Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a private, non-profit corporation that was created by Congress in 1967. CPB awards grants to create programming for public broadcasting stations and "helps support the operations of more than 1000 locally owned and operated public television and radio stations nationwide, and is the largest single source of funding for research, technology, and program development for public radio, television, and related on-line services."[1]
In 2003, President Bush appointed to the CPB board Cheryl Halpern and Gay Hart Gaines, two prominent GOP fundraisers with limited experience in broadcasting or media. These political appointees have raised considerable concern that members of the CPB board were readying a charge across the line of neutrality to promote programming that better suits the White House's political agenda.
In mid-June 2005, the U.S. House of Representitives voted to cut CPB funding by 25 percent, or $100 million. The cut is seen by many as a conservative-driven attempt to curb what it perceives as the "liberal bias" of NPR and PBS, both funded in part by the CPB.
In an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio on June 13, 2005, Tim Graham, director of Media Analysis at the right-wing Media Research Center, harshly criticized what he called the "explicitly political" nature of CPB. He called it a "fat, happy establishment" of liberal bias that is "clearly solicitous of the enemy" in its reporting on such issues as the regime of Saddam Hussein.
Increased criticism and funding cuts are augmented by CPB chairman Kenneth Tomlinson's support of assistant secretary of state and a former co-chairwoman of the Republican National Committee Patricia Harrison's appointment for the position of CEO. Tomlinson claims he is attempting to "restore balance" in CPB-supported reporting, or, more appropriately, renewed and enforced conservativism.[2]
Contents
Personnel
SourceWatch Resources
Internal Links
- "One Party State Media," Spin of the Day, May 3, 2005
- "Bill Moyers Blasts CPB Chair Tomlinson," Spin of the Day, May 15, 2005
External Links
- Chellie Pingree, "Public Television's 'Heat Shield' Withers Under White House Pressure," MediaChannel.org, June 2, 2004.
- Paul Farhi, "PBS Scrutiny Raises Political Antennas," Washington Post, April 22, 2005.
- Katherine Q. Seeyle, "Ombudsmen Rebuff Move by Public Broadcasting", New York Times, May 30, 2005.
- Paul McLeary, "CPB Looks Under Bed, Finds No Dust Balls, Hires New Maid," CJR Daily, April 29, 2005.
- Stephen Labaton, Lorne Manly and Elizabeth Jensen, "Republican Chairman Exerts Pressure on PBS, Alleging Biases," New York Times, May 2, 2005.
- "Squelching Public Broadcasting", New York Times, Editorial, June 15, 2005.
- Stephen Labaton, "Lobbyists' Role for Public TV Is Investigated", New York Times, June 16, 2005.
- Stephen Labaton, "Steep Cut Proposed for Public Broadcasting", New York Times, June 17, 2005.
- Rory O'Connor, "Disservice to the Public...Broadcasting System:Claiming a need for 'fresh faces,' the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's new Crossroads initiative funds former CPB and PBS heads", AlterNet, June 20, 2005.
- Stephen Labaton, "Public Broadcasting Monitor Had Worked at Center Founded by Conservatives", New York Times, June 21, 2005.
- Paul Farhi, "Opponents On Different Wavelengths: Public Broadcasting Fight's Partisan Divide", Washington Post, June 23, 2005.
- Bill Moyers, "A Moral Transaction", TomPaine.com, June 20, 2005. (Republished from the Washington Post).
- Elizabeth Jensen, "Public Broadcasting and Political Balance: A New Twist", New York Times, June 29, 2005.
- Lisa de Moraes, "Scrutiny of Broadcast Agency Chief Intensifies," Washington Post, July 13, 2005.