behind the news

Lo, a White Horse Appears for Public Broadcasting

June 17, 2005

The debate over the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and its chair Kenneth Tomlinson seems to have taken yet another turn over the past several days. Instead of focusing solely on Tomlinson’s hunt for “liberal bias” in public programming, the issue has shifted to one of funding — and in a big way.

On Thursday, the House Appropriations Committee passed a spending bill that would cut the CPB’s funding by almost half for 2006 — and completely eliminate federal funding by 2008. The CPB received about $400 million in 2005, but would receive about $300 million in 2006, and further cuts in other areas would reduce it to about $200 million. While this doesn’t seem to bode well for the future of PBS and NPR, there is reason for hope: A new source of extra-budgetary funding for public broadcasting may have been found, but for whatever reason, no one (including the Congressional sponsors of the plan) seems too worried about promoting it.

Given these funding issues, yesterday’s report by Stephen Labaton in the New York Times takes on added significance. Labaton writes that Tomlinson, in what looks to be an unprecedented move, paid $15,000 to two Republican lobbyists last year without disclosing it to the CPB’s board. What’s more, the lobbyists, at least according to the “corporation officials” Labaton spoke to, “provided strategic advice on handling a bill last year that would have given public radio and television stations more representation on the corporation’s board.” The measure died, despite the support of local TV and radio operators. On top of this, Tomlinson paid over $14,000 to a consultant in Indiana to monitor Bill Moyers’ “Now” for “liberal bias.” Again, all of this was off the books, making one wonder how confident Tomlinson really is in his contention that public broadcasting tilts to the left, and how concerned he is about the looming budget cuts.

Sounds pretty bleak, doesn’t it?

But what hasn’t been explored in any of the stories covering this issue is a new funding proposal being floated in the House and the Senate that could make up for the budget shortfall — with money left over. Representative Ed Markey, along with Senators Christopher Dodd and Jim Jeffords, have proposed the Digital Opportunity Investment Trust Act, which, if passed, would more than make up for the budget cuts being proposed. Markey brought the bill to the House floor on May 16, while Jeffords and Dodd submitted it to the Senate on June 11. The upshot of both bills is a unique and forward-thinking one: Using some of the up to $30 billion expected to be generated by the government’s planned 2008 sale of TV spectrum rights currently held by PBS (which is abandoning the analog spectrum and going all-digital) to help fund public programming.

According to a recent Broadcasting & Cable article, the legislation calls for about 30 percent of the proceeds from the auction to be funneled into a fund, which would finance some public broadcasting, as well as educational programs at universities and libraries. The bill calls for 21 percent of the fund (about $315 million) to go to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The bill also has an ally in an influential group called Digital Promise, a coalition of technology executives, university officials and figures such as retired Senator Bob Kerry and George Lucas.

Sign up for CJR's daily email

For all of the problems public broadcasting faces these days, from Tomlinson’s hunt for liberal bias to the proposed budget cuts threatened by Congress, this is a white horse on the horizon. Markey, Jeffords and Dodd have put forth an inventive solution to keep public broadcasting solvent.

In the flurry of press concerning Tomlinson and proposed budget cuts, the bill, for whatever reason, has been all but invisible. Too bad — it’s one that should generate some serious public discussion.

–Paul McLeary

Paul McLeary is a former CJR staff writer. Since 2008, he has covered the Pentagon for Foreign Policy, Defense News, Breaking Defense, and other outlets. He is currently a defense reporter for Politico.