Anyone interested in the Juan Williams controversy should read the following February 2009 post on NPR.org by the NPR ombudsman. So refreshing to have actual facts reported along with opinion. This post lauds Williams' achievements as a journalist, quotes other well known NPR reporters speaking about Juan Williams in glowing and bewildered terms, and discusses the pitfalls of holding two jobs in two news organizations with such different purposes, principles and goals.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/ombudsman/2009/02/juan_williams_npr_and_fox_news_1.html
Then read the recent ombudsman post on Williams' firing. Once again, facts! The post lays out the ways in which Williams did, in fact, act in contradiction to the code of ethics of one of his employers.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/ombudsman/2010/10/21/130713285/npr-terminates-contract-with-juan-williams
By the way, I can't find a code of ethics for Fox News. Surely one exists?
Hi Molly,
ReplyDeleteI think the piece you found was very good.
The Juan Williams' case, however, points up a pervasive problem that exists in reporting today: Except in rare instances -- or something like Meet the Press -- I believe that reporters interviewing other reporters is not good policy. Reporters are not subject matter experts (except for the subject of reporting). Realize that especially on TV there's a lot of air time to fill up and that has probably created a catch-as-catch-can mentality. Just my two-cents...