Remember when NPR fired Juan Williams as a news analyst for saying on Fox News, he gets nervous when he gets on a plane and sees Muslims in Arab garb? NPR took a lot of heat, not for firing Williams, but for they way they fired him. A new report commissioned by NPR investigating the incident has caused a long time employee, Ellen Weiss, to resign.
Another seismic shake-up at NPR.
Ellen Weiss, NPR’s senior vice president for news, resigned Thursday in the wake of an outside review of NPR’s botched firing of former news analyst, Juan Williams.
Weiss, 51, almost grew up at NPR, starting at the network right after she graduated from Smith College. She rose quickly to become the top producer at All Things Considered, then the national editor. In 2007, she became head of the news division. Next month would have marked her 29th year with the company.
While some on her staff credit her for helping create the “NPRness” that distinguishes NPR stories, she also is the one who abruptly fired Williams over the telephone last October after he made a remark offensive to Muslims on Fox News
There’s no doubt that NPR poorly handled Williams’ firing – and that Weiss bore some of the responsibility. I supported terminating Williams’ contract but certainly there were smarter ways to do it.
On the bright side, Helen Thomas, ostracized for remarks she made about Israel is back to work. She is now writing a column for the Falls Church News-Press, a weekly paper in Virginia.
