Learn to speak 'NPR

In their statement dismissing news analyst Juan Williams, NPR made a few points I found interesting...

Late Wednesday night, NPR issued a statement praising Williams as a valuable contributor but saying it had given him notice that it is severing his contract. "His remarks on The O'Reilly Factor this past Monday were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR," the statement read.

Williams' presence on the largely conservative and often contentious prime-time talk shows of Fox News has long been a sore point with NPR News executives.

Specifically, I find it interesting that in their firing of Williams, NPR took the time to single out Fox News as a "contentious" news network.  But more than that, it's not surprising that Juan Williams' opinions are not consistent NPR's "editorial standards" -- after all, he didn't blatantly insult anyone.

No, NPR's "standards" include calling people crazy and prominently featuring notable ridicule like this:

"There will be no apology and Fiore's cartoon is staying up," is how Ellen Weiss, senior vice president for news, responded to complaints over the cartoon. "Opinion and satire are going to sting some members of the audience and soothe others," she said, noting NPR has received some positive feedback. "This one satire is not the only coverage on the topic and while it offends some members of the audience, I see no reason to remove it." (emphasis mine)