Was Inskeep betraying bias?

Listener complaints prompted Bill Marimow, NPR's ombudsman, to review an interview of Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) that aired on Morning Edition, and the ombud concludes that host Steve Inskeep was tough but fair on his subject. "What some listeners may hear as incivility or rudeness may simply be the product of a broadcast journalist making a tenacious effort to steer an experienced politician toward providing responsive answers instead of reading from a scripted playbook of party messages," Marimow writes.

KNCT takes heat for cancelling "Now"

Mary Beth Harrell, the Democratic challenger in Texas's 31st congressional district, accused local PBS station KNCT in Killeen of trying to hurt her campaign by "blacking out" the Nov. 3 edition of Now. The program, which examined how the war in Iraq has affected voters' attitudes in the community, will air tonight, according to KWTX, the local CBS affiliate.