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Sunday, December 19, 2010

Fired NPR Analyst Juan Williams Signs Two-Book Deal

Source: Hollywood Reporter

By Kimberly Nordyke  14 Dec 2010

Crown Publishing Group says first book will "focus on free speech and the growing difficulty in America of speaking out on sensitive topics."



Juan Williams, the NPR senior news analyst who was fired in October after making comments about Muslims, has signed a two-book deal, the New York Times reported.
Williams' deal with the Crown Publishers imprint of Random House's Crown Publishing Group comes two months after he was terminated for saying he gets nervous when seeing people in Muslim garb on airplanes during an appearance on Fox News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor.
Crown said Williams' first book, planned for a summer release, will "focus on free speech and the growing difficulty in America of speaking out on sensitive topics."
Williams "will argue that the American public benefits from a vigorous and full-throated debate on hot button issues of political and cultural import" and "chronicle his own first-hand experience of the consequences of crossing the line in public expression," Crown said.
At the time of his termination, NPR said Williams' remarks "were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR."
But Williams, who later accepted a $2 million offer to join Fox News Channel, has since been quoted as saying he's "not even sure what I did wrong."
Terms of the book deal were not disclosed.