NPR CEO Vivian Schiller Asked to Step Down After Project Veritas Exposé

... #ad▼

NPR president and CEO Vivian Schiller resigned Wednesday in the wake of comments by a fellow executive, who has since resigned, that angered conservatives and renewed calls to end federal funding for public broadcasting.

National Public Radio executive Ron Schiller was captured on hidden camera calling the tea party movement racist and xenophobic and said NPR would be better off without federal funding, in an embarrassment likely to fuel the latest round of conservative attacks on public broadcasting.

Ron Schiller is not related to Vivian Schiller.

Vivian Schiller was involved in an earlier controversy when she fired Juan William. NPR terminated William’s contract on Wednesday, October 20, 2010, after he made remarks on The O’Reilly Factor two days earlier. He commented, “Look, Bill, I’m not a bigot. You know the kind of books I’ve written about the civil rights movement in this country. But 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.” According to NPR, the remarks were “inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR.” As to the reason for the termination of Williams’ contract, NPR’s President and CEO Vivian Schiller offered the following comment: “News analysts may not take personal public positions on controversial issues; doing so undermines their credibility as analysts…” On October 21, 2010, Schiller told an audience at the Atlanta Press Club that Williams’ feelings about Muslims should be between him and “his psychiatrist or his publicist—take your pick.” Schiller later apologized stating, “I spoke hastily and I apologize to Juan and others for my thoughtless remark.”

See also …
Project Veritas