Clearing up a Juan Williams misconception

I have to set the record straight. Many people, including Meredith, are confusing NPR's official statement on the Juan Williams firing with a news story on NPR. It may be technical, but I think it's important.

In my story yesterday I try to make the point that the official statement from NPR DOES NOT single out Fox News as "contentious." Rather, that word is used in a separate news story written by David Folkenflik. Folkenflik writes:

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.

The official statement (which I found here) does say that Williams's remarks "were inconsistent with our [NPR's] editorial standards and practices."

Folkenflik citing NPR's Fox unrest is big -- he has a window into the organization that we don't. But attributing the quote to NPR's brass is a mistake. Not necessarily an intentional one, but a mistake nonetheless.