Tomlinson and PBS

Kenneth Tomlinson may no longer be the chairman for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, but he joins the long list of Republicans who have over-played their hands. An internal investigation by the Corporation's inspector general Kenneth Konz revealed:

"The Corporation for Public Broadcasting's former chairman may have violated federal law by steering a conservative-oriented talk show onto PBS's schedule and used 'political tests' to recruit a former co-chairman of the Republican National Committee as its president, an internal investigation has found.

Konz said in an interview that he found no criminal violations. His report, however, documented a series of Tomlinson-led initiatives that were undertaken without the knowledge of CPB's board or that directly violated the agency's statutes and procedures."

Konz does say that he found no real effort to build a conservative base at PBS. However:

"The report's most damning finding might have been Tomlinson's efforts to steer 'The Journal Editorial Report,' a conservative-oriented talk show featuring commentators from the Wall Street Journal, onto PBS's regular weekly schedule. Under federal statutes, board members are prohibited from involvement in programming decisions. But Konz said that Tomlinson was intimately involved in the development of the program, which he had touted as an ideological alternative to 'Now . . . With Bill Moyers,' and that he helped get funding for it -- a possible violation of Tomlinson's fiduciary responsibilities."

That "fiduciary responsibilities" bit means that in effect, Tomlinson was more interested in getting a pet show on the air then in looking out for the best interests of the CPB. But we already knew that, didn't we?

Tomlinson's not the only one to be the target of criticism under the report:

"The inspector general was critical of CPB's executive staff, including former chief executive Kathleen Cox, citing the failure to apprise the board of Tomlinson's various contracting and programming initiatives.

Through her attorney, Cox denied that allegation, saying she had made good-faith efforts to communicate with the board but was blocked by Tomlinson, who sometimes admonished her in a 'stern and intimidating' manner.

Cox resigned as chief executive this year after nine months in that post, during which she had a stormy relationship with Tomlinson. She received what Konz termed 'a very generous' severance package worth more than $610,000, or approximately three times her annual salary and benefits. The package was apparently unilaterally negotiated by Tomlinson without the board's knowledge, Konz said."

It pays well to be a stooge I guess.

But Tomlinson's trouble aren't quite over just yet:

"Another investigation involves his chairmanship of the Board of Broadcasting Governors, a State Department agency that oversees the federal government's international broadcasting operations, including Radio Free Europe and Voice of America. The investigation reportedly centers on Tomlinson's hiring and spending practices."

The sad lesson from this is not that you can't betray your responsibilities to further your own partisan and personal interests. The real lesson is that Tomlinson should have been more careful and discreet about it. His heavy-handed approach only managed to ignite a firestorm of controversy that led to his resignation as chairman and this investigation. Does that make his current troubles any less satisfying? Of course not.