The executive, Ronald Schiller, was recorded secretly by the Republican filmmaker and mischief-maker James O’Keefe. On the videotape, Mr. Schiller tells people posing as Muslim philanthropists that the Republican party has been “hijacked” by the Tea Party and that Tea Party supporters are “seriously racist, racist people.” Mr. Schiller indicates that he is sharing his personal point of view, not NPR’s.
Dana Davis Rehm, a spokeswoman for NPR, said in a statement Tuesday:
“We are appalled by the comments made by Ron Schiller in the video, which are contrary to what NPR stands for.”The release of the video comes at a sensitive time for NPR. Republicans in Congress who view NPR as biased are trying to cut federal funding for its local stations across the country. Some quickly seized on the video as further evidence of their views and further reason to reduce funding for the stations. Doug Lamborn, Republican of Colorado, told the Washington Examiner that the video showed “condescension and arrogance.”
On the secretly recorded video, Mr. Schiller, whose job is to solicit non-federal funding for NPR, says it is “very clear” that the organization would be “better off in the long-run without federal funding.” He adds, “The challenge right now is that if we lost it all together, we would have a lot of stations go dark.”
For an edited version of the video, see earlier posting by clicking here.
Schiller announced last week that he has accepted a job at the Aspen Institute. The nonprofit announced in an internal memo obtained by the Times: "There is no connection between the video and his decision to leave NPR," adding that the position is closer to his home in Colorado.
Read more here.
Also Must Read:
THE TWO-WAY NPR BLOG:
In Video: NPR Exec Slams Tea Party, Questions Need For Federal Funds
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