NPR Attempts Its Own Special Brand Of Censorship
Executives at National Public Radio recently asked the network’s top political correspondent, Mara Liasson, to reconsider her regular appearances on Fox News because of what they perceived as the network’s political bias, two sources familiar with the effort said.
According to a source, Liasson was summoned in early October by NPR’s executive editor for news, Dick Meyer, and the network’s supervising senior Washington editor, Ron Elving. The NPR executives said they had concerns that Fox’s programming had grown more partisan, and they asked Liasson to spend 30 days watching the network.
At a follow-up meeting last month, Liasson reported that she’d seen no significant change in Fox’s programming and planned to continue appearing on the network, the source said.
NPR’s focus on Liasson’s work as a commentator on Fox’s “Special Report” and “Fox News Sunday” came at about the same time as a White House campaign launched in September to delegitimize the network by painting it as an extension of the Republican Party.
One source said the White House’s criticism of Fox was raised during the discussions with Liasson. However, an NPR spokeswoman told POLITICO that the Obama administration’s attempts to discourage other news outlets from treating Fox as a peer had no impact on any internal discussions at NPR.
I believe that, don’t you? The White House had nothing whatsoever to do with the decision of NPR management to suggest to an employee not to appear on Fox, despite the fact that the White House had just tried to discredit Fox. Why is that difficult to believe?
Liasson defended her work for Fox by saying that she appears on two of the network’s news programs, not on commentary programs with conservative hosts, the source said. She has also told colleagues that she’s under contract to Fox, so it would be difficult for her to sever her ties with the network, which she has appeared on for more than a decade.
Liasson did not return phone calls seeking comment on the meetings. In an e-mail message, she declined to be interviewed for this article.
NPR spokeswoman Dana Rehm declined to discuss Liasson and her work on Fox.
All together now:
Oh, the Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round
Round and Round
Round and Round
The Wheels on the Bush Go Round and Round
All Through The Town.
NPR thinks we have the life experience of a typical three year old, apparently.
- Aggie
Earl said,
December 8, 2009 @ 3:11 am
“The Wheels on the Bush Go Round and Round”
Freudian slip?
Bloodthirsty Liberal said,
December 8, 2009 @ 7:26 am
I must have typed Bush too many times over the years….
At least he was honest. Ditto McCain. We’re getting the same policies re: Iraq and Afghanistan but in those days we heard nothing but howls from NPR. Now we have sober, pro-Obama conversations, wall-to-wall. As Obama does exactly the same stuff, for exactly the same reasons. But neither he, nor the NPR crowd will own up to the obvious. They cannot tolerate diversity of thought. Or inconvenient facts.
- Aggie