The NPR Story

Maybe you have heard about Juan Williams being fired from NPR. Maybe you are wondering what the fuss is or maybe you are infuriated about it. Maybe a little background would help.

But first, a quiz:

1. How much money does NPR get directly from the Government?
a. 100%
b. 60 %
c. 20 %
d. 2 %
2. How many companies was Juan Williams working for?
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. More than 3
3. NPR does not allow it's workers to criticize the government?
a. Yes
b. No
4. Fox News never fires anyone for what they say.
a. Yes
b. No

Okay, a little background on NPR. It was created in 1970 after the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. It is a both privately and publicly funded although the majority of it's funding now comes from members and corporate donations. Federal monies comes to about 2% of NPR's direct annual budget. Because member stations pay a fee to NPR, and they are sometimes funded through government grants, this figure is debated. More information can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Public_Radio

Now Juan Williams was a contract worker, although he was not solely employed by NPR. He also worked for FOX, wrote newspaper columns and also was an author. Under his contract, NPR could fire him if they felt he breached their code of ethics, and since he had been warned before about statements on FOX, it seems that this was legal.

Now, people are calling for the government to cut all funding to NPR. As above, there is very little direct funding. Indirect funding would be harder to stop, without affecting many small community radio stations. It might be interesting to know that in recent years, NPR has come under fire for being too conservative, based on money flowing in from corporate sponsors. Here is a peak at their 2008 sponsors. Note that Fox Broadcasting was a donor in the $50 - $99 thousand dollar range.

Of course Fox has had some firings also, but not so famous. They fired one of their on air staff , E.D. Hill, after comments about the President and his wife. Also fired as another commentator who might have protested too much against another FOX commentator. Mark Lamont Hill got in a "dispute" with David Horowitz and was soon gone. Guess to be on FOX your name cannot be Hill!

So, in the end, what is the result?
1. Juan Williams gets fired for something he was warned about. (my personal opinion was it was overdue)
2. NPR gets a lot of bad press at a time they are doing fund-raising.
3. Juan Williams gets $2 million dollars to stay at FOX. (I wonder how long this will last not that he does not have Liberal ties)
4. His First Amendment Rights are certainly not violated, and considering NPR's budget, he will be paid only a little less than the government money that goes directly to NPR.

What a Country!

Oh, the answers to the quiz?
1. d
2. d. (counting himself as author)
3. a. Actually a trick question - they are not to give any comment based on the section" VIII. Politics, community and outside activities" in the ethics code.
4. b.

ChrisZ