Conservatives and Fox News Outraged as NPR Analyst Fired for “Anti-Islam Remarks”

The “anti-Islam” remarks of a news analyst employed by America’s National Public Radio (NPR) have set off a chain reaction of controversy.

NPR fired the news analyst upon protest from Islamic organizations. The dismissal was in turn met with sweeping backlash from conservative politicians and Republican officials.

This incident began on October 18, when NPR news analyst Juan Williams appeared on the O’Reilly Factor, a program on the conservative Fox News Channel.

“When I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous,” Williams said on-air.

Within seconds of this remark, widespread criticism emerged throughout the blogosphere to create a formidable current of online public censure, while the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called in to NPR and lodged a complaint. Two nights later, NPR dismissed Williams, stating that his remarks were “inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices.” Williams had breached the principle of impartiality — one of NPR’s core values.

NPR’s measures have drawn fierce criticism from conservative politicians. Figures such as former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin, former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee and Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner inveighed against NPR. “NPR defends 1st Amendment Right, but will fire u if u exercise it,” said Palin via Twitter.

“I think it’s reasonable to ask why Congress is spending taxpayers’ money to support a left-wing radio network,” Boehner said, “and in the wake of Juan Williams’ firing, it’s clearer than ever that’s what NPR is.” In a statement on his blog, Huckabee claimed that he would “no longer accept interview requests from NPR.”

Williams could not hide his disappointment as he recounted what he had said in the phone call through which he was fired: “I don’t even get the chance to come in and we do this eyeball to eyeball, person to person and have a conversation. I’ve been there more than 10 years. We don’t have a chance to have a conversation about this.”

Meanwhile, the left-leaning New York Times asserted that the Williams incident “put into sharp relief the two forms of journalism,” adding that, “after dismissing Mr. Williams, who was one of its senior news analysts, NPR argued that he had violated the organization’s belief in impartiality, a core tenet of modern American journalism. By renewing Mr. Williams’s contract, Fox News showed its preference for point-of-view — rather than the view-from-nowhere — polemics.” The New York Times cited a report in the Los Angeles Times to disclose that Fox News had offered Williams a new three-year contract worth $2 million.

This incident raises the question of whether American “political correctness” is somewhat excessive. Although many people may hold a particular view on race or religion, American society has absolutely no tolerance for such views as soon as they are uttered by a public figure and cross into politics.

The fall from grace of legendary White House Press Corps reporter Helen Thomas stems from a similar context. Thomas dishonorably resigned last June over the controversy of her “anti-Semitic remarks.”