Conservatives Rally behind Juan Williams

Conservatives are expressing the view that NPR went too far in firing news analyst Juan Williams for saying he gets nervous on a plane when he sees people in Muslim dress.

It is simply a statement of true concern and fear from Williams. Would this have mattered as much if Oprah said it? Katie Couric and others?

JUAN WILLIAMS: FIRST THOUGHTS

The folks at National Public Radio fired Juan Williams, ostensibly because of his comments on “The O’Reilly Factor,” which were judged by NPR to be “inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR.”

Here is the offending statement: “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.”

It’s a remark that reminds me of Jesse Jackson’s frank (and controversial at the time) observation that when he heard footsteps behind him on a dark street, he tended to be relieved when the person following him turned out to be a young white male and not a young black male.

Williams is an intelligent, moderate, nuanced member of the media establishment, and so naturally he brings precisely those qualities to Fox. The effect is similar to the presence of David Brooks on the Lehrer News Hour. Williams makes Fox interesting, buttressing its claim that it reflects a cross section of American opinion and not just a narrow ideological position. This is precisely what the liberal media establishment does not want.

WRONG COLOR..

The percentage of minorities in newsrooms totaled 13.26 percent, a decline of .15 percentage points from a year ago, according to the American Society of News Editors, which has conducted a census of newsrooms since 1978 primarily as a means of measuring minority employment.

Highlights of the 2010 Survey
Supervisors: Minorities account for 11 percent of all supervisors in newsrooms, which remains virtually unchanged for the past three years. Of all minorities, 21 percent are supervisors.

Newspapers with no minorities: 465 newspapers responding to the ASNE census had no minorities on their full-time staff. This number has been growing since 2006. All newspapers but one with circulations of 50,000 or more that responded to the census had at least one minority staffer.

This makes me wonder am I not qualified or am I just not the right color?

Where do minorities work: Nearly two-thirds of minorities work at newspapers with circulations exceeding 100,000. The percentage of minorities working at newspapers with more than 500,000 circulation is 18 percent, 250,001 to 500,000 circulation, 19 percent; 100,001 to 250,000 circulation now account for 29 percent.

Other Findings

Online: The census found 1,333 journalists worked solely online at both print and online only newspapers of which nearly 20 percent were minority.
ASNE started counting online-only journalists working in print newsrooms in 2007. This year ASNE also surveyed 28 online only newspapers receiving 25 percent responses.

Internships: The percentage of interns who are minorities stands at 27.4 percent, a increase from 26.4 percent last year.

First time hires: Minorities represented 16 percent of the journalists hired for their first full-time newsroom job, the same as last year.

Women: Women working full-time in daily newspapers total about 15,200 or 36.62 percent. Minority women accounted for 16.3 percent of female newsroom staffers.

Men: Men total just over 26,300. Minority men account for 11.5 percent of male newsroom staffers.

FOUNDER'S DAY CELEBRATION

Every year a special day is set aside to honor the founders and celebrate the existence of Jackson State University. This year, that day felt warm, bright and sunny on a Thursday and was highlighted by a history lesson that recounted 133 years of JSU's survival. The message was clear to the students, faculty, staff, administrators and alumni gathered for the Founders' Day convocation in the Rose Embly McCoy Auditorium.

The keynote speaker Joseph A. Tucker stated that Jackson State has been through many struggles, but with the help of the university's founders, past presidents, students, faculty, staff and administrators, the institution was able to grow from a small seminary to Mississippi's Urban University.

Following the speech, the annual bell ringing ceremony was conducted to commemorate the time in the 1920s when students' schedules were regulated by the bell.

Julia - Tv Series (1976)The Wheel Deal 1of 3

"BACK IN THE DAY"

The TV show JULIA ran on air from September 1968 until March 1971. In ran for 86 episodes on NBC. The show was considered a comedy in which did not have a laugh track throughout the series. The show starring, actress and singer Diahann Carroll played widow singled mother Julia Baker who was a nurse in a doctors office. Her husband was apparently shotdown in Vietnam. Julia is remembered for being groundbreaking, but critics has have insulted it saying that it was to political and unrealistic. Critics claimed that she did not portray the "typical" black woman. It was initial controversy for the non traditional black role; she wasn't somebody's maid like most other characters. The liberal white press and young militant blacks criticized and finally denounced the tv show as false and distorted.

Please share with me your views on the show. I will share an episode that I really thought was interesting.