CEO Vivian Schiller out at NPR

And there were no criminal charges brought against ACORN as a result of that video.

 

I'm glad someone brought that up. Regardless of your opinion on the means used to obtain it, an NPR executive saying those things is pretty damning. What he supposedly got on ACORN was nothing but a sham.

 

But of course, the usual suspects are ignoring that rather inconvenient truth.

I wonder what laws O'Keefe broke this time out, and what part of the story he's not giving us.

 

No, it's not damning. Not at all. This guy didn't work in editorial. He didn't direct coverage.

My gosh, less than two years ago the tea party in Dallas was praising NPR's coverage of the group. http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/89865/

 

I'm not sure how criminal charges makes any difference.

Lots of good, journalistic investigations don't lead to criminal charges.

Criticize O'Keefe all you want, but this isn't the litmus test of a good investigation.

 

So, why did he resign and also turn down the new job he was scheduled to begin? Why was the CEO forced out as a result?

His views aren't criminal, obviously, and they may not have influenced NPR's coverage of the news, but they were pretty repugnant.

And, to whatever degree they were accepted within, or shared within, the hierarchy, it is concerning.

 

He'd already resigned before this came out. The CEO made it immediate, and then she fell on her sword needlessly to try to squelch the screaming harpies who think this is a bigger issue than anything else facing the nation.

This is no different than the classified ad manager saying something rude about a local politician. Was it impolite? Hell yes. Was it offensive? You bet. Did his views impact the reporting done on the tea party by NPR? Not at all.

 

I'd be pretty annoyed if a classified manager started spouting political opinions during a business meeting.

 

ACORN had their issues and questionable tactics, just like O'Keefe. The both of them cancelled each other out. ACORN did do some good things, but similar to this NPR mess, one bad apple in the cart makes all of them look bad.

O'Keefe is slimy, given how he slants it to his personal agenda. But, it doesn't excuse the VP for running his mouth and making NPR look bad. The CEO had to take the fall.

Which brings up a separate topic (that can be created on its own): do PBS, NPR, et cetera have the ability to run on their own? Do they need more viewers to support it (if fed $$ is stripped away), or do they need someone like a Buffett, or a major corp to help foot a larger bill?

 

O'Keefe is a convicted criminal who is currently on probation for trying to mess with a Congresswoman's phones.

 

And what was the point of this stunt?

 

As a national organization, federal funding seems to be a drop in the bucket for them. The individual stations would take a hit but survive without government funding.