NPR sure is raking the muck:
The authority of the White House was invoked in decisions being made at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting by its chairman, according to emails obtained by NPR. …
Last night, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) “called for [Chair Ken] Tomlinson’s resignation,” reports Democracy Now!:
The [NYT reports] that a researcher retained secretly by [Tomlinson] to politically monitor Bill Moyer’s “Now” program, worked for 20 years at a journalism center founded by the American Conservative Union [and] for right wing columnist M. Stanton Evans … Tomlinson had paid the researcher, Fred Mann, more than $14,000 without the knowledge of the CPB’s board …
[Sen. Bryan Dorgan (D-ND)] said that in response to a request, Tomlinson gave him data from Mann’s reports. Dorgan said that data concluded in one episode of the “Now” program that Republican Senator Chuck Hagel was a “liberal” because he questioned the White House policy on Iraq and that a second “Now” segment on financial waste at the Pentagon was “anti-Defense.”
CRITICAL UPDATE on PROGRAMMING below the fold. Via MediaChannel.org: “Claiming a need for ‘fresh faces,’ the Corp. for Public Broadcasting’s new Crossroads initiative funds big network producers and former heads of PBS and CPB. …”
Update [2005-6-21 11:38:10 by susanhu]:
This is so important, I had a hard time deciding what not to include. Read all here from Rory O’Connor’s blog, Media Is A Plural:
… Tomlinson is not the only problem public television executives currently face at CPB. Two recent multi-million dollar programming initiatives are now being denounced by the board of directors of the Public Television Programmers Association (PTPA) as “a disservice to viewers and stations alike.”
The first, entitled “America at a Crossroads,” is CPB’s largest programming initiative in recent years, undertaken as a direct response to the attacks of 9/11. CPB framed the twenty million dollar effort as a means of producing programming that explores
“…the nature and direction of international terrorism, the war against it, the use of American power against states that harbor or sponsor terrorists, America’s image abroad, radical Islamist movements, pre-emptive military action, unilateralism, regime change, conflicts between homeland security and civil liberties, and other still-emerging questions resulting from the 9/11 attacks.”
24 program proposals have received research and development funds from the initiative. (Full disclosure: like hundreds of other filmmakers, I submitted proposals that were not selected for funding.) In reading through the descriptions of those CPB did select, the PTPA board was “struck by a profound sense of déjà vu,” according to a commentary written on its behalf by board president Garry Denny, associate director of programming at Wisconsin Public Television. “The programs funded to date have themes, topics, and narrative voices that are similar if not completely repetitive” of programming that has already aired on pubic broadcasting. Michael Pack, the conservative documentary film maker who as CPB vice president for television programming is the lead executive for the initiative, says the Crossroads initiative sought to “bring in new voices who will advance and enrich the discussion, not rehash the same old conversation.” But Denny and other public television programmers argue that “rehashing may indeed be exactly what we get.”
Part of the reason for the rehash may lie in the selection process itself. Although Pack says CPB’s Crossroads initiative intended “to bring new voices and energy to public television,” the former heads of both PBS and CPB mysteriously managed to qualify.
One time PBS honcho Jennifer Lawson (who once infamously pronounced human rights to be “an insufficient organizing principle for a television series”) is teaming up with ABC News Productions (another “new” voice?) on a project called Security Versus Liberty: The Other War, which “will examine the tensions and trade-offs between security and liberty in the post-9/11 world by following several characters enmeshed in the controversy.” And ex-CPB chief Richard Carlson and his Foundation For the Defense of Democracies are paired with Barbara Newman and Tulip Hill Productions on Danger Zone, a two-part program that will “explore intelligence and special operations efforts to fight terrorism in the United States and worldwide.” Part one will offer an in-depth look at British intelligence agency MI5 and how it works with US Intelligence and Special Forces, including covert private contractors. Part two will investigate Hezbollah’s activities in about a dozen American cities.
If you find it noteworthy that the former head of CPB was chosen to receive research and development funds from CPB – a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress to develop educational public radio, television and online services for the American people – join the club! CPB is the largest single source of funds for national public television and radio program development and production. It also provided backing recently for two clearly unbalanced programs meant to ‘balance’ the presence of Bill Moyers on PBS. One featured the hard-right editorial board of the Wall Street Journal; the other starred the bow tied conservative Tucker Carlson, son of – you guessed it – Richard Carlson.
Last August, after writing about young Carlson’s selection as host of a PBS public affairs program, I received an anonymous tip from a reader. “I guess Tucker is so far out of the loop about how things work that he doesn’t even know that CPB/PBS is going to fund a series on terrorism through a front group working for his daddy, Richard Carlson. The group is organized through Carlson Senior’s Washington, D.C. foundation, and includes ex-CIA and FBI people,” my tipster noted. “This little sugar cookie was originally to have been announced in July, but some of Dick’s angels (Kenneth Tomlinson owes Dick big time) thought that it was dangerous to have an announcement so close to little Tucker’s lollipop being handed out.”
On March 10, 2005, CPB announced that Richard Carlson’s proposed two-part series on terrorism had been selected to receive an R&D grant. “Dark accusations and suspicions” aside, am I alone in surmising that this outstanding example of “Pack” journalism is yet another political “balancing” act? Or is the Crossroads grant to Richard Carlson instead mere political payback by Ken Tomlinson – a man who, as my tipster aptly noted, “owes Dick big time?”
Meanwhile, the association of public television programmers is busy denouncing not only Carlson’s grant, but also the entire Crossroads initiative itself on the basis that none of it fills any unmet needs or is worth the investment. And unlike Tomlinson’s, their hearts are pure. “We want to be crystal clear that our assessment…is not based on an ideological view,” PTPA board chair Garry Denny says. “This is not about politics. This is about serving the public with accessible, enlightening, informative programming and ensuring that every available dollar in the public television system be put to the most productive use possible.
“The twenty million dollars earmarked to fund America at a Crossroads is going through the wrong funnel,” the PTPA board concluded. Instead, the programmers believe that the Crossroads grants – and another new twenty million dollar history programming initiative – duplicate existing programs and are “a disservice to viewers and stations alike.” They suggest that both initiatives be “thoroughly re-evaluated” before further funding is committed. “Think what $40 million could do,” the PTPA board concluded.
A third round of Crossroads grants will be announced as early as next week, close on the heels of the unveiling of new PBS editorial standards intended to ensure balance and fairness, the hiring of yet another ombudsman ro review controversial programs after they air, and of course Congressional consideration of public broadcasting’s federal funding for next year.
Emphases mine.
Bill Moyers on Air America told Al Franken
“You have opinions, I draw conclusions…”
A subtle distinction and yet very sharp.
Tomlinson new Republican Dictator over PBS
Enlarge for use as a dart board.
I missed most of that interview. Why did Moyers say that, Sybil? Was it directed at Franken?
Doesn’t matter. His base likes him. And none of them listen to NPR or watch PBS.
Sigh. I SEE, Steven, that you’re one of those reality-based people … sigh … ref. Booman’s post above.
🙂
explaining his own way of talking about issues and admitting that his show was partisan. Moyers politely explained that his approach was different that he researched to find the facts and the truth of an issue and then “came to a conclusion.” Moyers was patiently explaining that was his plan for NOW – that it was not a partisan program.
Here’s the irony, a non-partisan program that was spyed upon by a 20-year Republican partisan in order to prove that the show was non-partisan.
As Moyers pointed out, whenever the issues are about social justice, the Republican hacks call that “left-wing partisan” but it is not. It is about humanity!
(my outrage meter is bursting this am)
That’s too bad. A lot of radio hosts overtalk their guests, particularly regrettable when the guest is someone we’d all love to listen to anytime, anywhere.
GOOD NEWS from Amy at democracynow.org:
Wed, June 22:
Bill Moyers joins us in our Firehouse Studio for an extended interview on the battle over the future of public broadcasting, the state of the
country’s media system and his career in broadcasting. Moyers is the former host of “Now with Bill Moyers” and the author of many books including “Moyers on America: A Journalist and His Times.”
Don’t forget Frontline tonight.
Private Warriors
I just finished watching this – very informative, very upsetting. The over-reliance on mercenaries distorts the traditional roles of members of the military, while their lack of accountability endangers the troops. The proportion of war financing going to pay these companies is scary – KBR raking in billions, much of it unmonitored, while the soldiers are receiving an extra $7.50 a day for combat pay.
And they didn’t even touch the subject of a phone call to Randi Rhodes earlier today: a South African guy called in to tell her that, when he heard about the abuses at Abu Ghraib and saw the photos, he immediately recognized the techniques as ones used by the (apartheid-era) South African army against dissidents – and he sounded pretty confident in that assertion. If true, the implication would be that Grainer, England et. al were taking their orders from, or at least being trained by, mercenaries who were ex-South African army personnel.
two Canadians in the same convoy were also killed.
It was never mentioned in the US press.
One of the victims was from my home town, a young
former British Seal with a wife and two sons. The
youngest son was 3 months old when he was killed.
I stood beside the family at the November 11 memorial,
months before. I remember them well, the big tough
guy in his British uniform holding a small baby so
tenderly. Mercenaries are not all bad but they are
in fact, trained killers.
Of course the pay differential is bound to cause
major conflict with the troops.
Interesting side comment regarding South African techniques. Frontline should have editorial updates.
Last show of the season. Let’s hope that they have a
season next year. Without doubt the show is targeted
by the Republicans.
is that this attack is not really meant to destroy public broadcasting. It’s intended to bully reporters, producers, and station managers into “balancing” their stories by pretending that Bush spew has something to do with truth or reality — something they do way to much of already, actually. We absolutely must not think this is over when (as is likely) the Senate restores the CPB budget cuts, or most of them. They will not stop trying to turn Public Broadcasting into their privatized propaganda mill until Jesus comes back and scoops them up and dumps them into a very deep pit.
It’s terrific to see how the bullying backfired in the case of NPR, which is fighting back exactly the way it should — not with invective but with investigation and reporting of the facts. This might actually end up improving NPR in the long run as they see that the dragon is just some dumbass in a cheap costume.
We have to make that happen tho — if you were ever going to give money to your NPR station, now’s the time — along with a note thanking them for standing up for themselves and for independent public broadcasting. If you can’t do the money, do the note. And send a copy to all your national and state “representatives”. This could actually turn out to be a good thing if we make it so.
Please check the UPDATE just below the fold.
Public broadcasting stations and a group of Democrats on Capitol Hill had pressed Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, CPB’s Republican chairman, in recent days to reconsider his backing of former Republican National Committee Co-Chair Patricia de Stacy Harrison to lead the beleaguered agency.
Right now I’m so pissed at KCTS … we have a new, important “Frontline” tonight on privatization in Iraq, and KCTS is running a Dr. Wayne Dyer talkathon to raise money. Crap.
They had a big accounting scandal last year. Wonder who got away with what?
I heard they’ve regained their footing through a lot of fundraising. But they blew so much money on programming that didn’t take off. I forget the details now. A lot of their local shows are lame, aren’t they.
It’s so dumb to preempt a key Frontline like this. Well, I’ll catch it tomorrow night on the national feed of PBS.
“America at the Crossroads”
It will likely justify both Patriot Acts, the invasions of Afghanistan, Iraq and possibly Iran.
It will be 20 million dollars of White House propaganda.
No, the Republicans do not want to destroy PBS, they want to own it, and it seems like they do.
You hit it, Sybil.
I think it’s a bigger story than Tomlinson, if that’s possible.
These Republicans can never be honest. Yikes “secretive” spying on Bill Moyers and “Secretive” Polls that the CPB Board of Directors weren’t aware of.
Leave the Home of Big Bird, Dora and others alone. Talk about terrorist at their door. Where’s their homeland security? Sesame Street needs reinforcements fast.