Halpern Elected CPB Chair

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting voted Monday to elect Cheryl Halpern to succeed Ken Tomlinson as chairman of the board and Gay Hart Gaines as vice chair replacing Democrat Frank Cruz. Both Halpern and Gaines are veteran Republican party activists and fundraisers. The vote Monday came at a public meeting that also hosted critics of Tomlinson's effort, for which he does not apologize, to add conservative programming to balance what he sees as noncom broadcasting's leftward tilt. A number of speakers at the meeting called for more accountability and transparency in board decisions. Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy was one of those calling for a change in direction. "Ms. Halpern is likely to continue the board's campaign to force public broadcasting to produce programming more acceptable to conservatives," Chester said of Halpern's election. "[It] does a disservice to those who care about the quality of PBS, NPR and other public media outlets." Of the election of Gaines, he said: "It is a sweep for Tomlinson and the Republican majority." "It's time for CPB board reform," Chester told the board after the vote. "No activist from either political party should be nominated to the board. Nor should anyone be permitted to serve simultaneously on another government-funded entity." Tomlinson sits on the boards of both CPB and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (he is BBG Chairman). The BBG oversees VOA and other international government broadcast services. Halpern is a former BBG board member. The current leadership at CPB also includes former Republican National Committee co-chair Patricia Harrison and Ken Ferree, who helped the then FCC Chairman Michael Powell craft the deregulatory ownership rules opposed by the American public and the courts.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)

* Public Broadcasting Meets the New Boss

* CPB Taps Two GOP Conservatives for Top Posts

* Read Mr. Chester's Testimony before the CPB Board

* See CDD's statement on the election of Cheryl Halpern

* UCC's Gloria Tristani addresses CPB Board on issues of media transparency and public accountability

* Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, made the following statement:
"The appointment of Cheryl Halpern as chairwoman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is unfortunate if not unexpected. Like Ken Tomlinson and Patricia Harrison before her, Halpern is a veteran political operative and GOP mega-fundraiser. Her appointment further politicizes public broadcasting and damages an institution that is treasured by the vast majority of Americans. Journalism challenging the official line is not by definition 'liberal advocacy.' Instead of continuing Tomlinson’s ill-fated crusade against his imagined political enemies, we hope Halpern will rededicate the CPB to the real priorities of public broadcasting: investigative journalism, local programming, and public service. The CPB board had an opportunity to make a bipartisan statement by electing Beth Courtney as vice chairman. Instead, they chose Gay Hart Gaines, another partisan operative with longstanding ties to GOP officials committed to eliminating federal funding for public broadcasting. Public broadcasting faces an uncertain future. Now more than ever, we need competent, judicious and nonpartisan leadership at the CPB. The public will be watching the new chairwoman very closely."
http://www.freepress.net/