Bartiromo-Burnett: Feud or Corporate Dust-Up?

Nevertheless, the ultimate coup for the new Fox channel would be to steal Burnett or Bartiromo, who has a contract with CNBC expiring in 2008.

"[The Fox Business Network is] a month away from launching and they don't have anybody that is really compelling to be the face of the network," says Bibb. "Maria has her own network of relationships and she can get to people where a lot of other reporters cannot."

Most of the Internet buzz over Bartiromo and Burnett links back to pieces that have appeared recently in the gossip pages of the News Corp.-owned tabloid the New York Post.

Laced with sexist innuendo and loosely sourced information, the Post's Page Six series on the Money Honey and Burnett the "Street Sweetie" launched a torrent of commentary on the Web. Those rumors centered on the theme that a "catfight" is breaking out and CNBC may be losing its grip on one or both of its female stars.

All this comes after Murdoch's efforts to wrest Dow Jones from its controlling family inspired a string of examinations in The Journal, The New York Times (NYT Quote) and The New Yorker into the mogul's record. Those stories revealed that News Corp. has a long history of manipulating the content purveyed by its media outlets to advance its business agenda, and CNBC spokesman Kevin Goldman suggests that this may be another example.

"It's clear to everyone why the News Corp.-owned New York Post is trying to manufacture something that doesn't exist," says Goldman about the so-called feud between Bartiromo and Burnett.