NPR political commentator Juan Williams who was fired on Wednesday (Oct 20, 2010) for his comments about Muslims was hired by Fox News.
Williams, a longtime contributor to NPR, was on the Fox news program The O’Reilly Factor on Monday at what time he made the commentary that cost him his job. Fox, however, has offered the journalist a 3-year, $2 million salary. NPR’s policy says journalists should not participate in media "that encourage punditry and speculation rather than fact-based analysis."
However, Williams feels he was fired over something else.
"I don't fit of their box," Williams said. "I'm not predictable, black, liberal. And let me inform you something else, you're exactly right whenever you said you know what this comes right down to, they were looking for a reason to remove me because I'm appearing on Fox News. They don't need me talking to you."
After Juan Williams graduated from college having a BA in philosophy he was immediately hired on at the Washington Post and worked being a journalist and editor and writer. How on earth did that happen? Just how do you obtain employment like a journalist should you don’t possess a journalism degree?
NPR’s CEO said Thursday that controversial opinions should not come from NPR reporters or news analysts and the whatever feelings fired analyst Juan Williams has about Muslims should be between him and “his psychiatrist or his publicist.
Juan Williams joined FOX News in 1997 as a political contributor. He's an everyday panelist on FOX Broadcasting's Sunday morning public affairs program, "FOX News Sunday." Furthermore, Williams anchors weekend daytime live coverage on the FOX News Channel.
Before coming to FOX, Williams spent 23 years at The Washington Post, where he served as an article writer, op-ed columnist and White House correspondent. From 2000-2001, Williams hosted National Public Radio's (NPR) national call-in show "Talk belonging to the Nation." For the reason that role, he traveled to cities across America for monthly radio town hall meetings before live audiences. Williams is currently a senior national correspondent for NPR.
The recipient of an Emmy Award for television documentary writing, Williams also won widespread critical approval for a number of documentaries including, "Politics:The New Black Power" and "A. Philip Randolph: For Jobs and Freedom." He is a author generally the non-fiction bestseller, "Eyes on The Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965" and "Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary." Williams has also written numerous articles for national magazines including Fortune, The Atlantic Monthly, Ebony, GQ and The New Republic, besides appearing on numerous television programs including ABC's "Nightline," PBS' "Washington Week in Review" and "Oprah."
Williams is a graduate of Haverford College.
Possible presidential candidates Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin, as well as House Speaker Newt Gingrich, have called NPR’s decision to terminate Williams’ contract as a “total act of censorship.”