, classical music, opera, or private education. *sigh*
+ 800 fucking bazillion. My first thought when this broke was, "How would I behave in that situation?" My second thought was, "Similarly to that guy, because, first, social convention requires that you say all kinds of stupid shit so that others aren't embarrassed by their stupid shit statements and, second, $5 mil on the line is worth a lot of pandering. A lot."
Awwwww, the car talk guys.