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Posted on 02/16/2005 7:38:07 AM PST by Drango
February 16, 2005 Under Fire, PBS Leader Will Leave When Contract Ends in '06 By LESLIE WAYNE
Under attack from conservatives and liberals and heading a system with significant fund-raising challenges, Pat Mitchell, chief executive of PBS, has announced that she will not renew her contract when it expires in June 2006.
Ms. Mitchell, who joined the Public Broadcasting Service in March 2000, confirmed on Monday that she would leave the corporation as its programs have been criticized by members of the Bush administration, most notably Education Secretary Margaret Spellings.
A recent decision by Ms. Mitchell to withdraw a children's program, "Postcards From Buster," that featured lesbian parents, prompted attacks from left-leaning groups.
"Being president of PBS is an unenviable job," said Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, a group in Washington that advocates "openness and diversity." "You cannot please all of the people, and there are constantly feuding constituencies. It's like a feudal system where the big stations are fighting the small ones, and you've got Congress to deal with, too. It's a thankless job."
Word of Ms. Mitchell's decision was announced on Monday at a meeting of PBS managers when she confirmed that she would not seek her third three-year term.
In a statement given to PBS station managers, she said: "We have a lot to do in the next 15 months. I have a big agenda and am happy to be in the midst of spearheading some of PBS's greatest successes."
The challenges have been many. A former television producer, Ms. Mitchell moved to PBS with little management experience, a factor that critics said left her ill prepared for a tough environment. Not only did she have to oversee 349 stations, but she also had to lobby Congress for money and accommodate views from all sides of the political spectrum.
"Pat has worked hard in the last few year, especially in the programming area," said William F. Baker, chief executive of WNET-TV in New York and a member of the PBS board. "The job is very tough, and it involves considerable pressure and strains. Pat has made some significant contributions."
Mr. Baker said about the departure, "This is a very big deal."
Most recently, Ms. Mitchell became caught up in postelection culture wars that some critics called Bustergate. Buster Baxter is an animated rabbit who travels the country visiting families. When WGBH-TV in Boston planned to broadcast a segment in which Buster goes to collect maple syrup with the children of a Vermont lesbian couple, PBS came in for criticism from conservative religious groups and members of the Bush administration.
Ms. Spellings wrote to PBS objecting to the episode and asking it to return federal grant money if it broadcast the program. Ms. Mitchell decided not to distribute the episode, only to face criticism from liberals.
In addition, Ms. Mitchell was instrumental in running "Now" with Bill Moyers, a free-ranging liberal talk show that conservatives have criticized. Since then, Ms. Mitchell has added conservative commentators like Tucker Carlson and Paul Gigot to the PBS lineup.
The financial situation is also difficult. The corporation depends on Congress for financing, as well as contributions from individuals, local stations, state governments and outside foundations, all being squeezed financially, too.
Ms. Mitchell and the service are trying to establish a permanent trust fund from the billions of dollars that the government received as part of the transition to digital television systems from analog ones. Yet, in lobbying Congress, Ms. Mitchell comes up against many conservative politicians who have criticized PBS programming. PBS revenues run to $500 million a year.
"It's really tough right now," said Norman J. Ornstein, a resident scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute and a member of the PBS board. "None of the sources of funding for PBS are in great shape right now."
Finding a successor could prove difficult. "Who is the right person for the job?" Mr. Baker asked. "That's our next challenge."
"None of the sources of funding for PBS are in great shape right now."
~snicker
If only Gore had won ...
in other words she is staying as long as she was supposed to stay in her contract, or DOING NOTHING
This is like Ted Baxter- I mean, Dan Rather getting off the hook because he was retiring in a few months anyway.
What happend to disgraced people honorably resigning immediately?
*NPR/PBS* Ping list
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So sad.
Too bad.
Don't let the door hit you in the ass.
Now, if they would only let the whole PBS "contract" expire.
I can't think of any good they've accomplished.
A drain on public funds.
YAH GOD!!!
Why? You run cartoons in the daytime and documentaries of animals eating each other at night. It beats digging ditches.
Your agenda has been the problem all along.
Ask WJC. If he did, we'd be talking President Gore.
AMEN! If the sheeple would stop contributing to their every-other-month fundraisers, it would implode sooner rather than later!
"Why? You run cartoons in the daytime and documentaries of animals eating each other at night. It beats digging ditches."
I'm confused. Is Bill Moyers considered cartoons or animals eating animals?
"They are our natural allies and friends," Mitchell said by phone from PBS headquarters in Alexandria, Va. "I'd expect them to be more understanding.
Interesting quotes from the LA Times... http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-et-pbs14feb14,0,2529738.story?coll=la-home-nation
Why don't these people just resign immediately? Is it because they have no marketable skills?
On our local station, Bill Moyers is run during the "animals eating animals" period.
Charlie Rose runs inbetween a cartoon about a big red dog and a cartoon about an oriental kitty cat.
Sometimes the Animals Eating Animals shows are replaced with British Sit-Coms and Ken Burns Documentaries, but this is mostly during pledge drives.
I notice that when they're begging for money they never run a 6 hour Bill Moyers marathon or anything.
I watched a show on PB(M)S last night that dealt with the preservation of the Declaration of Independence and the comments made about it's 'content' were the most outrageous thing I've ever heard.
According to the people being interviewed, the Declaration was just the founding fathers 'wishful thinking' and a letter to the King of England. Their claim was that it was not a 'basis' for our Constitution.
They also made the claim that no where in the Constitution does it say that the people of America are granted any 'rights' to freedom and that Abe Lincoln 'hijacked' the beginning of it (the Declaration) for his 'Gettysburg Address' and therefore 'created' the right to freedom for 'slaves'.
Their position is that since the Founders had not included these rights in the Constitution during it's creation, then it is a 'living' document that is changeable by 'interpretation'.
The whole show was a slap in the face to our country.
Well in most of the country...Here in the SF Bay Area, they run Noam Chomsky's "Manufacturing Consent" during pledge drives.
Stop Funding the Public Brainwashing Society Now!
Do you realize that's damn good money we could be spending invading Cuba? Now THAT would be a public service!
Did they already fritter away that huge nut that Ray Croc's widow left to them last year?
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