Public broadcasting ex-chief targeted in report

[MaineDem]

November 15, 2005

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The former chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting appeared to have been motivated by politics in recruiting a new board president, the corporation's inspectors reported on Tuesday.

Their report into the activities of Kenneth Tomlinson said "cryptic" e-mails between Tomlinson and the White House indicated by their timing and subject matter that Tomlinson "was strongly motivated by political considerations in filling the president/CEO position."

A former co-chair of the Republican National Committee, Patricia Harrison, was named to the post.

The report also found that Tomlinson, a conservative who resigned from the board earlier this month, erred when he failed to tell the board that he was hiring a consultant to review program content for objectivity and balance.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/11/15/public_broadcasting_ex_chief_targeted_in_report/?rss_id=Boston.com+%2F+News

[goclark]

1. Surprise, surprise! nt

[callous taoboy]

2. and breathing causes oxygen to enter blood stream.....

[Norquist Nemesis]

3. So I can remove my tinfoilhat, now?

What's Congress going to do about the appointment? :banghead:

[xchrom]

4. this congress?

nothing.

[Algorem]

5. sposed to talk about it on npr's Talk of the Nation today,in 2nd hour-

http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=5

Talk of the Nation
Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2005

...CPB Report Released
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting Tuesday releases a report on stating violations made by former Board Chairman Ken Tomlinson. In addition to citing mistakes made by Tomlinson, who left the board on Nov. 3, it cites problems within the organization. The report is based on an internal investigation prompted by House Democrats.

[wordpix]

6. maybe the probs within the org are why the programming is still reasonably

good

[Angry Girl]

7. Report Says Ex-Chief of Public TV Violated Federal Law

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 - Investigators at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting concluded today that its former chairman repeatedly broke federal law and its own regulations in a campaign to combat what he saw as liberal bias.

The scathing report by the corporation's inspector general described a dysfunctional organization that violated the Public Broadcasting Act, which created the corporation and was written to insulate programming decisions from politics.

The corporation received $400 million this year from Congress to finance an array of programs on public television and radio, although its future financing has come under heavy criticism, particularly from conservative lawmakers. Its board is selected by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

The corporation's former chairman, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, who was ousted from the board two weeks ago when it was presented in a closed session with the details of the report, has said he sought to enforce a provision of the Public Broadcasting Act meant to ensure objectivity and balance in programming. But the report said that in the process, Mr. Tomlinson repeatedly crossed statutory boundaries that set up the corporation as a "heat shield" to protect public radio and television from political interference.

Cont'd:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/15/business/media/16cnd-broadcast.html?pagewanted=print

[Nickster]

8. Wow, another GOP appointee breaking federal laws. I'm SHOCKED!

[aquart]

9. Is there a legal penalty for it?

Can we put this criminal in jail for violating the laws of the United States?

We let the Nixon and Reagan people off lightly, "for the good of the country." It didn't do the country any good. It just made them confident they could try again and get away with it.

I don't want to forgive anything this time.

[LSparkle]

10. Will the ex-RNC woman he installed also have to quit? Fingers crossed!

[Judi Lynn]

11. Reuters report on Tomlinson.

Broadcasting ex-chief played politics-report
Tue Nov 15, 2005 5:16 PM ET

By Deborah Zabarenko
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The former chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, who drew fire for his conservative views, used "political tests" to recruit a new board president, inspectors reported on Tuesday.

Their report into the activities of Kenneth Tomlinson said "cryptic" e-mails between Tomlinson and the White House indicated by their timing and subject matter that Tomlinson "was strongly motivated by political considerations in filling the president/CEO position."
(snip)

The federal law that governs U.S. public broadcasting bars "political tests" for personnel actions and is meant to shield public broadcasting from political interference.

Tomlinson was unrepentant in comments appended to the report, accusing the inspector general of political motives.
(snip/...)

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2005-11-15T221648Z_01_MCC580176_RTRUKOC_0_US-MEDIA-TOMLINSON.xml&archived=False

[slay]

12. This guy was out to push a Republican agenda at all costs

Which is what all these Republican cronies do. That's how and why they get paid. Throw fairness and honestly right out the door because these Republicans have proven time and time again that those qualities do not matter to them. :mad:

[DeepModem Mom]

13. This is big, guys! nt

[Rose Siding]

14. NTY, too: Report Says Ex-Chief of Public TV Violated Federal Law

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 - Investigators at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting concluded today that its former chairman repeatedly broke federal law and its own regulations in a campaign to combat what he saw as liberal bias.

A scathing report by the corporation's inspector general described a dysfunctional organization that violated the Public Broadcasting Act, which created the corporation and was written to insulate programming decisions from politics.

The corporation received $400 million this year from Congress to finance an array of programs on public television and radio, although its future financing has come under heavy criticism, particularly from conservative lawmakers. Its board is selected by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

The corporation's former chairman, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, who was ousted from the board two weeks ago when it was presented in a closed session with the details of the report, has said he sought to enforce a provision of the Public Broadcasting Act meant to ensure objectivity and balance in programming.

http://nytimes.com/2005/11/15/business/media/16cnd-broadcast.html?hp&ex=1132117200&en=8d0dfed3147b78e2&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[Judi Lynn]

15. Ex-public broadcast chief blasted:Tomlinson repeatedly broke federal law

Ex-public broadcast chief blasted
Tomlinson repeatedly broke federal law against political interference, report says
Stephen Labaton, New York Times

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Washington -- Investigators at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting concluded Tuesday that its former chairman had repeatedly broken federal law and the organization's own regulations in a campaign to combat what he saw as liberal bias.

A scathing report by the corporation's inspector general described a dysfunctional organization that had violated the Public Broadcasting Act, which created the corporation and was written to insulate programming decisions from politics.

The former chairman, Kenneth Tomlinson, who was ousted from the board two weeks ago when it was presented with the details of the report in a closed session, has said he sought to enforce a provision of the broadcasting act meant to ensure objectivity and balance in programming. But in the process, the report said, Tomlinson had repeatedly crossed statutory boundaries that had set up the corporation as a "heat shield" to protect public radio and television from political interference.

The report said Tomlinson had violated federal law by being heavily involved in getting more than $4 million for a program featuring writers of the conservative editorial page of the Wall Street Journal. It said he had imposed a "political test" to recruit a new president of the corporation. It also said his decision to hire Republican consultants to defeat legislation violated contracting rules.
(snip/...)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/11/16/MNG9HFP07A1.DTL

[burythehatchet]

16. and the bastard blamed low level staff

for not having informed the board of his own activities. Oh to be a conservative republican.