Public Broadcasting Meets the New Boss

Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, who had led a charge against what he called the liberal slant in public broadcasting, ended his tumultuous two-year term as chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting on Monday, yielding the gavel to another Republican appointee with similar views if not a similar style.

“I’ve enjoyed about as much of this as I can stand,” Tomlinson said dryly as he convened the last meeting of his tenure as chairman, one of the most divisive chapters in the corporation’s 38-year history. He will remain on the board at least a year.

It remains unclear whether the controversy that flared during his term will abate. The board elected two Republicans to fill the posts of chair and vice chair -- Cheryl F. Halpern and Gay Hart Gaines, respectively -- despite a plea for bipartisanship by Ernest J. Wilson III, one of the two Democrats on the eight-member board.

Halpern indicated in opening remarks that her tone, at least, would be different from that of her predecessor.

“Our goal, whether it’s in our support of educational children’s television, insightful features and documentaries, or entertainment that sparkles, is to make public broadcasting a haven for the mind and for the spirit,” Halpern said. “We have a duty to provide the public an explanation for the kind of work we do -- and we must honor the principles clearly stated in our charter: to encourage objective and balanced programming.”

Tomlinson’s chairmanship was a time of unusual contentiousness at the private nonprofit, which distributes federal funding to local stations. His efforts to stamp out what he termed a liberal bias in public broadcasting prompted some broadcasting officials and Democratic lawmakers to accuse him of undermining the corporation’s role as a political firewall. Tomlinson maintained that he was trying to strengthen the system by expanding its appeal.

Halpern, a New Jersey civic activist, was appointed by President Bush to the CPB board three years ago. She and her family have given more than $400,000 to Republican candidates and party committees since 1989, according to Common Cause and the Center for Responsive Politics. Gaines, another Bush appointee, and her family have given about $500,000 to GOP causes in the same period.

Halpern has close ties to Tomlinson; they served together on the board that oversees the government’s international broadcasting services. Shortly after her appointment, Halpern alarmed some broadcasters when she said the CPB should have more authority to hold broadcasters responsible for unbalanced reporting.

“There has to be recognition that an objective, balanced code of journalistic ethics has got to prevail across the board, and there needs to be accountability,” she told the Senate Commerce Committee at her confirmation hearing in 2003, according to Current, a public broadcasting trade publication.

After the board meeting Monday, Halpern was pressed by reporters on whether she shared Tomlinson’s view of bias in the system. Halpern demurred, saying that two recently hired ombudsmen were now responsible for fielding such complaints.

“We will not be intervening within programming,” she said.

The chairwoman stressed her interest in educational television, saying she hoped to expand public programming for preteens and those in their early teens. “We need to offer our children entertainment that’s not exploitative,” she said.

Her election drew mixed reactions.

In a statement congratulating Halpern, Public Broadcasting Service President Pat Mitchell said she expected that the new chairwoman “will honor and respect PBS’ independent, nonpartisan mandate.”

National Public Radio spokeswoman Andi Sporkin said she hoped Halpern would change the direction of the corporation, which she said had “become an instrument of ideology and agenda” during the previous six months.

Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.) compared Halpern’s election to the appointment of Michael D. Brown, the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency who resigned in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

“The public broadcasting board is being put in the hands of persons whose families have contributed almost $1 million to Republican causes,” Obey said.

Tomlinson, a former editor of Reader’s Digest, was elected chairman in 2003 and soon began to rankle broadcasting officials by pushing for more conservative voices on public television and radio. The bulk of his criticism centered on Bill Moyers, the commentator and former aide to President Lyndon B. Johnson, who had sharply criticized the Bush administration in commentaries on his program “Now,” before retiring in December.

Shortly after taking office, Tomlinson secretly hired Fred Mann, a consultant with conservative ties, to monitor and report on the political leanings of guests on “Now” and other public broadcasting shows. Those who expressed opinions critical of the Bush administration were labeled “liberal” or “anti-Bush.”

Tomlinson said he commissioned the report without informing the rest of the CPB board to learn more about the programming without alarming people in the system. But the report was denounced by Democratic lawmakers and liberal interest groups.

The chairman also drew criticism for awarding contracts to Republican lobbyists without informing the rest of the board.

Tomlinson’s activities are being investigated by the CPB’s inspector general, Kenneth A. Konz.