GOP-Style ‘Objectivity’ Rules! “The CPB is the private, nonprofit corporation that Congress established in 1967 to bankroll PBS and its member stations, public radio, and online media. The CPB charter mirrors the language of the Fairness Doctrine, stipulating that the corporation adhere to ‘objectivity and balance in all programs or series of programs of a controversial nature.’

The new CPB chairman, Republican Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, invokes the ‘objectivity and balance’ clause to demand that PBS abandon what he considers to be its liberal line. Tomlinson’s crusade, documented in a Page One story in yesterday’s (May 2) New York Times, includes the hiring of two CPB ombudsmen to inspect public television and radio content for bias. The Times says he’s put in the fix for a former co-chair of the Republican National Committee to take the recently vacated slot as CPB president and CEO. Tomlinson also helped raise funds for The Journal Editorial Report, the leaden public-affairs program produced in conjunction with the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial page, and has implored public stations to air it. Tomlinson cracked the CPB ‘objectivity and balance’ whip in December 2003 with a letter to the head of PBS stating that ‘Now With Bill Moyers does not does not contain anything approaching the balance the law requires for public broadcasting.'” (Slate)