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Opinion: NPR, like Obama’s White House, has concerns about Fox News and its Mara Liasson appearing there

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The Barack Obama White House isn’t the only one waging internal wars against Fox News, it seems. National Public Radio bosses have requested that their top political correspondent, Mara Liasson, reconsider her regular appearances on Fox News, according to a report by Politico.

NPR execs reportedly expressed concerns to Liasson that Fox’s content had become more partisan recently.

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They assigned her -- in what some at NPR might consider unusual punishment -- to watch and study Fox News’ programming for 30 days.

Liasson reported no significant change in Fox’s overall views, Politico writes, and that very well might be the case. The idea of Fox’s alleged conservative leanings didn’t just spring up in the last month.

The White House has sought to discourage other news organizations from acknowledging and reporting on Fox News. But they have resisted out of professional collegiality, for instance, when Fox News was briefly barred from one pool participation.

Liasson, whose diligent reporting brings useful insights to Fox News’ popular panel discussions, noted she’s under contract with Fox News and intended to fulfill her obligations.

Though NPR is in part publicly funded, the extent of federal funding is small. The federally fed Corporation for Public Broadcasting gives NPR some money, but the majority of its cash flow comes from on-air fundraisers, private donations, state grants and universities.

An NPR spokeswoman reportedly told Politico that the White House’s stance had no bearing on the Fox News diss.

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No immediate reports of other news employers objecting to their reporters/commentators appearing on cable channels where many see political bias in, say, the other direction.

-- Mark Milian

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