Spending Inquiry for Top Official on Broadcasting

[SOURCE: New York Times 11/5/05, AUTHOR: Stephen Labaton]
Unsatisfied with attempts to manipulate public broadcasting in the US, former Corporation for Public Broadcasting Chairman Kenneth Y. Tomlinson has apparently been screwing with government-funded media abroad, too. Tomlinson was ousted from the board of CPB on Thursday after its inspector general concluded an investigation that was critical of him. That examination looked at his efforts as chairman of the corporation to seek more conservative programs on public radio and television. But Tomlinson remains an important official as the chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. The board, whose members include the secretary of state, plays a central role in public diplomacy. It supervises the government's foreign broadcasting operations, including the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe. Tomlinson is the subject of an inquiry into accusations of misuse of federal money and the use of phantom or unqualified employees. The board has been troubled lately over deep internal divisions and criticism of its Middle East broadcasts. Members of the Arab news media have said its broadcasts are American propaganda. People involved in the inquiry said that investigators had already interviewed a significant number of officials at the agency and that, if the accusations were substantiated, they could involve criminal violations.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/05/politics/05broadcast.html
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