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Bill Moyers: "The Radical Right Wing is Very Close to
Achieving a Longtime Goal of Undermining the Independence
of Public Broadcasting"
Bill Moyers: "The Radical Right Wing is Very
Close to Achieving a Longtime Goal of Undermining the Independence
of Public Broadcasting"
With the increasing politicization of the Corporation for
Public Broadcasting and the threat of funding cuts in Congress,
public media in this country is facing a serious crisis. We
spend the hour with legendary journalist Bill Moyers - the
subject of much of the pressure brought by CPB chair Kenneth
Tomlinson.
Moyers says, "I think we're at a moment in American
history that is unique. I think we are in danger of losing
our democracy because of the domination, the monopoly of power
being exercised by the huge economic interests, both directly
and indirectly. In public broadcasting we need to get back
to the revolutionary spirit of dissent and courage that brought
us into existence in the first place, and this country does,
too."
Public Broadcasting is facing the most serious threat to
its existence since Congress created the non-profit Corporation
for Public Broadcasting more than thirty years ago. CPB is
the U.S taxpayer-funded agency that passes funds to public
broadcasting stations in this country. Last week the House
Appropriations Committee voted to cut $100 million dollars
in federal funding to the CPB which is 25 percent of it's
total allocation. The proposal would also eliminate money
that stations need to convert to digital programming and to
upgrade technology. In addition, funds for the "Ready
to Learn" program that produces children's shows such
as "Sesame Street," would also be cut. All told,
the cuts in the budget for public television and radio would
amount to a reduction of nearly 50 percent. And the proposal
would eliminate all federal funding to the corporation in
two years. The full House is scheduled to vote on it this
week.
At a White House news conference Monday, press secretary
Scott McClellan was questioned about the funding cuts.
- White House news conference, June 20, 2005.
The threats of funding cuts to public broadcasting have come
amid revelations of the increasing politicization of the CPB.
Under its mandate from Congress, the CPB is required to act
as an independent buffer between lawmakers and public broadcasters.
But this week, National Public Radio reported that they had
obtained emails from a CPB official that showed that CPB Chair
Kenneth Tomlinson had conferred with the White House in hiring
decisions and in shaping policy at the corporation. In past
interviews, Tomlinson has said that the White House does not
interfere with CPB.
Last year, he secretly paid more than $14,000 to an outside
consultant, to monitor the political content of the guests
on the PBS program NOW with Bill Moyers. The consultant, Fred
Mann, worked for the American Conservative Union for many
years.
And earlier this month, it was revealed that a former co-chair
of the Republican National Committee is Tomlinson's favored
candidate to take over as President of the CPB. Patricia de
Stacy Harrison is currently a high-ranking official at the
State Department. She was co-chair of the RNC from 1997 until
January 2001, helping to raise money for Republican candidates,
including George W. Bush. The vote on the position is expected
to take place today.
Yesterday, sixteen senators signed a letter urging President
Bush to remove Tomlinson from his position. The senators wrote,
"We strongly disagree with your Administration's decision
to appoint an individual to head a not-for-profit corporation
such as public broadcasting who is actively undermining, under-funding,
and ultimately undoing its mission."
We are joined today by the man in the crosshairs - subject
of much of the pressure brought by Tomlinson, Bill Moyers.
Before we go to him live, let's go to his goodbye on his show
NOW last December.
- Excerpt of "Now with Bill Moyers"
Moyers was the host of NOW with Bill Moyers for three years.
Over the past three decades he has become an icon of American
journalism. He was one of the organizers of the Peace Corps,
a special assistant for Lyndon Johnson, a publisher of Newsday,
senior correspondent for CBS News and a producer of many groundbreaking
series on public television. He is the winner of more than
30 Emmys, nine Peabodys, three George Polk awards and is the
author of three best-selling books. His latest is called "Moyers
on America: A Journalist and His Times." Bill Moyers
joins us in our firehouse studio for the hour.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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