The Smithian

Massive budget shortfalls, vicious in-fighting and a power shift in Washington. Make no mistake, public media is facing the biggest ever threat to its existence…At stake are hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding and the future of such popular programs as “Nova,” “This American Life” and “Sesame Street.”

much more, here.

she has high hopes about what becomes public and what doesn’t.

Juan Williams: fired from NPR over comments about Muslims.

The move came after Mr. Williams, who is also a Fox News political analyst, appeared on the “The O’Reilly Factor” on Monday. On the show, the host, Bill O’Reilly, asked him to respond to the notion that the United States was facing a “Muslim dilemma.” Mr. O’Reilly said, “The cold truth is that in the world today jihad, aided and abetted by some Muslim nations, is the biggest threat on the planet.” Mr. Williams said he concurred with Mr. O’Reilly. He continued: “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. But when I get on the 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.” Mr. Williams also made reference to the Pakistani immigrant who pleaded guilty this month to trying to plant a car bomb in Times Square. “He said the war with Muslims, America’s war is just beginning, first drop of blood. I don’t think there’s any way to get away from these facts,” Mr. Williams said.

Who is Juan Williams?

the author of the critically acclaimed biography Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary, also the author of the nonfiction bestseller Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965, the companion volume to the critically acclaimed television series. This Far by Faith: Stories from the African American Religious Experience appeared in February 2003. This book was the basis for a six-part public broadcasting TV documentary that aired in June 2003. In 2004, Williams became involved with AARP’s Voices of Civil Rights project, leading a veteran team of reporters and editors in the production of My Soul Looks Back in Wonder: Voices of the Civil Rights Experience…in his 2006 Enough, Williams makes the case that while there is still racism, it is way past time for black Americans to open their eyes to the “culture of failure that exists within their community…During his 21-year career at The Washington Post, Williams served as an editorial writer, op-ed columnist, and White House reporter. He has won an Emmy award for TV documentary writing and won widespread critical acclaim for a series of documentaries including “Politics—The New Black Power.” Articles by Williams have appeared in magazines ranging from Newsweek, Fortune, and The Atlantic Monthly to Ebony, Gentlemen’s Quarterly, and The New Republic…Williams continues to be a contributing political analyst for the Fox News Channel and a regular panelist on Fox News Sunday. 

more, here.

Williams’ “double-life,” his NPR and Fox News personas have troubled some. More about the fine lines walked by black conservatives here.

As for me, rarely watch Fox or CNN or MSNBC. As for Williams, I respect the history, but as a pundit, he sounded like so much blah-to-the-blah-blah-blah.

But truly, with the Rick Sanchez thing, it seems it’s the people of color getting blasted, while … how long did it take Dobbs to “depart” CNN?

If someone says the wrong thing over and over everyday like a mantra, they should be kicked out. But people can’t have a conversation about race without ever saying the wrong thing. People—of all races, of all political stripes—are going to say the wrong thing.

[the pictures tell the story] NPR straight gets called out on …

one recent example of a long history of discourse relating whiteness and humanity which has its roots in racial science and ethical justifications of colonialism, slavery, and genocide (google it or something). I would argue that it matters in these contexts more than just the general vast overrepresentation of whites in the media and as allegedly race-neutral “humans” because the context here is one explicitly about defining what is human, what separates humans from animals, and about evolution as a civilizing process

all the images, here.

you know what I say: insidious. common. surprised at NPR? kinda but not really.

this is from

Benjamin Eleanor Adam, a … student at the CUNY Graduate Center, he blogs at Thinking Makes it So.