I hasten to admit up front that this comes from a column by a conservative in a conservative newspaper (not WSJ), and, as usual in columns, he cites no source.   Particularly annoying that he doesn't cite the name of the ombudsman.

But if he is correct, the idea in this thread (that it's reasonable Williams was fired since he gave his own opinion) falls completely.

Column says:   "Yet last year, NPR's ombudsman wrote: "NPR's management put (Williams) on contract with the title 'news analyst' largely to give him more latitude about what he says. He's now paid to give his opinion, and with three decades in the news business, it is often a valuable take on today's politics."

Column also points out that Cokie Roberts called Glenn Beck a "terrorist". Whether or not you agree with Cokie, that sounds like an opinion to me.

NPR has left itself wide open to various charges on this one.