Liberal Black Journalist Demands NPR Get Beyond Its White ‘Liberal Myopia’
On the Washington Post-owned black commentary website The Root, managing editor Joel Dreyfuss wrote an open letter to Gary Knell, the new CEO of NPR, insisting the firing of Juan Williams means NPR should respond by going beyond its white liberal “myopia” and broadening the network to more “black voices and brown voices and white voices that challenge conventional liberal thinking.” Dreyfuss applauded Knell for “your efforts to set a new tone on this volatile topic after the nasty fallout that followed the clumsy exit of commentator Juan Williams early this year. The highly publicized incident left NPR with a tarnished image, seen by many as hypocritical in its tolerance of a variety of voices, and questionable when it came to giving people of color a significant role.” Dreyfuss added: But don't mistake the fiery exit of Williams as just a nasty personnel matter gone nuclear. His departure was a sad commentary on the monochromatic vision of many liberal institutions — a disease that NPR has not escaped. Sometimes a conservative gets attention for saying or doing something that is obvious. Richard Nixon decided it was silly to pretend that communist China and its 1 billion people didn't exist. Gerald Ford admitted our defeat in Vietnam and cut our losses. And Williams says that National Public Radio has treated blacks poorly. In my opinion, Ellen Weiss, the woman who fired Williams and later resigned for her poor handling of the incident, was a powerful example of the profound challenge you face at NPR. I only met Weiss once, about a decade ago, but I never forgot our conversation. We were chatting over hors d'oeuvres at a convention of the National Association of Black Journalists, the organization I helped create. “So what do you think of All Things Considered ?” she asked, referring to the flagship NPR show she produced for many years. “I love the show,” I admitted. “But why does it have to be so white?” “But we have Juan Williams ,” she replied defensively. I almost choked on my stuffed mushroom. But since she was paying for the canap
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on October 15, 2011. Filed under