NPR chief: Sorry for how Juan Williams' firing handled

NEW YORK — NPR's chief executive says she's sorry for how analyst Juan Williams' dismissal was handled — but she's not sorry for firing him.

Vivian Schiller sent an apology to NPR staff members Sunday night. She says Williams deserved a face-to-face meeting to hear that his contract as an analyst was being terminated over remarks he made on Fox News Channel.

Williams was fired for saying he gets nervous when he's on a plane and sees people in clothing that identifies them as Muslim. NPR's management, which had long been troubled by Williams' dual role as an analyst on Fox, said the remarks violated its standards of not giving his opinion on the air.

Schiller writes: "I stand by my decision to end NPR's relationship with Juan, but I deeply regret the way I handled and explained it."

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After the firing, Schiller said publicly that whatever feelings Williams had about Muslims should be between him and "his psychiatrist or his publicist — take your pick." Schiller later apologized for that remark.

Williams said Monday that he had not received any apology from NPR or had any contact with it since the dismissal.

"Obvously, I feel that I should have had the opportunity to supply NPR with the entirety of the context of the statement to make sure they understood and I am hurt by the suggestion that I need a psychiatrist and am a bigot," Williams said.

Williams keeps up criticism of NPR

Williams said Friday on ABC's "Good Morning America" that he believes NPR had wanted to fire him for some time because they disapproved of his appearances on shows by his other employer, Fox News. Opinions Williams expressed on Fox News over the years had strained his relationship with NPR to the point that the public radio network asked him to stop using its name when he appeared on Bill O'Reilly's show.

"I think they were looking for a reason to get rid of me," he said Friday. "They were uncomfortable with the idea that I was talking to the likes of Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity." Hannity hosts another Fox show.

Cut to funding for NPR?
In response to the firing, South Carolina Republican U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint announced Friday that he will introduce legislation to end federal funding for public radio and television.

"These programs should be able to find a way to stand on their own," he said in a statement. "With record debt and unemployment, there's simply no reason to force taxpayers to subsidize a liberal programming they disagree with."

In June, Colorado Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn introduced similar legislation in the House to cut funding after fiscal year 2012.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting — which distributes federal funds to NPR, PBS and local stations — did not immediately respond to a call requesting comment Friday. Similar proposals to end taxpayer support for public broadcasting in the 1990s were not successful under then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Federal grants provide less than 2 percent — or $3.3 million — of NPR's $166 million annual budget. It is funded primarily by its affiliates, corporate sponsors and major donors. Federal funding of public media has long been questioned by some in Congress.

Schiller said Thursday that Williams had veered from journalistic ethics several times before Monday's comments.

The remarks that led to Williams' firing came during an episode of "The O'Reilly Factor."

"I mean, look, Bill, I'm not a bigot. You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country," Williams said Monday. "But when I get on a plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."

On ABC, Williams said Schiller made a personal attack against him because she had a weak argument to justify his firing.

"I think it's a very weak case," he said Friday. "And so ultimately I think what she had to do then is to make it an ad hominem or personal attack."

On his Thursday broadcast, O'Reilly blasted NPR for what he called "a disgraceful decision" and called on Schiller to resign.

"Ms. Schiller is a pinhead," said O'Reilly.