Sen. Stevens Seeks More Money And Less Politics For PBS.

Navigation: Main page

Author: Peterson, Molly M.

Government Operations

Senate Commerce Chairman Stevens today denounced a House effort to cut funding for public broadcasting initiatives but applauded Corporation for Public Broadcasting Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson's efforts to "counterbalance" what Stevens called a political bias in some public television programming. "I know this [public broadcasting] system is needed by the country," Steven said during a Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee hearing. "But I deplore the fact that there are some people within in it who want to exercise their political bias in delivering it." Tomlinson has come under fire from congressional Democrats for using public funds last year to hire a consultant to evaluate the political leanings of guests who appeared last year on the PBS news program "Now" with Bill Moyers.

Tomlinson today said he hired the consultant â€" who had worked for conservative groups â€" as part of an effort to ensure "common-sense political balance" in public broadcasting. "There is an important audience for the liberal advocacy journalism that is Bill Moyers," Tomlinson told the subcommittee. "The law, however, requires CPB to encourage balance when such programming is presented." Stevens said he agreed that Moyers, a one-time for President Lyndon Johnson, is biased. "I applaud you for recognizing that and counterbalancing it," he told Tomlinson. Senate Commerce ranking member Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, said he was concerned about Tomlinson's hiring of "lobbyists and consultants" with taxpayer funds. "Not only do such actions potentially violate the prohibitions against advocacy in current law, but the fact that these steps were apparently taken without consultation with either the full board or the president and CEO of CPB is extremely troubling," Inouye said.

Stevens and Tomlinson said lawmakers should not allow the political debate over PBS programming content to overshadow the need for public television funding. The House Appropriations Committee voted last month to reduce CPB's budget from $400 million to $300 million. The full House later rejected that proposed cut. But Stevens noted that the House did not reverse the committee's elimination of $40 million for public broadcasting satellite upgrades, $45 million to expedite public broadcasters' transition to digital television and $32 million for PBS' "Ready to Learn" program. Those initiatives are funded outside the CPB budget. Stevens said he was disturbed by the cuts in those programs, which he said have been "eminently successful" in rural areas, including many regions in his home state of Alaska. He said the satellite upgrades, for example, are critically important to providing real-time PBS programming to all parts of the country.

~~~~~~~~

By Molly M. Peterson