Juan Williams, a former senior news analyst for National Public Radio (NPR), was fired from the station after making controversial remarks about Muslims and political correctness in an interview with Fox News political commentator Bill O'Reilly.
He was trying to make a larger point about how political correctness subtracts from honesty within media and American culture in general, and he said that our irrational fears, based on cultural differences, should not form a comprehensive anxiety toward a single religious denomination, namely Islam.
Administrators at NPR isolated part of his statement, took it out of his intended context, and arranged for his termination from public radio, of which he was notified over the phone. He was not afforded a conversation or airtime to justify his remarks or make an apology.
Many believe that NPR's decision to fire Williams was lacking in good judgment and that his opinion was a perfectly valid and honest point that many Americans are afraid to make.
But people were offended by his remarks, and as soon as Williams was fired, their feelings, and the comments themselves, were thrust into the background, and it turned into a media-led game of politics that avoided the original issue.
Williams ended up putting off the people he was attempting to defend, and his refusal to apologize for the plausibly offensive statements continues to erode his original point.
In order to be a diplomatic public figure, and in order to back his original statement that was shaded in the best intentions, Williams should apologize to the people that he did offend, despite his overall meaning.
Also, NPR should have given Williams the opportunity to issue a statement that clarified his point and/or apologized for the comments.
Now, it seems, Williams is refusing to apologize to spite NPR, and instead, he is continuing to offend the people who were hurt by his comments. And now it is a media war between self-righteous news corporations, while again, Islam is put in the middle of the problem.
As a senior news analyst for a national news company, Williams should have known better than to express his opinions in a less than diplomatic fashion. Had Williams put "Some people feel that…" in lieu of "I feel that…" his relationship with NPR would have been saved, and his points would have been completely taken in stride.
Though some believe that it is a problem of censorship, Williams was given the chance to make his statement, and now he is suffering the consequences of political media. It is unreasonable to assume that Fox News would not fire one of their analysts for saying something similarly out of character for the network.
Despite his intent, his words were offensive to some, and that alone is cause for a public statement of apology. His problem is with NPR and not with the people who felt snubbed by his comments. Now, it seems to be an issue of pride, where only the originally offended are coming short of satisfaction.
