NPR CEO Says Resignation Was Necessary

WASHINGTON (AP) -- National Public Radio President and CEO Vivian Schiller says she resigned because it would have been too difficult for NPR to confront a possible loss of federal funding if she had remained in charge.

Schiller tells The Associated Press that she resigned after a discussion with NPR's board of directors. She would not say whether she offered to quit or was asked.

Her resignation comes a day after a conservative activist posted a video in which a fellow NPR executive blasts tea party

Republicans as "xenophobic" and "racist."

Schiller says NPR is facing the most serious threat yet to its funding -- not because of the comments in the video but because of the massive federal deficit. She says there's "extraordinary pressure" on Congress to make cuts and that the remarks by Ron Schiller were "outrageous and unfortunate" at such a critical time.

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