Palin and Huckabee are angry at NPR.

[Townsend]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20020347-503544.html

Juan Williams Firing Leads Palin, Huckabee to Call for Defunding NPR

Not their finest moment.

Schiller also responded to claims that firing Williams amounted to censorship since "NPR is funded with public funds."


"There's a misperception about federal funding and public radio," Schiller said. "NPR gets no allocation from CPB. Zero." CPB is the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a semi-private non-profit corporation that promotes public broadcasting through federal funding


Schiller continued: "We are a private 501(c)3. We've had journalists call up and ask what department of the government we report to. That's laughable. Have you listened to our shows? We do apply for competitive grants from the likes of the Ford Foundation and the Knight Foundation. As a result, some money from CPB does come to us when we win grants. Depending on the year, it represents just one to three percent of our total budget."


"There's so much misinformation on the blogosphere, it's nuts," Schiller added

[Hoss]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20020347-503544.html

Not their finest moment.

Amazing, considering Palin has actually said that she does read 'everything'.

Waiting for Gweed to come out and defend his 'damsel in distress'.  LOL.

She's crossed over into the 'multiple hour' territory now.   Forget minutes.

[guido911]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20020347-503544.html

Not their finest moment.

Apparently John Boehner and Newt Gingrich, two with specific knowledge of what the federal government funds, are likewise not having their finest moment either.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/125225-in-wake-of-williams-firing-republicans-want-npr-funding-examined

Also, Schiller's position is over the top suspect. Here is an article that addresses some of the indirect federal funds NPR receives.

Take the local NPR affiliate in Washington, WAMU 88.5. That station paid NPR in excess of $1.5 million in dues, the station's largest single expense outside of fundraising and personnel. The station also took in $840,000 in public funding and grants from the CPB. The station spent nearly $4 million on "fund-raising and membership development," with a return of just $6 million. Fundraising is expensive -- public money isn't.

As this former CPB official explained, "they like to contend they get little direct money, but they get a hell of a lot of indirect money." He also notes that the FM spectrum on which public radio stations broadcast is itself a government subsidy -- a valuable public resource provided by the government at no expense to the stations. "The importance of federal funding to their operations can be seen," our friend said, "whenever someone threatens to cut the CPB budget -- and they scream like a bunch of stuck pigs."

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/02/npr_responds.asp

And then there's this little gem from Schiller:

"I spoke hastily and I apologize to Juan and others for my thoughtless remark."
That follows, as you'll see below, her comment earlier today that now-former NPR news analyst Juan Williams should have kept his feelings about Muslims between himself and "his psychiatrist or his publicist."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/10/21/130728202/npr-ceo-williams-views-of-muslims-should-stay-between-himself-and-his-psychiatrist

Whoops!

[Townsend]

Apparently John Boehner and Newt Gingrich, two with specific knowledge of what the federal government funds, are likewise not having their finest moment either.

Correct, they're not.

Also, Schiller's position is over the top suspect. Here is an article that addresses some of the indirect federal funds NPR receives.

It doesn't say jack.

And then there's this little gem from Schiller:http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/10/21/130728202/npr-ceo-williams-views-of-muslims-should-stay-between-himself-and-his-psychiatrist

It should've.  Per the article, they've had to mess with his crap over and over.  He was an excellent contributor to NPR but he was fired for continually saying Fox news stuff to make Big Daddy O'Reilly like him.

[guido911]

It doesn't say jack.

It sure as scat said "jack". In fact, the "jack" was corroborated by the source of your original posting. This article takes on Schiller's dubious assertion that NPR takes no federal money:

"NPR gets no allocation from CPB," Schiller said. "Zero. We are a private 501(c)3. We've had journalists call up and ask what department of the government we report to. That's laughable."

There appears to be something of a hole in her argument, however: If the CPB sends most of its money to member stations, and the member stations pay dues to NPR, doesn't NPR still end up getting taxpayer money via member stations, in addition to the one to three percent it gets via grants?

Hotsheet contacted Anna Christopher, senior manager of media relations at NPR, to address that question. She acknowledged that "a proportion of every station's budget goes to pay NPR dues." That means, she said, that "there is an indirect amount coming in" via member station dues.

That amount doesn't appear to be huge, however: According to Christopher, roughly ten percent of member stations' budget comes from the federal government. Forty percent of NPR's budget, in turn, comes from station fees. So the percentage of NPR's budget that is made up of federal money coming via station fees would be relatively small.

Where does that leave NPR? If you add up the two indirect sources of federal money - grants through CPB and member station dues - taxpayer dollars still appear to add up to less than ten percent of its budget. And while that's not negligible, it's a lot less than many people seem to think.

Now, Palin and Huckabee could counter that they are including member stations when they discuss NPR. (Though it should be noted that member stations are separate entities that both produce their own programming and take if from other sources -- and they aren't the ones that fired Williams.) If you include member stations under the "NPR" umbrella, then the CPB allocation would be fair game.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20020383-503544.html

This is not your finest hour T.

[Conan71]

So was Williams being interviewed as an individual or guest, or was he serving in his paid capacity as an NPR news analyst?

If he was in his official role as an analyst, he crossed a boundary into commentary and I could see his firing being easier to justify.  If he were on the show as a guest, I think NPR made a mistake.

[guido911]

So was Williams being interviewed as an individual or guest, or was he serving in his paid capacity as an NPR news analyst?

If he was in his official role as an analyst, he crossed a boundary into commentary and I could see his firing being easier to justify.  If he were on the show as a guest, I think NPR made a mistake.

He was on Bill O'Reilly's show on Fox News Channel, sorry, Faux Nooz/Fixed News channel.

[Conan71]

He was on Bill O'Reilly's show on Fox News Channel, sorry, Faux Nooz/Fixed News channel.

No, I caught that part.  I'd read he's a frequent guest on O'Reilly but wasn't sure if he is in his official NPR capacity or as an individual who works in the media being interviewed.  I so seldom watch commentary TV these days I don't keep up with the regulars.

Honestly, I think Williams was only saying what many of us might think if we got on an airliner and there was a Muslim in full garb.  If he was appearing on behalf of NPR or in his paid capacity, that's one thing, if he was there on his own time, he should be welcome to express an opinion.

IOW- I believe Schiller is correct a news person or news analyst should not inflect personal opinion nor emotion (in their official capacity- my parenthetical) however as a commentator, it's appropriate.  What I'm trying to ascertain is if Schiller believes reporters, anchors, and analysts do not have a right to have personal views off the clock.  That seems pretty draconian to me.

[nathanm]

What I'm trying to ascertain is if Schiller believes reporters, anchors, and analysts do not have a right to have personal views off the clock.  That seems pretty draconian to me.

If you're the face (or one of the faces) of a company, it's pretty much a given that you'll be disciplined or fired if you say things that are as stupid as what he said. It's one thing to think idiotic things like that, but it shows terrible judgment to say that out loud.

[guido911]

If you're the face (or one of the faces) of a company, it's pretty much a given that you'll be disciplined or fired if you say things that are as stupid as what he said. It's one thing to think idiotic things like that, but it shows terrible judgment to say that out loud.

Did NPR fire Totenberg over these comments?

How about this idiot's attack on Christianity:

http://www.current.org/people/peop601.html

[guido911]

Noted right wing bomb-thrower Bob Beckel just said that he gets nervous seeing Muslims dressed in their garb on airplanes. He should be fired immediately.

It appears that Sen. Jim Demint is submitting legislation to defund NPR. This guy apparently does not know that NPR does not not receive federal money.

http://messageboards.aol.com/aol/en_us/articles.php?boardId=529805&articleId=947436&func=6&channel=Member+Guided+News&filterRead=false&filterHidden=true&filterUnhidden=false

[Townsend]

You are still wrong Guido.  It doesn't matter how many times you post things and try to change the subject.

[Hoss]

You are still wrong Guido.  It doesn't matter how many times you post things and try to change the subject.

I think he needs a binky.

[guido911]

You are still wrong Guido.  It doesn't matter how many times you post things and try to change the subject.

OMG, are you still talking? You and Schiller must be the only people on the planet that believe NPR receives no taxpayer money.

[nathanm]

OMG, are you still talking? You and Schiller must be the only people on the planet that believe NPR receives no taxpayer money.

It amazes me that you can't tell the difference between a network and its affiliates. Some stations' affiliation is loose enough that they carry both NPR and PRI programming. (more like most, actually)