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Washington, DC - Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), chairman of the Future of American Media Caucus, today vowed to continue his fight to keep political influence out of public broadcasting. Hinchey offered an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2006 Labor, HHS, Education Appropriations bill that would have barred Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson from interfering with the content of public television and radio stations across the country. The amendment was defeated mostly along party lines by a vote of 187 in favor to 218 opposed. The Hinchey amendment came in response to the actions of Tomlinson, who has taken the agency in a radical direction, dictating what content is allowable on public broadcast stations across the country that receive critical funding from CPB for their operations.
"While I am disappointed that this amendment to ensure public broadcasting's independence from political influence was rejected by the Republican-controlled House, our fight to ensure the integrity of public television and radio must and will go on," Hinchey said. "Kenneth Tomlinson has engaged in a deliberate campaign to politicize public broadcasting and interfere with the content of public television and radio stations across the country. Mr. Tomlinson is essentially warning public broadcasters that they must conform to his ideology or he will cut off their funding. This is political intimidation in the truest sense of the term and we will not give up until we put an end to it."
Congress established the CPB in 1967 to "encourage the development of public radio and television broadcasting" and to "afford (public broadcasting) maximum protection from extraneous interference and control." Under the direction of Tomlinson, however, the CPB has turned this directive on its head and has been engaging in a deliberate campaign to politicize public broadcasting.
Recent news reports document Tomlinson's campaign. Some of his actions include hiring a White House official as a "special adviser" to design and oversee CPB's two ombudsmen positions and attempting to hire a political activist as the next president of CPB. Just this week, e-mails between Tomlinson and other CPB officials were reported that show Tomlinson has been working to advance the political objectives of the White House.
"Just yesterday, Mr. Tomlinson installed a political ideologue and former head of the Republican National Committee as the president of the Corporation," Hinchey said. "This is clearly not 'affording maximum protection from extraneous interference.' It is the exact opposite. Whether you're a Democrat or Republican you should be concerned that politics are being injected into public broadcasting. This amendment by no means marks the end of our effort to ensure that the American people can count on public broadcasting to remain unbiased."
The Hinchey amendment sought to reinforce the existing statutory prohibition against Mr. Tomlinson, who also serves as Chairman of the Broadcasting Board Governors, from exercising any direction, supervision, or control over the content or distribution of public broadcasting. It would have also reaffirmed the long-standing policy that public broadcasting must be free from outside interference.
The FAM Caucus is composed of House Members who believe in an accountable, diverse, fair, and independent media. The Caucus, which currently has 20 Members, is open to members of both parties and it neither supports nor opposes any particular industry stakeholder. The FAM Caucus' goal is to educate Members and staff about media issues before Congress and to ensure that all parties - especially the American public - have a chance to participate in the vital debate over media policy. |
