"When I ask a question that's critical of somebody who's on the right, they say to me, ‘you are part of public radio, which has a liberal bias,'" Gross said. "And it kind of gets them off the hook, they think."

Journalists find themselves forced to choose between defending themselves and performing their job, Gross said.

. . . Gross, who interviews both cultural and political figures on "Fresh Air," said that arts-themed programming is liberal by definition.

"Art is about keeping an open mind to things that are dark, mysterious, taboo," she said. "Which is exactly the type of thing that certain people in the religious right don't want us to be thinking about."