Some pro-Israel media watchdog groups believe NPR’s alleged unbalanced Mideast coverage could be a weapon against the Bush administration. But other Jewish leaders say it may get them entangled between censorship and partisan bias.

Longstanding complaints by pro-Israel groups about unbalanced Mideast coverage by National Public Radio (NPR) could be ammunition in a raging battle over what the Bush administration sees as the network’s liberal bias.

That pleases pro-Israel media watchdog groups that have been pressing NPR to end what it calls the station’s journalistic bias against Israel. But it worries some Jewish leaders because of the possibility that the pro-Israel agenda could become ensnared in a political spat involving charges of censorship and partisan bias.

It’s a very complicated situation for the Jewish community,” said University of Richmond political scientist Akiba Covitz. “This controversy is part of a broader trend of trying to limit criticism of the president. He wants no government money going to anyone who does not support him, and that means NPR.”

At the same time, Covitz said, the Jewish community has legitimate grievances against the network for unbalanced, unfair reporting on Mideast matters that has improved only slightly, despite intensive efforts by Jewish leaders and media watchdog groups.

”NPR is a major opinion-maker,” Covitz said, “and you have to be wary of a news organization that has such a hard time coming down the middle on such an important issue.”

The growing controversy centers on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a nonprofit corporation created by Congress that doles out government funds for public television and radio outlets. CPB directors are appointed by the president.

CPB chair Kenneth Tomlinson argued in a recent Washington Times op-ed that he is striving to “achieve political balance” in public broadcasting without damaging what he called a “delicate institution.” He has been especially critical of the Public Broadcasting System, the private, nonprofit media organization that is owned by the nation’s 349 public television stations.

Prominent CPB members who are also major Bush supporters are pressing for big changes at NPR, which is the venue for a number of highly rated news programs, including “All Things Considered” and “Corning Edition.”

CPB board members reportedly are pressing NPR to air more music and fewer news programs. The panel has appointed two external ombudsmen to oversee NPR programming.

The New York Times reported this week that the CPB may monitor NPR news for indications of bias in Mideast news, although CPB has not moved forward with that proposal. The move reportedly came in response to complaints from pro-Israel media watchdog groups and major Republican campaign contributors, including Cheryl Halpern, a former chair of the Republican Jewish Coalition who serves on the CPB board.

Some Jewish leaders worry that two separate issues – the fight over NPR’s skewed Mideast coverage and the administration anger over what it sees as left-wing bias in coverage of its policies – are being mixed together.

Jews, of all people, have perhaps the most to lose when the media becomes biased in one direction or another,” Covitz said, citing a pattern of unbalanced reporting by several top NPR reporters who cover the Mideast. “At the same time, Jews have an interest in making sure the government stays out of the spin business.” The current controversy, he said, smacks of an administration that wants to quash dissent from the liberal NPR network.

Alan Sagner, a former CPB chairman, agrees.

”It’s part of the change that this administration wants to make in every aspect of American life: in the separation of church and state, in the environment, in women’s rights, in the representation of the truth,” said Sagner, who served in the top CPB post in the late 1990s. “It’s about censoring views this administration doesn’t like.”

The current controversy, he said, is mostly about administration anger at PBS – the television arm of public broadcasting – over its coverage of the Bush administration’s domestic policies.

”They’re using [charges about NPR’s Mideast coverage] as leverage to support their irresponsible positions,” he said. The Israel issue is getting caught up in something that’s basically a partisan battle.”

Sagner argued that complaints about NPR’s “Mideast coverage are exaggerated.”

”As an active member of the Jewish community, with deep relations and friends in Israel, it is my view that PBS and NPR have not been unbalanced, even though there have been incidents that could be questioned by either side.”

But officials of Camera, the pro-Israel media watchdog group, disagreed.

Andrea Levin, the group’s executive director, said the controversy raises hopes that this time there will be an intention to actually look at the substance [of NPR Mideast coverage]. And that is important.

She said CBP concerns about public broadcasting “handling of domestic issues focuses more on PBS; biased Mideast reporting has risen to the top with regard to NPR. And this focus has come in response to public complaints.”

Levin said NPR has made some moves to respond to pro-Israel concerns, including implementing a limited corrections policy. But I don’t think it’s thorough enough,” she said. “It doesn’t approach the seriousness of a place like The New York Times.”

If there are improvements at NPR, she said, they’ve been negligible.

Other Jewish leaders agree NPR’s coverage has been a problem but give it more credit for improving.

”NPR has been responsive,” said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League. “Our dialogue with them has produced some improvement. Has it satisfied all our expectations? Of course not. But they are more open, more available to us and in certain respects better. They can no longer be called National Palestinian Radio.”

Foxman said Jewish concerns about fair coverage on NPR should be distinguished from administration concerns that its policies are not being fairly represented on the public network and that the two issues shouldn’t get confused.

Other Jewish leaders warned that the Jewish community could get caught in an ugly crossfire.

”There are real risks here,” said an official with a major Jewish group. “This is going to be seen as an attempt at censoring the press. Do we want Jewish and pro-Israel organizations to be associated with that? The administration isn’t cracking down on NPR because it’s unfair to Israel; it’s cracking down because it doesn’t like the coverage of its policies. Our concerns could get lost in the backlash to that.”