Having a blog tempts one to spout off on subjects where you really shouldn’t. I have known Juan Williams and admired him, for a long time. I was incensed by the NPR action, but I thought I would hold my tongue since there was no dearth of negative reactions from all over the country and the political spectrum. With the dust having settled somewhat, and the event receding into last week’s news, I thought that if I had anything to say I would say it with my usual sober (?) style. Alas, I find that my temper has not cooled. I find the unpleasantness of the episode more upsetling upon further reflection. Some people do a slow burn, and perhaps that is what is happening with me. But I don't think sot.
Let’s look at the situation: what was the transgression that was supposed to have occurred? Juan, in answer to a question, observed that he had a fearful reaction on an airplane when he saw Muslims onboard but then went on to say that one should resist such feelings. Wasn’t this like the lady in the Ag Department who said she thought of not helping white farmers, but then overcame this feeling and knew that she was there to help all poor farmers? It would seem so, but apparently did not to the NPR leadership. Juan had committed an intolerable act of political incorrectness by having had the thought in the first place. The CEO had the bad judgment to deem Juan’s comment a firing offense. She then compounded the error by clumsily handling the act of firing (by her own later admission). She did not have a face-to-face meeting, a discussion with Juan (was she afraid she might change her mind?) She fired him on a telephone call, and refused to discuss or talk about the matter.
She then made the problem worse yet by making public remarks that suggested Juan might need to consult a psychiatrist and review his irrational fears, etc. Anyone who saw the clip that appeared on air was left gasping at the smirking, arrogant demeanor of the CEO. My feeling was – no, I can’t disguise it—how did this woman of such obviously bad judgment and lack of tact become the CEO of a major media company? It was then bruited that Juan may have been guilty of indiscretion before – more wrong thoughts? – and this episode was but the straw that broke the camel’s back. It led one to suspect that NPR was laying in wait to nail this fellow, an African American man who had the temerity to appear on conservative media outlets, and now could pounce.
I don't doubt that private companies have the right to fire employees. That is the unpleasant duty of managers. But if managers come to such a decision, it is their responsibility to act in a way that preserves decorum, guards feelings, and maintains the dignity and integrity of the company and of all parties concerned. The CEO in this case failed the minimum tests of discretion and cautious professional behavior. The whole business of our professional standards, news not opinions, etc. was silly. Cokie Roberts, Nina Totenberg, and he late Dan Schorr never uttered an opiion -- only reporting? Ple---ase!
And what was the reaction of our friends on the left? A certain amount of tut-tutting and conceding that procedural errors had been made but, they assured us, the real story was the vast right-wing conspiracy to defund NPR. Probably the fault of Fox News and Rupert Murdoch or other dark conservative forces. Come on, guys, give us a break!
The simple truth is that the CEO made an error in judgment, compounded the error by lack of finesse, and had the bad taste to insult a loyal employee by snide public references and insinuations of lack of mental balance. In any normal times the person in trouble would have been the CEO, not Juan Williams. It seems that we will never see normal times where something can be called what it is. To my friends on the left I say: don’t you feel a little silly trying to make political hay out of what was clearly an insupportable management action?
Can you not admit that your side made a mistake, and that invoking political motives in defense of a member of the media establishment is also a mistake? Ssurely it's obvious that the predominant tone of the media in our country today is liberal. I don't say this to attack the media or accuse friends in the media of lack of professionalism. We have here a case of what Granschi called "hegemony" -- the set of attitudes that filter one's thinking and rationalize the order of things. To claim that all our troubles are due to the likes of Fox News, whereas all other media outlets are objective, does not conform to the reality. We do need to communicate across political boundaries, but the establishment keepers of the true faith on the left and the judges of political correctness are as opinionated and intolerant as those they accuse of crossing the lines of responsible journalism.
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