Is it possible for government funding to be responsibly given to the media? And by responsible I refer not only to the reporting, but to a prevention of accusation of bias if the reporting does reveal a problem or scandal with a politician?
As was reported yesterday, the former chair of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Kenneth Tomlinson, quit after an investigation was launched into his alleged attempts to manipulate political bias in public broadcasting. Tomlinson, a Republican, has been accused of hiring researchers to scan CPB broadcasts for evidence of liberal leanings.
Here's an article about the affair in the Boston Globe.
Obviously Tomlinson would have preferred that PBS or CPB be more partial to Republican talking points. But how can one tell if public broadcasting is really biased or not? If they play a damning report on George Bush, does that imply they must do a similar report against Clinton or another high-profile Democrat?
In my opinion public broadcasting, if it receives funds from any level of state, should be unbiased. But Tomlinson allegedly only cared about evidence of liberal bias, instead of any biases. Such a one-sided investigation obviously decries the tenet of impartiality upon which it was supposedly initiated.
In this atmosphere of superheated politics (Bush a uniter my ass), can any organization that received federal monies work for a just cause without said organization being hijacked for someone else's political agenda?
Comments?