Tomlinson Defends Pursuing PBS 'Balance'

Speaking to a Media Institute audience in Washington, CPB Board Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson said he had "no regrets" about trying to balance public broadcasting by adding conservative viewpoints. Tomlinson said he would not comment until after the report was released -- now scheduled for sometime in late October. However, he vowed that the series of circumstances that turned him into a lightning rod "will one day be understood." Tomlinson said he did not want to be remembered as someone who had damaged public broadcasting. Yet he added, "If I threatened the cozy atmosphere of public broadcasting over the failure to balance the liberal advocacy journalism of Bill Moyers, so be it," he said.Tomlinson said that he thought that the noncom service had been "damaged a lot by that two-year Moyers period because it came to symbolize a total deficit in public broadcasting." He pointed out that he never advocated for liberal shows to be removed from the network, just adding conservative shows to balance them. CPB will elect a new chairman Monday, Sept. 26. Tomlinson says he will remain on the CPB board.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
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