Journalism Today

I think the rules of journalism have changed today in the sense that what journalists can and cannot say, at the riskof sounding either offensive or politically incorrect. Despite the current mood of the country being anti-Muslim, one cannot report their own opinions as news because it is simply not objective. what Williams did was inexcusable: he forgot himself and stated his personal opinion on national television, causing an immediate backlash.

Williams (and O'Reilly) seem to believe that there is a difference between a feeling and an opinion, when they are essentially the same thing. To say "I feel" or "I think" is in no way fact, so despite William's constant protest of innocence, he is very much guilty of giving his opinion where it did not belong. If I were in his shoes, I would go on camera and give an apology to all those he offended. He claims he's not a bigot because of all the books he wrote on the civil rights movement, but the plight of black people and of Muslims are two very different situations. If I were the CEO of NPR, I still would have terminated his contract--I think they have acted accordingly in this case.