Being Accountable: Where Does the Line Start or End?

This morning my neighbor and I went on our walk and the subject of NPR’s big brouhaha of management shake down came up.  To bring up to speed about the current event, NPR fired contributing journalist Juan Williams for saying he was uncomfortable boarding a plane with a Muslim on it, when he was on FOX news.  James O’Keefe, a conservative activist, recently did an undercover sting on one of the execs, Schiller, no relation to the CEO Vivian Schiller,  said that the tea party are racists Christian fanatics and that NPR does not really need the federal funding it gets from the feds.  Vivian Schiller stepped down because the board pretty much told her either she was fired or she had to resign and executive Ron Schiller was fired. 

First off did they not  fire Juan Williams for “racist” comments on another network?   Isn’t it what is good for the goose is good for the gander?  I really don’t care what was said about the tea party or Juan’s issue with getting on a plane with Muslims.  What I care about, and what I think NPR cared about, was Ron Schiller getting caught with his pants down on tape saying that NPR does not need federal funding.   He is one of the faces of NPR and even if he believes that, he is accountable to the board of directors and those that sign his paycheck to have and edit button on his pie hole, he just had a huge wake up call.  I feel NPR did the right thing.

Now, let’s get real here.  Anyone that listens to NPR on a daily basis, knows that NPR leans more to the social left so being targeted by a conservative activists because it is funded by the tax payers on where they really stand on issues is not suprising and they should know that as well.

I don’t like shady operations, I like everything out on the table and seeing everyone’s cards.  However we live in a society where both sides of the political spectrum do pretty outrageous things to prove or make a point and the conservative activist group found their golden nugget of opportunity and now we are dealing with the emotional fall out of that act.

 I see that many are outraged that NPR fired these two executives and a journalist for saying and doing things that are not “socially/politically correct”.  I say good for NPR.  These people were representatives for NPR and getting paid very well to be that face of NPR and there should be consequences to be in that role stating extreme opinions and speaking off the record about financial standings of that company.  Luckily for NPR President Obama is going to protect its funding despite this hiccup of diarrhea of the executive pie hole.  Yet, I do ask the question if NPR can really afford to be on the air without the federal dollars, then why are we not taking the money back and applying it to other areas of need?  Just a thought to ponder on.

The question I have for you fellow bloggers is the what was asked me today.  Where is the line crossed when you are accountable of what you say and do even if it is off the record and in a casual environment? 

My answer is that if you have a level of authority or a face of a “thing” you are accountable for everything you say and do on and off the record.   You are being compensated accordingly to be that face and it is a 24 hour job.  If you don’t want that responsibility, then step down.  I think the consequences that NPR handed out were fair.