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Public broadcasting ex-chief targeted in report

Posted on: Tuesday, 15 November 2005, 11:01 CST

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.

It also said Tomlinson did not follow proper procedures when he hired lobbyists to help deal with legislation to change the composition of the board.

The inspectors' report was prompted by media reports that Tomlinson and the board were making personnel decisions based on political ideology, criticism that was heightened after Harrison was named to head the board in June.

Tomlinson sought to add more conservative-minded shows to the line-up to counter what many conservatives considered a liberal bias in public broadcasting.

"While our review found no evidence that personnel decisions were based solely on 'political tests,' we did find evidence that politics may have influenced some decisions," the inspectors wrote.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a federally funded nonprofit corporation and the largest single source of money for U.S. public television and radio programming, including PBS and National Public Radio. It is governed by a presidentially appointed board.

Source: REUTERS

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