Public Broadcasting Chief Resigns, Blames Politics

Edward J. Pfister said today that he has resigned as president of the Corp. for Public Broadcasting, and indicated that Reagan Administration politics is interfering in the affairs of the organization.

Pfister said in an interview this morning with National Public Radio from San Francisco that the event that triggered his resignation was the board’s vote to withdraw support for a trade mission to the Soviet Union in September by representatives of the Public Broadcasting Service.

Pfister said he believes the board’s decision Wednesday against the trip reflects an infiltration of politics that is threatening the independence of the CPB, which distributes federal funds to public television and radio stations.

“The board took an action . . . that is an encroachment on that independence,” he said.

Pfister submitted his resignation on Thursday, effective at the end of December, a day after the 6-4 vote to withdraw support for the trip to the Soviet Union, designed to discuss an exchange of television shows.

The motion to withdraw support was offered by board Chairman Sonia Landau, a Reagan appointee.

The board accepted the resignation and told Pfister to be out of his office by June 15. The job pays about $81,000 a year.

The reason for the board’s action, Pfister said, was political: “It all came down to one reason . . . because the government in the United States is having difficulties with the Soviet Union, I believe the board backed away from the trip.”

Although the acrimonious debate over the trade delegation was the final straw for Pfister, the overall role of the corporation as a vehicle of Reagan Administration policies was a central part of the debate on the issue.