NPR editor resigns in Williams firing

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- National Public Radio's top news editor has resigned over the firing in October of news analyst Juan Williams, NPR officials confirmed.

A review found the Washington-based news organization mishandled Williams' firing, and Ellen Weiss, the editor who decided to fire Williams, resigned Thursday, NPR said on its Web site.

NPR's board of directors also canceled the 2010 bonus of Chief Executive Officer Vivian Schiller, who supported the firing. Schiller made some off-the-cuff comments about the firing, and later apologized.

"I think we all know that the termination [of Williams] was not handled in the best possible way," Dave Edwards, NPR board chairman, said on the organization's Web site. "Management has previously acknowledged that fact -- they've admitted the fact that it was done hastily. I think we all know that that contributed to a lot of the misunderstandings and criticisms of NPR."

The incident that resulted in Williams' firing took place in October on the Fox News Channel, where he was also a paid commentator.

Williams said he got "nervous" when he flew with passengers dressed in "Muslim garb." Critics called the comments racial profiling.

News of Weiss's departure came the same day as the release of the findings of the review commissioned by the NPR board of directors in the wake of Williams' firing.

The law firm Weil Gotshal & Manges, which conducted the review, determined that Williams' firing was legal. The NPR board said it would overhaul the network's ethics and human resources policies.

"It doesn't surprise me that somebody was going to go after the incredibly sloppy, messy and often embarrassing severance of Juan Williams," said Robert Siegel, host of NPR's "All Things Considered" and a longtime colleague of Weiss.

Weiss said she didn't talk to the board before making her decision.

"Let's put it this way: I made a choice and I chose to resign," Weiss said.

In a meeting with NPR staff Thursday, Schiller said she "fully accepted" the decision to cancel her bonus.

The resignation came with Republicans now in the majority in the House of Representatives. Spurred, in part, by the Williams firing, GOP lawmakers vowed to cut federal funding for public broadcasting.

Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., introduced legislation this week to end NPR's direct funding but not the money it gives to affiliated stations.