NPR Gets Unwanted Publicity Over Firing Williams

Juan Williams made a comment on “The O’Reilly Factor” Monday night. On Wednesday night, Williams got the news that he had been fired. National Public Radio (NPR) fired him because of a comment – that he felt uneasy when he saw Muslims on airplanes. The Juan Williams story garnered national attention.

But the issue at hand is really not about his comment. The real heat is about the federal government funding NPR. Were you aware that a percentage of the funding of NPR and PBS is funded by taxpayers? Well, the news is definitely out now.

South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint wants to put an end to taxpayer subsidies for public television and public radio. Here’s a piece by USA Today:

“Once again we find the only free speech liberals support is the speech with which they agree,” DeMint said. “The incident with Mr. Williams shows that NPR is not concerned about providing the listening public with an honest debate of today’s issues, but rather with promoting a one-sided liberal agenda.”

On Fox News Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma said:

“NPR just got $1.8 million from George Soros, so they don’t need any money from us. Is there not enough choice in the media today, both in radio and television, that the federal government should continue to spend a half-billion dollars a year on government-subsidized media? Where in the Constitution does it say that the federal government is supposed to be funding public television or radio? I’ll be offering an amendment to de-fund it.”

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) was created by Congress on November 7, 1967,  by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Historically, 15% to 20% of the aggregate revenues of all public broadcasting stations have been funded from federal sources, principally through CPB.

Juan Williams may have lost his job at NPR, but he got a nice, fat  contract with Fox News not long after the axe hit.  The National Public Radio later admitted to the mistake, after receiving more than 8,000 e-mails, and further adding discontent with the liberal culture.