NPR Opera Host Fired for Helping Occupy Wall Street
Want to know how to get the world to care about the firing of the host of an Opera show? Fire her because of her participation in a popular social movement! Lisa Simeone, the host of NPR's World of Opera was fired for helping out Occupy Wall Street.
Unlike the Juan Williams incident, Simeone wasn't even an NPR employee: She was a freelancer with the local NPR affiliate WDAV in Charlotte, NC. But after the conservative blogosphere pointed out she had been cited as Occupy DC leader in several news articles, she was fired—stupidly, pointlessly—from the position. "What is NPR afraid I'll do — insert a seditious comment into a synopsis of Madame Butterfly?" she told War Is a Crime.
On the plus side, today everyone learned that there is a show on NPR called World of Opera. Could this actually be a ploy by NPR to get people to care about opera? Nice try, but not gonna work. [Atlantic Wire]
Update: We were a little confused: Simeone was fired from her show Soundprint, which is aired on NPR affiliates. But she will continue to host World of Opera, which is produced by NPR affiliate WDAV in North Carolina, according to Poynter.