[Update] Juan Willaims writes "I Was Fired for Telling the Truth." Video of Williams and O'Reilly's reactions at Part #2 of this post, found here.
Below is the segment of the O'Reilly Factor where Juan Williams made statements, using his first amendment right to freedom of speech to which NPR (National Public Radio) terminated his contract, firing him, for saying.
Watch for yourself, the controversy surrounding this issue below video because readers should hear all the remarks, in context.
NPR claims Williams' comments violated the terms of his contract with them, so they fired him.
The fallout and reactions have been like a firestorm throughout the media and blogosphere, with Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin both calling on Congress to strip funding from NPR, Bernie Goldberg who is a television news reporter and winner of 10 Emmy Awards calls this the "Death of Liberalism.
Even some liberal bloggers, while not agreeing with Williams' statement itself, stating that "Mediaite has a transcript of an interview with Williams about his firing. Again, I didn't like Williams' statement, but this is the kind of thing you should be able to say on TV without getting fired."
A look at Memeoranum shows the flap over this is wide and opinions varied and doesn't appear to be letting up in any way:
Brian Stelter / New York Times:
NPR Ends Analyst's Contract After Comments on Muslims — NPR has terminated its contract with Juan Williams, one of its senior news analysts, after he made comments about Muslims on the Fox News Channel. — NPR said in a statement that it gave Mr. Williams notice of his termination on Wednesday night.Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Atlas Shrugs, PR Newswire, NO QUARTER, Outside the Beltway, Moonbattery, And So it Goes in Shreveport, NewsBusters.org blogs, The Anchoress, Jihad Watch, Questions and Observations, Flopping Aces, News Hounds, Examiner, Stop The ACLU, TigerHawk, neo-neocon, Babalú Blog, RealClearPolitics Video Log, The Daily Caller, Pajamas Media, GetReligion, Guardian, Commentary, Gawker, Indecision Forever, Mediaite, Politics Daily, Althouse, Scared Monkeys, Taylor Marsh, Don Surber, Gateway Pundit, Washington Monthly, Weasel Zippers, No More Mister Nice Blog, Newshoggers.com, Sweetness & Light, Left Coast Rebel and Oliver Willis, more at Mediagazer »RELATED:
NPR Ends Williams' Contract After Muslim Remarks — NPR News has terminated the contract of longtime news analyst Juan Williams after remarks he made on the Fox News Channel about Muslims. — Williams appeared on “The O'Reilly Factor,” Monday and host Bill O'Reilly asked him to comment …Discussion: The Hill, Mediaite, The Huffington Post, Washington Wire, PostPartisan, JSOnline, The Awl, YID With LID, The Jawa Report, The Daily Caller, Pajamas Media, The Page, National Review, Bearing Drift, ThinkProgress, FishbowlDC, TPM LiveWire, Speakeasy, Betsy's Page, Conservatives4Palin.com, NPR Topics, TalkLeft, Raw Story, Hubbub and LewRockwell.com Blog
On Juan Williams — Since my ThinkProgress colleagues are sort of “part of the story” in terms of Juan Williams getting sacked from NPR I'm a bit hesitant to comment on it. But as in the case of Rick Sanchez it seems to me that if you assume Williams has been doing valuable work all these years …Discussion: The New Republic, Dennis the Peasant, A plain blog about politics and WAMU 88.5
NPR fires Juan Williams over anti-Muslim remarks — Veteran journalist Juan Williams was fired from his job as senior news analyst for National Public Radio late Wednesday because of comments he made about Muslims and terrorism on “The O'Reilly Factor” on Fox News Channel.Huckabee calls on Congress to cut NPR funding — “NPR has discredited itself as a forum for free speech and a protection of the First Amendment rights of all and has solidified itself as the purveyor of politically correct pabulum and protector of views that lean left,” Huckabee said in a statement provided to CNN.Discussion: The Politico, Gawker and Ben Smith's Blog, more at Mediagazer »
Firing offense: NPR axes Juan Williams for opinions on Muslims & post-9/11 travel — Un-freaking-believable. — Cable news blogger Johnny Dollar red-flagged NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik's Twitter feed, which announced tonight that liberal NPR analyst/Fox News contributor Juan Williams' contract …Discussion: ThinkProgress, RedState, The Daily Dish, The Huffington Post, Wonkette, Media Research Center, Balloon Juice, The Other McCain, The Sundries Shack, Outside the Beltway, Political Byline, Stop The ACLU, The Powers That Be, National Review, NewsBusters.org blogs, Sweetness & Light, Pajamas Media, Liberty Pundits Blog, protein wisdom and iOwnTheWorld.comStatement On NPR Firing Juan Williams — NPR has fired Juan Williams as a result of comments he recently made on The Bill O'Reilly show. The comments were his personal admission that while he is certainly not a bigot, he said he was nervous when someone in Muslim garb and spouting Muslim doctrine got …Discussion: The Politico, Washington Post, CNN, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Daily CallerNPR fires Juan Williams for anti-Muslim bigotry — (updated below) — On Monday, I documented the glaring double standard in our political discourse generally and in the world of journalism specifically, whereby anti-Muslim bigotry is widely tolerated, while those perceived as expressing similar …Discussion: NPR, The Impolitic, The Daily Dish, Pajamas Media and TalkLeft
Opinion: Juan Williams, NPR and the Death of LiberalismDiscussion: protein wisdom, Top of the Ticket, Hot Air and five feet of fury.
Why NPR Was Wrong to Fire Juan WilliamsDiscussion: RedState, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and AmSpecBlog, more at Mediagazer »
National Politically-correct RadioDiscussion: The Atlantic Online, Media Decoder, Gateway Pundit, Commentary and National Review, more at Mediagazer »
Did Juan Williams Say What Most People Are Thinking?NEW!Discussion: Radio & TV Talk and Joe. My. God.
Reflections On Stigma — National Public Radio has reportedly …Discussion: Yglesias and The Daily Dish
Should Juan Williams have been fired?Discussion: ECHIDNE of the snakes, Mediaite and BLACKFIVE
NPR memo to stations: why we fired Juan Williams10 minutes agoDiscussion: The Huffington Post, Hit & Run and Gawker
Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee blast NPR over Juan Williams firingDiscussion: Daily Kos, TalkLeft, Weasel Zippers, AMERICAblog News and Wonkette
NPR fires Juan Williams over comments about Muslims flyingDiscussion: Los Angeles Times, Top of the Ticket, The Right Scoop, Fausta's Blog, Political Byline and GayPatriot
The left is doing to Juan Williams what the right did to Shirley Sherrod.10 minutes ago
NPR Fires Juan Williams Over Remarks Made About Muslims On O'Reilly FactorNEW!
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[Update] Interesting little tidbit about NPR and George Soros: