Center for Digital Democracy Responds to IG Report

[SOURCE: Center for Digital Democracy]
[Commentary] The other shoe finally dropped in the long saga of political machination at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting with the release of the inspector general's "Review of Alleged Actions Violating the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967." The federally funded corporation, designed by Congress as a political "heat shield" in dispensing public dollars and supposedly insulating public broadcasting from partisan pressures, has been more of a lightning rod over the past several years. With the health and independence of public radio and television at stake, much more will be needed at CPB than a change in "top management’s attitude towards internal controls" and a few alterations in board procedures. The management itself must be changed--political operatives must be replaced by nonpartisan professionals--and board appointments should be based on experience in the field rather than membership in a political party. The release of the inspector general's report, in other words, does not mark the end of a long period of political turmoil within Washington's public broadcasting's institutions. Rather, with the release of these troubling findings, the long process of reform of the field, ensuring both its political independence and its financial stability, can now begin.
http://www.democraticmedia.org/news/washingtonwatch/CPBIGwatch.html