OPERA HOST MAY BE FIRED FOR ORCHESTRATING D.C. PROTEST

National Public Radio, which has frequently found itself the object of attack by conservatives who claim that it is a soapbox for liberal opinion, is weighing what to do about the host of its NPR World of Opera, who is also the spokeswoman for the “Occupy D.C.” movement. Lisa Simeone, the host/spokeswoman, is a contract employee of college radio station WDAV in Davidson, North Carolina, which produces the program. As noted by the conservative TheDailyCaller.com, which first reported Simeone’s dual roles, NPR’s ethics policy for its news reporters says that they may not “engage in public relations work, paid or unpaid.” In a statement, NPR media relations director Anna Christopher Bross said, “We’re in conversations with WDAV about how they intend to handle this. … We of course take this issue very seriously.” But in an email to the Baltimore Sun, Simeone responded that she is not employed by NPR. “I’m also not a news reporter. I don’t cover politics. I’ve never brought a whiff of my political activities into the work I’ve done for NPR World of Opera. What is NPR afraid I’ll do — insert a seditious comment into a synopsis of Madame Butterfly?”