Juan Williams, the $2 million martyr
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There's an element of jealousy that needs to be acknowledged in l'affaire Juan Williams. Very few of us in the media commentariat will ever see the kind of dollars that will rain down on Mr. Williams over the next three years in his newly expanded role at Fox News.
That alone makes us bitter and hostile.
Mr. Williams hit the equivalent of the lottery last week when NPR fired him by phone for what it perceived as anti-Muslim statements he made in his role as Bill O'Reilly's "liberal" conscience on "The O'Reilly Factor."
Within a day of being sacked by NPR, Mr. Williams was offered a $2 million contract by Fox News. That's the kind of career rebound most of us wouldn't even dare imagine, especially after admitting as Mr. Williams did that he gets "nervous" whenever airplane passengers wearing "Muslim garb" take their seats in coach.
Using his own irrational fears as a springboard, Mr. Williams attempted to school Mr. O'Reilly on the unfairness of stereotyping Muslims or any group based on the actions of a few. It was a little too much nuance in the sea of bellicosity that passes for dialogue on "The O'Reilly Factor."
Mr. Williams' point also was lost on his chablis-swilling, brie-eating bosses at NPR. Because they were obviously looking for a reason to show their troublesome "news analyst" the door, his admission that Muslims made him nervous provided an opportunity to appear virtuous while trimming a bore from the payroll.
Somewhere, former USDA official Shirley Sherrod was smacking her forehead. You don't have to be a fan of Mr. Williams -- I'm not -- to see the unfairness of firing a long-term employee who also happens to be the network's only non-white news analyst without benefit of a face-to-face conversation explaining why.
NPR's hastiness in firing Mr. Williams mirrors the big media trend of firing high-profile journalists and commentators perceived as offending a significant part of its constituency.
CNN canned Rick Sanchez for offensive comments about Jews and nixed Octavia Nasr for praising a Hezbollah leader; Hearst sacked Helen Thomas for an anti-Semitic rant. All the firings came within a day, if not hours, of the stories' saturation coverage. Firing Mr. Williams was NPR's contribution to this depressing trend. The media environment is toxic enough without commentators having to worry about perceived biases, but not actual biased reporting becoming a pretext for dismissal.
First Published October 26, 2010 12:00 am
