Rick Sanchez, Lee Abrams and Juan Williams. CNN, Tribune and NPR. The hair-trigger firing of corporate-media journalists, commentators and execs for single acts of offensive speech has gotten way out of hand.
CNN made news by terminating the employment of Rick Sanchez earlier this month, ostensibly for implying that Jews control the media in a satellite radio interview. Sanchez should have been dropped long ago -- his show Rick's List had become an embarrassment for CNN, the once proud network founded by Ted Turner in the '70s as an innovative, independent voice -- but what effect did his instantaneous disappearance have on the rest of the network's already timid voices?
Last week, the Tribune Company -- owner of the L.A. Times, Chicago Tribune and other giant media properties -- dispatched its "Chief Innovation Officer" Lee Abrams shortly after he'd forwarded a raunchy video from the Onion to fellow staffers already rattled by the company's endless bankruptcy proceedings. (It's hard to keep up with the almost daily absurdities at Tribune: It now appears that the company will install a Gang of Four to straighten out its gang-who-can't-shoot-straight culture.)
Abrams's pre-Trib claim to fame was in rock radio, a milieu that's often more likely to celebrate sexism than to punish it. At Trib, he was known for a sort of Abrams List of staff memos full of unintentionally hilarious ruminations, some of the juiciest of which can be found here. In my favorite, he concluded a pointless ramble with, "Are the above points valid? I don't know, but that's not the point."
An open letter Abrams posted online underscores the inconsistency of the conglomerate that is the Tribune Company: "I do find it ironic that The Onion is a business partner of The Chicago Tribune and that very clip was shown at a recent Chicago Tribune sales meeting to a rousing and positive reaction.
I could go on. Hearst fired Helen Thomas for some horrible remarks about Israel. CNNcanned Octavia Nasr after a Tweet that some interpreted as pro-Hezbollah. But with NPR's abrupt firing Thursday of veteran commentator Juan Williams in the wake of a stupid remark he made about Muslims on Fox News's The O'Reilly Factor, where he is also a regular contributor, it's time to call a trend a trend.
Granted, much of Williams' commentary on Fox -- where he's positioned as their house liberal -- isn't much more than a suck-up to the network's hosts and, worse, is at often at odds with his Centrist, more reasoned NPR spots. NPR issued a statement that said Williams was fired because despite repeated warnings, he violated their fundamental rule that "In appearing on TV... NPR journalists should not express views they would not air in their role as an NPR journalist." But isn't the chilling effect of canning the guy more damaging than, say, putting him on the air to explain himself?
Williams told his buddies at Fox -- where within hours of his NPR firing he signed a $2 million contract for an expanded role -- that he asked the axe-wielding NPR exec, "We don't have that chance to have a conversation about this?" Her reply, according to Williams, was, "There's nothing you can say that will change my mind.'" It may be that any NPR commentator also employed by Fox is a mismatch. But for staffers and listeners with their own memories of being dismissed without a fair hearing -- and I'd guess most of us have been there -- this hardly creates confidence in what aspires to be a great institution.
Weeding out poor journalists, commentators and execs is obviously a good thing. Wouldn't it be something if their huge salaries are redirected to save lower-level jobs or for investigative reporting endeavors? (Fat chance.) But it's a very bad thing that CNN, Tribune and NPR -- and most of the rest of corporate media -- are playing it extra-safe, evidently in the belief that beige content, vanilla personalities and a squeaky clean PR image will burnish their all-important brands and spur higher ratings.
It's likely these moves will have the opposite of their intended effect, again revealing how disconnected from the living, breathing world the self-perceptions of media behemoths can be. The last thing today's fragmented audiences want is over-amped political correctness. Cynical operators like Fox, Beck and Limbaugh may continue to ride high with ditto heads and Tea Partiers. The rest of us, instead of turning to CNN, the L.A. Times and, sadly, NPR, will migrate more and more to independent sources, where journalists are unafraid of losing their jobs for one remark, however ill-advised.
What's happened to the ideal of a free press speaking the truth -- or even screwing up the truth -- no matter whom it offends? America is on the verge of electing a bunch of delusional wackos to high office in spite of -- and in some cases because of -- remarks far more dangerous than anything from Sanchez, Abrams or Williams. Any of the powers that be in corporate medialand thinking about that?
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Mr Sigman, the only ones that Time Warner/Cnn should have dismissed long ago are Jeffrey Bewkes, Kenneth Jautz, Walton, Kent and Agent Shubert, who all are a joke.
Although you pretend to defend freedom of the press to try and gain some sympathy from the readers, you make a lot of attacks that are in my opinion completely useless with no evidence
Rick Sanchez' list does not make a bad journalist; I personally think that you are a very bad journalist with an agenda.
Mr Sigman you say "Sanchez should have been dropped long ago -- his show Rick's List had become an embarrassment for CNN" who are you to say that he is a bad journalist? What are your qualifications? I personally think that he is a great journalist and that you are a terrible writer.
and you continue "the once proud network founded by Ted Turner in the '70s as an innovative, independent voice"; the once proud network is today C lient N umber N ine network. CNN's main star is a former prostitute chaser and hypocrite and CNN's network is run by inept people like Jeffrey Bewkes, Kenneth Jautz. Walton and Kent. So I think you have your people very wrong.
Also, Juan Williams' comments were discriminatory towards all Muslims, including African American Muslims. Juan Williams and William O'Reilly Jr say the same things and mean the same things and fit very well together at Fox crazy-conservative network.
http://bradblog.com/
http://www.freespeech.org/
http://current.com/shows/vanguard/92467622_missionaries-of-hate-vanguard-trailer.htm
http://www.linktv.org/programs/special_orwellrolls”
Second, conservative or liberal, if you continually upset the boss, you can expect to be fired.
...we'll know the answer to that question if and when we ever get a 'free press' again. Until then it's up to the individual to get their information and decide for themselves because we can't rely on the media to give us the straight facts anymore.
Opinion rules.
I've always found it to be the exact opposite and have, more than once, tasted knuckle when trying to debate issues with conservatives.
...guess it's all in who you talk to.
understand this paradigm better that other networks. PC on FOX is not in fashion.
2nd Juan Himself Has Written About The Injustice Of Bigotry And Stereotypes
3rd This Equates To Hypocrisy But He Did Defend Muslims At The End of The Discussion
4th He stated a personal view, it was an "Ignorant, Bigoted and Hypocritical" viewpoint
The Credibility of NPR is to have "Open and Honest Discussions" across the vast realm of view point. This builds "A Wall" instead of a "Discussion and Dialog".
5th The Transcript Shows He Defended Muslims
"O’REILLY: Were they Norwegians? I mean, come on.
WILLIAMS: Wait a second though, wait, hold on, because if you said Timothy McVeigh, the Atlanta bomber, these people who are protesting against homosexuality at military funerals, very obnoxious, you don’t say first and foremost, we got a problem with Christians. That’s crazy."
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/250532/juan-williams-contd-jonah-goldberg
6th Ms Ellen Weiss, NPR's Senior Vice President For News Has Just Placed A Target On NPR With This Heavy Handed Move The Looney Tune Brown Shirt Tea Party Will Burn It To The Ground
6th This Will Only Close Fox News's "Hispanic Gap" They Will Give Him A Show With Rick Sanchez
"The Juan And Rick Show" On Fox News !
-Sarge
I say, good riddance! In recent years he's seemed to be a bit two-faced in his commentary and I think he is now where he belongs.
There is an expression that one is entitled to one's opinions but not to one's own facts.
I think now that expression is outdated totally, for it ought to be, "One is no longer entitled to both one's own opinion and one's own facts"
One could talk endlessly about the content of each case but it ultimately comes down to the judgment of the management in each case. Power allows one to fire and hire. Unfortunately, we in America have had such deficient management at all levels-political and private that the country is indeed on the wrong track aided and abetted by the two party system.
I doubt there is not one founder of this country that would approve of the empire or the way foreign and domestic policies are conducted too often using the canopy of public service for private gain for a few at the expense of the many as well as developing a kind of private foreign policy that is against the founding of the country.
All others, can be gored :)