Stations Seek CPB Reforms on Eve of Inspector Gen. Report

APTS Pres. John Lawson told us APTS is readying legislative language for CPB reform it expects to send to Congress early in Dec. As CPB Chmn., Kenneth Tomlinson hired a lobbyist to defeat a similar APTS measure in the Senate. That move is the subject of the IG inquiry. As talk of Konz report and its contents has swirled through Washington public broadcasting institutions (CD Oct 31 p1), one official said the IG found that Tomlinson violated the Appropriations Act by hiring an outside lobbyist with taxpayer money. Lawson said he had no knowledge about the IG’s finding. But, he said, a blanket ban in the Appropriations Act bars agencies from using federal funds to hire outside lobbyists.

Public broadcasting officials we spoke with said they don’t know if the Public Bcstg. Act provides for removal of a CPB board member on ethics violations. “We just don’t know. There is nothing in the Public Broadcasting Act we can see, “ said Lawson. Sources said the CPB has hired a Washington law firm to advise on IG report’s implications. Lawson said he hopes the firm will illuminate provisions in other federal laws or even the D.C. corporation law speaking to removal of directors for ethics violations.

APTS doesn’t want CPB micromanaged: “We think it would be ill advised,” Lawson said. But public broadcasters expect the CPB board to “act responsibly,” he said. Lawson said he hopes the IG report includes recommendations. But if doubts remain about the CPB board’s authority to enforce a code of ethics or remove a director based on ethics violations, he said, “then we would be open to legislative fixes.” But he hopes that’s not necessary, he said.

Tomlinson’s “abuses” demand “meaningful” reform, Lawson said. Actions at the CPB impact local public stations, he said. The APTS proposals, he said, are a set of “principled, long-term solutions to ensure sound, bi- partisan governance at CPB.” They include: (1) Requiring that at least 2 political appointees to the CPB board be representatives from public TV stations and at least 2 from public radio stations. Now one seat each is set aside for public TV and public radio station representatives. (2) Cut to 8 the number of seats reserved for political appointments by the president, with no more than 4 members of the same party.

(3) Add 5 voting ex officio members as a means of “de-politicizing and further professionalizing” CPB’s board. (4) Explicitly require the CPB board to meet in open session, with exceptions narrowly defined. (5) Require the chmn. and vice chmn. be from different parties. (6) Explicitly bar the CPB board and management from hiring outside political lobbyists or consultants. The reform package will be vetted with stations in Nov., then presented to Congress, Lawson said.

“The CPB board and management have been and are focused on the best interests of public broadcasting,” said CPB Vp-Communications Michael Leavy. “Our lines of communications with APTS have been open and transparent and we look forward to a continuing dialog on this basis.”

Meanwhile, media advocacy groups urged the CPB board to make public the IG report. “The IG’s report requires a full and transparent debate,” said Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy: “Why are they hiding behind closed doors?” he asked. A closed meeting, he said, suggests some board members have something to hide. “This decision reflects the poor leadership of both [CPB] Chair [Cheryl] Halpern and President [Patricia] Harrison,” he said. Halpern and Harrison should use the IG report as an “opportunity to correct the mistakes of the past.”

Three media advocacy groups deplored Harrison’s hiring of 3 former State Dept. colleagues, whom they called “government propagandists and GOP loyalists.” Free Press, Common Cause and CDD said Harrison, a former Republican National Committee chmn., named as CPB vp-govt. affairs Tim Igsitt. They called him a “driving force behind a campaign to place pro-American propaganda in Arabic media.” They said Mike Leavy, the new vp- communications, who was Harrison’s chief of staff at the RNC, developed “pro-active media strategies” while at the State Dept. to boost support for U.S. counter-narcotics work in 100-plus countries. Helen Mobley, new CPB dir.- corporate communications, worked closely with Harrison to manage State Dept. efforts to bring Afghan women to American to showcase new freedoms.

“Packing” CPB with those earlier engaged in “selling” the U.S. abroad sends public broadcasters an unsubtle signal that “truth is out and spin is in,” said Common Cause Pres. Chellie Pingree. “Public diplomacy is simply a euphemism for propaganda,” said Timothy Karr of Free Press. The CPB was set up to guard public broadcasting from political interference, he said, “not to be a megaphone for the Bush administration.” The CPB spokesman dismissed the groups’ charges as “filled with factual inaccuracies and mischaracterizations.”