Shakeup Of Top Brass At NPR Comes Amid Funding Flap

Washington - National Public Radio's board sent CEO Vivian Schiller packing today following a flap over federal funding and some prejudicial remarks made by another executive, Ron Schiller, disparaging conservatives in general and Tea Party members in particular.

Two investigative journalists posed as Muslim activists with $5 million to donate and drew Mr. Schiller out on his opinions about conservative politics and perceived animosity toward the Islamic faithful.

Mr. Schiller is of no relation to Ms. Schiller. He, too, has resigned amid the furor raised by his remarks, which included characterization of the conservative movement as anti-intellectual, unededucated, “gun-toting,” racist, and “scary.” Conservatives, Mr. Schiller told his interlocutors, are very involved in attempting to control what people do with their personal lives.

After 25 years in the electronic journalism business, Ms. Schiller came to NPR after a career at the “New York Times” Company as Senior Vice President and General Manager of NYTimes.com, the newspaper's web outlet.

She had previously worked in the Discovery Times organization, a television production company.

Ms. Schiller also worked at CNN as a top executive.

She fired pundit Juan Williams last year because of remarks he made about Muslims making him nervous when he boards commercial flights.

The ongoing controversy and cultural clash has provoked calls by conservatives to cut off all federal funding for National Public Radio.

The radio network serves 30 million listeners nationwide and is the producer of the well-respected “All Things Considered” afternoon drive-time news show that is broadcast on educational FM stations coast to coast.