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| NPR Rebuffs White House On Bush Talk |
| 2007-09-27 |
| The White House reached out to National Public Radio over the weekend, offering analyst Juan Williams a presidential interview to mark yesterday's 50th anniversary of school desegregation in Little Rock. But NPR turned down the interview, and Williams's talk with Bush wound up in a very different media venue: Fox News. Williams said yesterday he was "stunned" by NPR's decision. "It makes no sense to me. President Bush has never given an interview in which he focused on race. . . . I was stunned by the decision to turn their backs on him and to turn their backs on me." Ellen Weiss, NPR's vice president for news, said she "felt strongly" that "the White House shouldn't be selecting the person." She said NPR told Bush's press secretary, Dana Perino, that "we're grateful for the opportunity to talk to the president but we wanted to determine who did the interview." When the White House said the offer could not be transferred to one of NPR's program hosts, Weiss took a pass. Perino said she called Williams with the offer Saturday because of the Little Rock anniversary and the racial controversy over charges of excessive prosecution in Jena, La. "We thought this would be a good opportunity for the president to sit down with someone and have a broader conversation about race relations," Perino said. "The president has talked with Juan before and we know him well. He's active in trying to keep good relations with us. . . . We could have done a print interview, but I felt I wanted people to hear the president's voice." |
| Posted by:Deacon Blues |
| #3 No one but Democrats listens to NPR anyway. |
| Posted by: RWV 2007-09-27 20:00 |
| #2 You mean I won't be on NPR? What's for breakfast? |
| Posted by: GWB 2007-09-27 19:09 |
| #1 npr wanted an impartial reporter like Bill Moyers. |
| Posted by: Phinater Thraviger 2007-09-27 14:07 |