NPR news editor who sacked Juan Williams resigns

NPR's top news editor, Ellen Weiss, resigned on Thursday after the release of an internal review of the news organization's handling of the firing of analyst Juan Williams in October. And NPR's board of directors said that chief executive Vivian Schiller, who stood by the decision to fire Williams, will not receive a 2010 bonus.

Weiss was the NPR editor who fired Williams after he told Fox News host Bill O'Reilly that he became "nervous" flying with people dressed in "Muslim garb."

NPR maintained that Williams had been warned repeatedly not to express personal opinions on the air, but the firing touched off a huge firestorm of criticism. Republican members of Congress vowed to cut the broadcaster's federal funding in the wake of the episode.

Margaret Low Smith, the vice president of programming and a veteran news executive, would replace Weiss on an interim basis, NPR said.

NPR's board of directors said in a statement that it found that Williams's firing was legally sound and that it was "not the result of special interest group or donor pressure."

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