Tomlinson resigns
right before the release of a CPB Inspector General's report. The report was looking into Tomlinson's push for more conservative programming. Does anyone think that Tomilnson resigned because the report somehow cleared him of pushing conservative shows on Public Broadcasting?
When I do watch TV I go to the four PBS stations we get, and love Nature, Nova, and well just about all of their programming. One thing though: lately I have noticed that Nova has been producing "military" shows, things like the sinking of battleships, and so on. It seems to me that there have been more "Military" shows airing in the last two years or so, but then again maybe I have my tinfoil hat on again.
More.....
From the article linked above:
Tomlinson came under heavy fire for adding conservative shows to balance what he saw as liberal bias, and for hiring an outside consultant to gauge the bias in shows, particularly Now with Bill Moyers.
The CPB board has been under fire itself from groups complaining that it has not released the report and has been meeting in closed session about it. One of those groups was happy with the Tomlinson exit, but saw the problem as systemic.
"It was time that Mr. Tomlinson stepped down," said Center for Digital Democracy Executive Director Jeff Chester. But, he added. "CPB needs a thorough house cleaning," he said, "We await the IG report's release."
Ditto for Free Press executive director Josh Silver: "It's time to clean house at CPB. We need to get the politics out and put the public back in public broadcasting."
Chester also wasn'tdone with Tomlinson: "Mr. Tomlinson still remains head of the powerful Broadcasting Board of Governors. It is likely he resigned to help remain in that position."
As Bush becomes more and more distracted with his "mandate" I am hopeful that perhaps we can bring some balance back to the PBS, though according to this WP article:
Center for Digital Democracy Executive Director Jeff Chester, a critic of Tomlinson, said his departure was unlikely to stop what he described as behind-the-scenes programing pressure on PBS and NPR.
"Board chair Halpern and vice chair Gaines will continue Tomlinson's legacy to reshape public broadcasting more to the liking of conservatives," Chester said in a statement.
Veteran Republican Party fund-raisers Cheryl Halpern and Gay Hart Gaines were elected in September as CPB board chairman and vice chair, respectively.
The fact that conservatives think that Faux news is balanced and that PBS is "liberal" should send a wake up call to most Americans.
The report mentioned above is to be released at some point, when it is I will post another diary (assuming it is released on another day) or update this one with a link to the report.