Posted on 06/25/2005 10:35:31 PM PDT by SmithL
WASHINGTON - It's home to Big Bird, Arthur, Bill Moyers and Jim Lehrer - and not normally a source of great controversy. But these days, PBS finds itself at the center of a political uproar over whether public television promotes a liberal agenda.
The man alleging the bias is Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, a Republican who heads the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. CPB provides federal funding to public broadcasters including the Public Broadcasting Service, which receives about 15 percent of its operating budget, or $48.5 million, from the corporation.
PBS has denied the charges of a liberal slant. But following the criticism, it moved this month to hire an ombudsman to review its programs and announced a revision of its editorial practices. Among them: a requirement that commentary and opinion be labeled as such.
Democratic lawmakers worry that Tomlinson is angling to turn public TV into a spokesman for the GOP - contrary to the mission of the corporation, which Congress set up in 1967 to shield public broadcasting from political influence.
As CPB chairman, Tomlinson has failed miserably, says Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., a longtime supporter of public broadcasting.
"What Mr. Tomlinson has been doing is very destructive to the interests of public broadcasting," Dorgan said. "The Corporation for Public Broadcasting would be better off with a fresh start with somebody who is not spending their time claiming that the public broadcasting system is unfair."
Adding to the Democrats' unease: the new president of the corporation, Patricia S. Harrison. She was co-chair of the Republican National Committee from 1997 to 2001.
Harrison was named to the post Thursday, the same day that the House voted to rescind proposed cuts of $100 million to the corporation's budget for next year.
PBS says the proposed cuts would have severely impacted "Sesame Street," "Clifford," "Between the Lions" and other popular children's shows.
"That federal funding really acts as a spark plug that causes all of this other money to be attracted," said John F. Wilson, senior vice president of programming at PBS.
Even with Thursday's action, PBS still might end up with less money than in its current budget. The legislation would eliminate $23 million for the Ready-to-Learn program, which subsidizes children's educational programming.
Public broadcasting advocates say $82 million is set to be cut from satellite upgrades and a program to help public TV stations switch to digital technology.
Critics scoff at the notion that public broadcasting can't survive without the federal help.
"These stations are fat and happy. They're sitting on millions, if not billions of dollars, in property and equipment and very large salaries. These people are not going anywhere," said Tim Graham, director of media analysis at the Media Research Center, a conservative watchdog group.
Graham says broadcasters could make up the money with alternative sources of revenue. Donations could also make up some of the difference, says Graham.
More than a dozen senators sent a letter to President Bush this week and urged him to fire CPB's Tomlinson because he "seriously undermines the credibility" of public broadcasting.
The chairman said he had no intention of stepping down. The White House also expressed support for him.
Tomlinson has specifically targeted Bill Moyers, complaining that his work is not balanced. After protests from Congress, the corporation's inspector general launched an investigation into Tomlinson's hiring of a consultant to keep track of the political leanings of the guests on "Now with Bill Moyers."
"I don't give rat*** about PBS I think they are bia in lib agenda only good thing about PBS is animal shows Masterpiece theatre and Brit comedies"
And a lot of that programming (especially the BritComs) are available on DVD and you do not have to endure pledge drive pleas.
I just happen to flip by Aaron Brown's show last night and caught Bill Moyers on with him.
That man is E V I L.
All I could think of was there are no two people on earth that love to hear their own voices more than those two.
The toys at Toys R Us, etc. are licensed from the shows. They get a royalty for each toy sold, but it's not huge money compared to say, Pokemon, where the show supports the licensed product and brings in advertising revenues.
Bill Moyers is a self-aggrandising, pompous a$$hat. He has been living on the Welfare Broadcasting Network (he is getting a handout from our taxes) and couldn't hack it in the real world. He is typical of the hard left: arrogant jackass who wants socialism for eveyone BUT him and his elite pals.
I thought he retired....
I worked with a guy from Scotland for a while and his sister was with "Lionheart TV" which is the source for BBC programming in America. I remember he told me that she used to fly back and forth from the UK via the Concord. She wasn't even all that high on the pecking order. At 8K per ticket one way, it was a waste.
I'm willing to contribute to any candidate that wants to eliminate funding.
BROWN: Is there a moment, when you became two organized conservative groups? Because I'm not sure it's true of people who are conservative politically necessarily, but organized conservative groups essentially journalistic Satan?
BILL MOYERS, JOURNALIST: There must be. Because suddenly I did sprout horn. They saw it. I didn't see it. I think it's because they didn't -- they weren't hearing what they wanted to hear from somebody who knows them very well. I tracked the conservatives for 40 years. I was in the Johnson campaign against Goldwater. I watched them grow. I did many documentaries about them when they emerged into power. I was the -- I offered Ronald Reagan the first hour on public broadcasting before he was a presidential candidate. I know these guys, and I don't buy their party line, and I don't spout their party line. And so there was a point at which they didn't like -- they weren't hearing what they wanted to hear, and I became their bad boy.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0506/24/asb.01.html
That has nor prevented him from pontificating and making "guest appearances" on NPR and PBS programmes.
OH WOW they are OH MAn that is cool
Oh, sorry. I don't watch much TV. Only PBS show I liked, aside from some of the movies, was Charlie Rose.
Harrison was named to the post Thursday, the same day that the House voted to rescind proposed cuts of $100 million to the corporation's budget for next year.
Now maybe it's the cynic in me, but could these two actions be tied together? And if that's true does the Republican party now just differentiate itself by offering a more conservative version of socialism?
The BBC website has a store where you can purchase danged near every show they have aired. I am considering starting a collection of "Are You Being Served?" and "Allo, Allo." Of course, I will have to make room in the budget for the beginnings of a "Dr. Who" collection. Circuit City and Best Buy also offer many BritComs online or in the stores.
Because they don't have the ratings to do so. Plus no one with a brain gives a shit about them anyway.
There was a day when I would argue with you about that.......but now I know better, bill. :-)
Yeah, yeah, yeah....so did Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings and all those other leftists. They're convinced that we're too stupid to notice it. Brokaw used to get all annoyed and defensive when he was faced with that question.
We're on to you, lefties. Drop the arrogance and look at the reality.
So you all are basically saying that if the Bird and the Dog didn't have PBS, they wouldn't be popular?
Well, then, if that's the case, why doesn't PBS own the toys and pay that $46 million from that?
An important thing to remember is the CPB is not the only government funds going to PBS. There are the money from National Science Foundate, Endowment for the Arts, Department of Education, Department of Energy, the US Army. That is why at the end they mention the CPB, but then list other sources.
Without the government money, they would belly up in week.
OH MAN thanks for the info I wonder if A&E has it too I do get Biography channel some of A&E programming came that channel I would'nt mind scoring Old school Masterpiece theatre like Upstair downstair and I Claudis that when Masterpiece theatre had Alstair Cooke back in da day LOL!
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