Tomlinson resigns from CPB board ahead of critical report

Ken Tomlinson is leaving the Corporation for Public Broadcasting before a report is issued critical of his actions. Tomlinson is the guy who hired a consultant to track the political leanings of guests on Bill Moyers' show.

The story below is from the L.A. Times but is not yet on their website.

NEW YORK -- Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, whose controversial leadership of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's board of directors sparked an internal investigation into his tenure, resigned from the board Thursday in advance of the imminent release of the report, which is expected to contain criticism of his actions.

    Tomlinson's abrupt departure -- characterized in a statement as a mutual decision by him and the rest of the board -- came after they met in a closed session for three days in an undisclosed location in the Washington, D.C.-area to review the findings of the corporation's inspector general, Kenneth A. Konz. Tomlinson had a little more than a year left before the end of his six-year term.

    For the last six months, Konz has been investigating allegations by Democratic lawmakers that Tomlinson broke federal law and violated corporation policies in his efforts to balance what he has called a liberal tilt in public broadcasting.

    Konz does not plan to make his report public until mid-November. In a statement released Thursday evening, the eight-member board did not detail his findings, but suggested that the inspector general has concluded that at least some of Tomlinson's actions were inappropriate.