Controversies NPR controversies

1 controversies

1.1 mumia abu-jamal commentaries
1.2 andrei codrescu comment
1.3 juan williams termination
1.4 ronald schiller
1.5 vivian schiller
1.6 michael oreskes sexual harassment allegations

controversies
mumia abu-jamal commentaries

in 1994, npr arranged air commentaries mumia abu-jamal on things considered, cancelled them after fraternal order of police , members of united states congress objected airing.

andrei codrescu comment

on december 19, 1995, broadcast of things considered, npr commentator andrei codrescu reported christians believe in rapture , 4 million believers ascend heaven immediately. continued, evaporation of 4 million believe crap leave world instantly better place.

npr subsequently apologized codrescu s comment, saying, remarks offended listeners , crossed line of taste , tolerance should have defended greater vigilance. executive producer ellen weiss said incident not sever npr s relationship codrescu.

juan williams termination

on october 20, 2010, npr terminated senior news analyst juan williams s independent contract after comments muslims referred inconsistent our editorial standards , practices, , undermined credibility news analyst npr . williams remarks made on fox news channel s o reilly factor concurred statements suggesting united states facing muslim dilemma . said, mean, look, bill, m not bigot. know kind of books ve written civil rights movement in country. when on plane, got tell you, if see people in muslim garb , think, know, identifying first , foremost muslims, worried. nervous. furthermore, referring comments made pakistani immigrant pleaded guilty trying plant car bomb in times square, williams said said war muslims, america s war beginning, first drop of blood. don t think there s way away these facts.

npr ceo vivian schiller defended npr s decision asserting williams has history of making controversial comments in violation of npr s ethics policy, commentary expressed on fox news , in newspaper opinion pieces. admonished comments made first-lady michelle obama, s got stokely carmichael in designer dress thing going. if starts talking ... instinct start blame america, know, m victim. if stuff starts coming out, people go bananas , ll go being new jackie o. being of albatross. far isolated incident, , williams’ appearances on fox news had caused repeated problems npr on last few years. williams had been warned several times [bill] o’reilly professional provocateur , careful. williams , others have said in firing him, npr exhibited double standard not firing other npr people andrei codrescu comment christians believe in rapture , nina totenberg 1995 comments senator jesse helms , aids.

after npr announced ouster, alicia shepard, npr s ombudsman, said firing have been handled better. opined williams have been given chance explain himself npr s management or been suspended pending review of case. however, agreed npr s decision, saying fact remains npr must uphold journalistic standards, which, after all, provide basis earned public radio s reputation quality. better thing npr have done have said juan situation not working, shepard said, noting williams have been given choice: if wanted stay @ npr, have stop doing commentary on fox news channel. or, if preferred continue fox, , npr part ways. schiller told audience @ atlanta press club williams should have kept feelings muslims between himself , psychiatrist or publicist . later, schiller placed post on npr website spoke hastily , apologize juan , others thoughtless remark”. although number of prominent conservatives, including jim demint, sarah palin, , newt gingrich have renewed long-standing calls npr lose federal funding receives, donations npr listener-members during npr s october fundraising drive remained unaffected in first 3 days. fox news granted williams new $2 million, three-year contract expanded role @ network. fox has been heavily promoting incident hourly reports controversy on both news , opinion programs. bill o reilly has accused npr of bias in firing williams.

it determined after external review legal counsel williams terminated according terms of contract, gave both parties right terminate on 30 days notice reason, , termination not result of special-interest group or donor pressure. board of directors adopted recommendations , remedial measures designed address issues surfaced review, including new internal procedures concerning personnel , on-air talent decisions, , disciplinary action respect management employees involved in termination. these measures included ellen weiss, senior vice president fired juan williams, stepping down on january 6, 2011, under believed substantial pressure more senior management, , ceo vivian schiller not being awarded 2010 bonus.

ronald schiller

in march 2011 conservative political provocateur james o keefe sent partners simon templar (a nom de plume not confused fictional character) , shaughn adeleye secretly record discussion ronald schiller, npr s then-senior vice president fundraising, , associate, senior director of institutional giving @ npr, betsy liley. npr executives misled meeting representatives of self-described muslim group, muslim education action center (meac), wished donate money npr, partly out of concern defunding process republicans trying engage in. on recording, schiller indicates sharing personal point of view, not npr’s, saying ll talk personally, opposed wearing npr hat ; contrasted fiscally conservative republican party of old didn t involved in people s personal , family lives current republican party, particularly tea party, fanatically involved in people s personal lives , fundamental christian—i wouldn t call christian. s weird evangelical kind of move. schiller said highly placed republicans believed republican party had been hijacked radical group, , characterized them islamophobic , racist, racist people . later in recording, schiller said believes npr better off in long run without federal funding, , challenge right d have lot of stations go dark , explaining removal of federal funding allow npr more independence, , remove held misconception npr funded public. subsequent analysis of raw videos showed clips heavily edited present 1 point of view, , of context of conversation changed.

according npr, schiller s comments in direct conflict npr s official position , called comments appalling. stated that, fraudulent organization represented in video repeatedly pressed accept $5 million check no strings attached, repeatedly refused accept. second recording released couple of days later o keefe showed after phone , e-mail communications, betsy liley checked senior management , said although meac had been cleared legally make donations anonymously, additional background information required before donation accepted, including irs form 990. schiller had submitted resignation on january 24, before recorded meeting, , announced week before video released leaving npr position @ aspen institute, put on administrative leave npr. next day npr s ceo vivian schiller (who not related) announced resigning position, effective immediately. ronald schiller made resignation npr effective on evening of video s release , next day decided cede new position @ aspen institute.

vivian schiller

npr announced ceo vivian schiller has resigned after controversial comments made npr s former top fundraising executive, ron schiller (no relation vivian), came light in secret video. statement released in march 2011 npr s board of directors said resignation vivian schiller, faced criticism last fall dismissal of commentator juan williams, accepted. npr media correspondent david folkenflik tells morning edition host renee montagne sources telling him ceo forced out.

dave edwards, chairman of npr s board, said directors came conclusion controversies under schiller s watch had become such distraction no longer lead organization. had told directors should take action felt appropriate, , edwards said board decided best depart.

according ceo succession plan adopted board in 2009, joyce slocum, svp of legal affairs , general counsel, has been appointed position of interim ceo. board establish executive transition committee develop time frame , process recruitment , selection of new leadership.

michael oreskes sexual harassment allegations

in october 2017, 2 journalists accused michael oreskes of sexual harassment while working washington, dc bureau chief new york times during 1990s. oreskes became npr s senior vice president of news , editorial director in 2015. after report on accusations published in washington post, npr put oreskes on administrative leave. rebecca hersher, npr journalist, went on record attending career counseling session in october 2015 in says oreskes discussed having sex girlfriend. @ time, hersher filed complaint against oreskes, , npr reprimanded him behavior. resignation requested npr s chief executive jarl mohn , oreskes left npr on november 1, 2017.

the washington post later reported multiple sexual abuse allegations against oreskes ignored npr management during 2 years there, , npr s handling of oreskes had prompted virtual rebellion among staffers. staffers told cnn s brian stelter oreskes created oppressive atmosphere abusing position meet young women. law firm retained probe npr s handling of oreskes, , mohn conceded did not act fast enough,