NPR retains outside fire to review l'affair de Williams

After the mediasphere firestorm and political attack over last month's firing of news analyst Juan Williams, critics of the controversial decision by National Public Radio management were no-shows the public session of the NPR Board at the network's headquarters in Washington (DC).

The internal review initiated after the firing is being conducted by an outside party, the law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. The firm has handled many high-stakes jobs for NBC, Universal, Fox, CBS and other media companies, including NBC's purchases of the Lifetime, Oxygen and Weather channels, and the NBC-Comcast merger. Years earlier the firm defended CBS against the Brown & Williamson tobacco company's attempt to subpeona materials used in 60 Minutes' reporting on the company.