PBS Censored

Bill Moyers Responds to CPB's Tomlinson Charges of Liberal Bias: "We Were Getting it Right, But Not Right Wing." Monday,May 16th, 2005 In his first public address since leaving PBS six months ago, journalist Bill Moyers responds to charges by Kenneth Tomlinson - the chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting - of liberal bias and revelations that Tomlinson hired a consultant to monitor the political content of Moyers' PBS show "Now." Over 2,000 people converged in St. Louis Missouri this weekend for the second-ever National Conference on Media Reform. Few issues were discussed as much as the future of public broadcasting in this country. The conference was held amid accusations that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has been largely taken over by conservatives who are influencing programming and hiring decisions. In April, the CBP board did not renew the contract of its chief executive, Kathleen Cox. Board Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson tapped Ken Ferree -- a former top aide to Michael Powell at the Federal Communications Commission - to be her temporary replacement. Tomlinson has said he aims to achieve political balance on the public airwaves. He has denied any changes have been made for political reasons. But Tomlinson has publicly criticized one of PBS' best known shows - NOW - the weekly show formerly hosted by Bill Moyers. In an Op-Ed in the Washington Times, the chair of the CPB - Ken Tomlinson wrote "The image of the left-wing bias of "NOW" -- unchallenged by a balancing point of view on public broadcasting's Friday evening lineup -- was unhealthy. Indeed, it jeopardized essential support for public TV." Tomlinson went on to write, "This was brought home to me in November 2003 by a phone call from an old friend complaining about Mr. Moyers" bias and the lack of balance on the Friday evening lineup. He explained the foundation he heads made a six-figure contribution to his local public television station for digital conversion. But he declared there would be no more contributions until something was done about the network's bias." A month after Tomlinson received that letter, Tomlinson sent the head of PBS - Pat Mitchell -- a letter charging that "Now" "does not contain anything approaching the balance the law requires for public broadcasting." In addition, the New York Times reported Tomlinson secretly spent $10,000 to hire a consultant to monitor the political leanings of Moyers' show. Until now Bill Moyers had not responded publicly to Tomlinson's accusations. But yesterday he gave the closing address at the National Conference on Media Reform. It was his first major address since leaving the anchor chair. http://www.democracynow.org/print.pl?sid=05/05/16/1329245