NPR Turmoil, Resignation Comes Amid Funding Fight

WASHINGTON (AP) -- NPR will forge ahead in the fight for federal money despite six months of bad PR -- and without its chief executive.

Vivian Schiller, NPR's president and CEO, resigned Wednesday to limit the damage from hidden camera footage of a fellow executive deriding the tea party movement as "seriously racist." Conservatives call the video proof the network is biased and undeserving of federal funds.

From the news organization's perspective, the timing is exceptionally bad. The battle for funds will be the toughest yet, with Republicans in the new House majority looking to cut all federal funding of public radio and television.

Schiller says staying on as chief executive would only hurt the looming battle over funding, which public broadcasting officials claims would force some stations to fold.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)