Michele Norris Leaves NPR (Temporarily) for Hubby

Michele Norris, one of the hosts of NPR’s All Things Considered, is stepping away from hosting the afternoon news program until after the 2012 elections. Why, because her husband accepted a job with President Obama’s re-election campaign:

In a note posted on NPR’s web site (h/t PostPolitics producer Matt DeLong), Norris said that her husband, Broderick Johnson, will join the Obama team as a senior adviser. Norris will continue working at NPR “producing signature segments and features and working on new reporting projects.”

While she has recused herself, this might add more fuel to the fire of those who think NPR is just a liberal shill:

Norris’ connection to the Obama campaign will only fuel the ongoing storyline that NPR is a liberal mouthpiece and therefore should not be funded by taxpayers.

There might be conservatives that will criticize this move, but I am not one of them.  I think Norris doing the right thing.  As to her husband taking a job on the Obama campaign?  Well, I do think we can expect the partners of journalists to live in some kind of bubble.  It’s not a secret that NPR tends to lean left, but I’ve always thought they’ve done a good job with reporting.  I still think NPR dropped the ball in how they handled the whole Juan Williams fiasco, but I think they’ve done right this time.