Juan Williams, a senior political analyst at Fox News who was fired from his long-time job at NPR in 2010 following analysis he provided on Fox News, was accused of rampant bias and a lack of registered Republicans in the newsroom. on Tuesday in response to claims from the public radio station’s editors detailing the absence of.
In an essay he wrote for the Free Press on Tuesday, veteran NPR editor Uli Berliner provided a lengthy critique of his employer’s media coverage of major news stories over the past few years. He blew the whistle on the outlet’s reporting and cataloged voter registration records, which he said represented an 87-0 Democratic trend in the outlet’s newsroom. Berliner claimed that NPR’s newsroom lacks “diversity of perspectives” and avoids terms such as “biological sex.”
Williams suggested he was not surprised by Berliner’s comment that “the open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR…” [that is] It’s devastating for both journalism and business models. ”
On “The Ingraham Angle,” Williams appeared on “The O’Reilly Factor” more than a decade ago and expressed concern about seeing Muslim attire at airports after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He then spoke about the aftermath of his dismissal.
NPR Editors Find Registered Democrats Outnumber Republicans 87-0 in Newsroom
Juan Williams of Fox News (Fox News Sunday)
“I’m not a bigot. You know what books I’ve written about the civil rights movement in this country, but if you get on a plane and you see someone wearing Muslim attire, you say so. And, you know, it worries me that they identify themselves first and foremost as Muslims. I’m nervous,” he said at the time.
Williams sarcastically pointed out to host Laura Ingraham on Tuesday that that alone was enough for NPR to sever ties with the longtime left-leaning analyst.
“I don’t think I’m an outlandish conservative by any means, but they thought I was too conservative a black man for a company like theirs,” he said.
“Not only did they fire me, they called me psychotic. I mean, they said horrible things about me in public. So, no, that doesn’t surprise me. [Berliner] I had to say it. ”
Williams noted that his controversy occurred long before former President Trump entered the political scene in 2015, roiled the media, and continues today.
“So they’re a very isolated cadre of people who believe they’re right, and they have a hard time with people who are different,” he said.
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Williams noted that after making comments about tensions at the airport, he defended the right of Muslims to build on land near Ground Zero. At the time, Sufi Imam Faysal Abdul Rauf caused an uproar over the Park 51 development he was planning just a stone’s throw away. From the former World Trade Center.
During an appearance on “Factor,” he also said Christians should not be blamed for acts of terrorism committed by people like Timothy McVeigh, who bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995.
”[Y]But they threw me out the door, so I wasn’t surprised at all,” Williams told host Laura Ingraham.
“What you’re seeing now, especially after the arrival of President Trump, is that we live in a very polarized media environment and they’re building a beachhead on the far left. think.”
Williams said that NPR’s audience is disproportionately more left-leaning than ever before, and that “fewer conservatives are aligned,” which Berliner correctly quoted.
At the time of Williams’ firing from NPR, then-NPR CEO Vivian Schiller wrote in an email to member stations that news analysts “have no personal or public opinion on controversial issues.” “You cannot take that position. To do so would undermine your credibility as an analyst. And that’s what happened in this case.” situation. “
On Tuesday, Ingraham pointed to a Jan. 29 post by Mike Gonzalez, a national security fellow at the Heritage Foundation, calling on the government to end taxpayer funding for “biased funding.” . [and] Public broadcasting has woken up. ”
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When asked for comment on Berliner’s claims, an NPR spokesperson directed FOX News Digital to a memo from Editor-in-Chief Edith Chapin to staff in which she and her team He said he “strongly disagrees” with Berliner’s assessment of the quality of NPR’s journalism. Honesty.
“We are proud to support the outstanding work that The Desk and Show does to cover a wide range of difficult stories. We are committed to ensuring inclusion within our staff, procurement and across our coverage. “I believe it’s important to tell the nuanced stories of this country and our world,” she wrote.
“Journalism is a collaborative process. The pursuit of facts requires rigorous debate and self-examination, and exploring the diverse perspectives that drive world events is necessary to our public service mission. That’s why we have built-in processes to verify accuracy.” And why we follow the highest editorial standards…”
“That being said, none of our work is above scrutiny or criticism. We debate vigorously in our newsrooms about how to serve the public, and we sometimes back down. We must foster a culture of conversation that breaks down the silos that often lead us to believe in others.” Ideally, we would engage in this discussion respectfully, with the goal of elevating and strengthening each other’s work. is. Because our new strategic focus brings new insights into what audiences we currently serve and what audiences we currently do not serve, I We have an obligation to examine more closely and measure how our reporting serves the public service to all viewers. ”
“Let’s remember that the reason we remain one of the most trusted news organizations in this country is because we respect people’s ability to make their own decisions,” Chapin said. added.
Fox News Digital’s David Rutz contributed to this report.
