CORRECTION: In a case of too many Schillers, we learned that Ron Schiller is a fundraising executive for NPR while Vivian Schiller is the organization’s CEO. They are, apparently, not related. Vivian Schiller resigned over the exec’s remarks. Ron Schiller has sped up his planned departure in May by resigning effective immediately.
A clandestine videotape taken of NPR head Ron Schiller calling Tea Party members “racists” has given the right wing something to say “Gotcha” about.
The tape was released today as part of Project Veritas, an ambush expose’ outfit headed by rightist activist James O’Keefe, on which Schiller was caught making a few statements which opponents would probably say is a wide generalization of the ultra-right-wing political movement. O’Keefe has been involved in a number of stunts targeting those he see as leftist enemies. The list includes the activist organization ACORN, and a failed, but sleazy attempt to catch CNN investigative reporter Abbie Boudreau in a compromising position. A bungled attempt to wiretap the office of Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana led to O’Keefe and associates pleading to lesser, federal misdemeanor charges of entering a federal facility under false pretenses. O’Keefe received three year’s probation, a $1,500 fine and 100 hours of community service.
Schiller made the comments — I haven’t heard or seen a full transcript of the two-hour tape — during a meeting in February with two men posing as potential donors from a group affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. O’Keefe’s organization said on their Web site that the fakers had posed as “a non-existent group with a goal to ‘spread the acceptance of Sharia across the world. ‘ ” Of course, one wonders how they could spread anything around the world if the organization didn’t exist?
NPR, of course, which receives federal funding has been trying to apologize ten different ways for the gaffe and I suppose that is the thing to do
One thing to be sure of, when the head of a large organization which depends on donors talks privately with potential money sources there will likely be people with points of view which might inadvertently rub others the wrong way. One must also wonder, would Schiller laugh, say nothing, or storm out indignantly if his potential donor had been an extreme right-winger who told a racist joke about Obama?
Even though Schiller would still have been hot water he would have the truth on his side had he qualified his remarks with “some of the Tea party members are white, gun-toting racists.” You can’t convince me otherwise that “some” aren’t.
O’Keefe, for his part, seems to have taken a high-tech approach to the guerrilla tactics of 60s left-wing groups what with their stopping short of little to prove their point. I could imagine that he is relishing in all the attention he is getting. His statements indicate he holds delusions of grandeur, and seeing himself doing great journalism. Credits for the O’Keefe-produced video go to “PV investigative reporters” Shaughn Adeleye and Simon Templar, according to the Project Veritas Web site. The name Simon Templar, for those who might not know or remember, is the name of a fictional thief in a series of books and the late 1960s television show, “The Saint.” The latter starred later James Bond, Roger Moore.
While some undercover video has proven essential in good journalism, a difference exists between exposing that which is wrong and exposing that which is goaded wrong. People say things for different reasons. Likewise, sometimes in the world of business a person has to think about when is the right time to take a stand and when should one just keep their mouths shut. Clearly, the latter would have been the more prudent path for Schiller even though like many, many others, what he said about some Tea Party members is only four-to-six letters from hammering the nail.
The video has harmed NPR and I hate to see that. Maybe it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Perhaps it seems a little uppity at times. It mostly isn’t. The network of stations do provide a worthwhile alternative to the mindless sea of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and robo disc jockeys one finds on radio these days. I read their news online quite often because I know they have some very talented reporters, some of whom go to places no other journalists go to these days.
As for O’Keefe and company, they are doing the right-wing’s dirty work. The right cannot provide thoughtful debate on the issues in the open air so they use the gutter as their forum. O’Keefe may consider what his people do as journalism. I see it closer to pitiful performance art tied up into character assassination. I don’t think the video, in the end, will matter a whole lot.
