Ken Tomlinson’s partisan, ideological, and generally ridiculous work as chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has been well documented. It was also thoroughly investigated. It’s the latter that, fortunately, prompted Tomlinson’s resignation.
Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, who sparked controversy by asserting that programs carried by public broadcasters have a liberal bias, resigned yesterday from the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting a day after the agency’s inspector general delivered a report apparently critical of his leadership. […]
The CPB’s inspector general has been investigating Tomlinson’s practice of using agency money to hire consultants and lobbyists without notifying the agency’s board. Tomlinson last year hired a little-known Indiana consultant to study the political leanings of guests on such programs as “Now With Bill Moyers” and “The Diane Rehm Show” on National Public Radio. He also hired lobbyists to defeat legislation that would have changed how CPB’s board is structured.
The inspector, Kenneth Konz, also had been looking into whether Tomlinson violated agency procedures in his recruiting of former Republican National Committee co-chairman Patricia de Stacy Harrison to be CPB’s chief executive, and into possible White House influence in the hiring of two in-house ombudsmen to critique news programs on NPR and PBS.
Apparently, the report, which will be made public in a couple of weeks, wasn’t at all favorable. When a CPB chairman ignores his board and circumvents the corporation’s rules, that’s to be expected.
As a practical matter, forcing Tomlinson’s resignation isn’t as big a deal as I’d like. His remaining term as a board member would have run out Jan. 31, and he should have been forced from his CPB role a long time ago.
Still, this is a symbolic victory over a clown whom Bush never should have tapped for the job in the first place.