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ORIGINAL RESEARCHBill Berkowitz Tomlinson's troublesKenneth Tomlinson: Ethically challenged maven of sleazeThe inspector general at the Department of State finds the ethically challenged Kenneth Tomlinson, the reappointed chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, has been improperly using his office to promote his own business interests and to dole out a large consulting contract to a friend. According to the New York Times, "a recent report [which has not yet been released] by the inspector general at the State Department... [found] that Tomlinson had used his office to run a horse-racing operation and that he had improperly put a friend on the payroll." Consider if you will, Kenneth L. Tomlinson, the Bush appointee to chair the Corporation for Public Broadcasting who was forced to resign after trying to politicize and Republicanize that agency. Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that Tomlinson, who has most recently been serving as chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) -- "the federal board that oversees most government broadcasts to foreign countries" including Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, the Arab-language Alhurra, and Radio Martí -- barely survived an effort by fellow board members to remove him from that post. (BBG broadcasts are listened to by an estimated 100 million people worldwide.) According to the Times, "a recent report [which has not yet been released] by the inspector general at the State Department... [found] that Tomlinson had used his office to run a horse-racing operation and that he had improperly put a friend on the payroll." The Associated Press pointed out that the investigation found that while with the BBG, Tomlinson "signed invoices worth about $245,000 for a friend [retired VOA employee Les Daniels] without the knowledge of other board members or staff." "Tomlinson also used the board's office resources to support his private horse racing operation and overbilled the organization for his time, in some instances billing both the Broadcasting Board of Governors and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for the same time worked." "The U.S. attorney's office in Washington has reviewed the case and concluded a criminal investigation is not warranted," AP reported. "However, they said a civil investigation related to the charges he hired a friend as a contractor was pending." The BBG vote on Tomlinson's removal was taken after the three Democrats on the board -- Joaquin F. Blaya, D. Jeffrey Hirschberg and Edward E. Kaufman -- offered two resolutions: One called for Tomlinson's "resignation" as chairman "during a continuing inquiry [while] the other sought to curtail his authority sharply. The seven-member board -- reduced to six (three Democrats and three Republicans -- Karen P. Hughes, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy, who serves as the representative for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Steven J. Simmons, and Blanquita Walsh Cullum) without the participation of Tomlinson -- voted along party lines. Denying any wrongdoing, Tomlinson, whose term has expired, said that he thought the investigation "was inspired by partisan divisions inside the" BBG. "Surely reasonable people should conclude that it is time to move on," Tomlinson added. In what National Public Radio called Tomlinson's "first extensive remarks about the investigation" Tomlinson told NPR that he "can't wait for this fight, because the distortions are not to be believed." According to NPR, Les Daniels "retired in 1997 from Voice of America after a long career there working on logistics." Tomlinson denied that Daniels got consulting work because of their friendship: "He's been described in the press as 'having his job because he's a friend of Ken Tomlinson.' He had the job because he's a real contributor to the Voice of America." NPR also reported that "the inspector general and the broadcasting agency's lawyers found Tomlinson didn't have the legal authority to put him on the payroll. Tomlinson says his friend helped again with logistics, and offered advice on how to boost morale -- suggesting an award for teamwork, for example." According to the inspector general's findings, Tomlinson used BBG time to work on his horse-racing interests: NPR reported that he "made more than 400 calls from government phones and sent or received more than 1200 e-mails on his official account related to horseracing. He was repeatedly in touch with his horse trainer and even emailed a Broadcasting Board employee and a Senate staffer dangling an ‘investment opportunity' in front of them -- and urging them to bet on his horse Massoud." Tomlinson claimed that the calls and e-mails added up to a very small amount of time: "You can't question the contributions I've made in terms of time I've spent on BBG activities. I'm a hard worker," he said. Tomlinson, who has been nominated for a second term, continues to have the support of the White House. According to the New York Times, "Republicans in the Senate said that in light of the continuing inquiry, they would not bring his nomination to the floor this year. Under federal law, board members may continue to serve past the expiration of their appointments until successors are named." Tomlinson is no stranger to controversy or inspector general investigations. Late last year he resigned as chairman of the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) "after a report by that agency's inspector general" found "evidence" that Tomlinson "violated rules intended to insulate public television and radio from political influence," the New York Times pointed out. According to SourceWatch, a project of the Center for Media & Democracy, "Findings from the investigation were released in a November 15th, 2005 report in which [CPB inspector general Kenneth] Konz found Tomlinson had violated statutory provisions and the board's code of ethics in regards to how he dealt with programmers creating new public affairs programs. Konz also state[d that] Tomlinson improperly reviewed shows and applied political tests when seeking a CEO and president for the CPB." Tomlinson began his career as a journalist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch in 1965 and three years later he moved to Washington to work for Readers Digest. After working for the Digest in Vietnam, in the early 1980s he was appointed by the Reagan Administration to serve as a director of Voice of America. He became Readers Digest's executive editor in 1985 and served as its editor-in-chief from 1989 to 1996. Tomlinson also served on the BBG from 1986 to 1994. Interestingly enough, Tomlinson was appointed to the CPB board in 2000 by President Bill Clinton. In 2003, he was appointed chairman by President Bush. According to Wikipedia, Tomlinson "embarked upon a mission to purge CPB of what he perceived as 'liberal bias'. His efforts sparked complaints of political pressure. His close friendship with Karl Rove is one of many concerns the public has had about his own bias and his intent with respect to CPB, and accusations that he was attempting to turn the balanced content to a right wing agenda similar to FOX television. "Tomlinson commissioned a $10,000 study into Bill Moyers' PBS program, ‘Now with Bill Moyers' without informing the board of the investigation. He also retained two Republican lobbyists to try to defeat a Congressional proposal that would have increased the representation of broadcasters on the board, again without informing the board of the contracts." The inspector general's November 2005 report pointed out that Tomlinson may have "violated both the federal law and the corporation's own rules in raising $5 million to underwrite" a program called "The Journal Editorial Report," a PBS program run by editorial board of The Wall Street Journal. A McClatchy-Tribune News Service editorial which appeared in mid-September in several newspapers was entitled "Time for Kenneth Tomlinson to sign off." The piece was uncompromising in its suggestion that it is time for Tomlinson to move on: As BBG chairman, Tomlinson ought to respect the fact that the federal broadcasting entities that depend on a wise BBG board are effective at explaining America precisely because they are free and credible compared with the state-restrained media in many of the countries they reach. Those entities like Voice of America, which has been broadcasting since 1942, are not babbling mouthpieces, and they are not and never should be parrots for manipulative Republicans, Democrats or any other small-minded group that isn't freedom-loving and people-focused. President Bush needs to fill the BBG chair with a sophisticated visionary who places a priority on explaining America. It's time for Tomlinson to sign off. Just how many damaging inspector general reports it takes before Kenneth Tomlinson is sent packing is anyone's guess. sign in, or register to email stories or comment on them.
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MORE ORIGINAL RESEARCHBill Berkowitz PERC receives Templeton Freedom Award for promoting 'enviropreneurs'Right Wing foundation-funded anti-environmental think tank grabbing a wider audience for 'free market environmentalism' On the 15th anniversary of Terry Anderson and Donald Leal's book "Free Market Environmentalism" -- the seminal book on the subject -- Anderson, the Executive Director of the Bozeman, Montana-based Property and Environment Research Center (PERC - formerly known as the Political Economy Research Center) spoke in late-January at an event sponsored by Squaw Valley Institute at the Resort at Squaw Creek in California. While it may have been just another opportunity to speak on "free market environmentalism" and not the kickoff of a "victory tour," nevertheless it comes at a time when PERC's ideas are taking root.
Bill Berkowitz Neil Bush of Saudi ArabiaDuring recent visit, President’s brother describes the country as a 'kind of tribal democracy' In late February, only a few days after Saudi Arabia beheaded four Sri Lankan robbers and then left their headless bodies on public display in the capital of Riyadh, Neil Bush, for the fourth time in the past six years, showed up for the country's Jeddah Economic Forum. The Guardian reported that Human Rights Watch "said the four men had no lawyers during their trial and sentencing, and were denied other basic legal rights." In an interview with Arab News, the Saudi English language paper, Bush described the country as "a kind of tribal democracy."
Bill Berkowitz Newt Gingrich's back door to the White HouseAmerican Enterprise Institute "Scholar" and former House Speaker blames media for poll showing 64 percent of the American people wouldn't vote for him under any circumstances Whatever it is that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has come to represent in American politics, the guy is nothing less than fascinating. One day he's espousing populist rhetoric about the need to cut the costs of college tuition and the next day he's talking World War III. One day he's claiming that the "war on terror" may force the abridgement of fundamental first amendment rights and the next he's advancing a twenty-first century version of his Contract with America. At the same time he's publicly proclaiming how "stupid" it is that the race for the presidency has already started you know that he's trying to figure out how to out finesse Rudy, McCain and Romney for the nomination. And last week, when Fox News' Chris Wallace cited a poll showing that 64 percent of the public would never vote for him, he was quick to blame those results on how unfairly he was treated by the mainstream media back in the day.
Bill Berkowitz American Enterprise Institute takes lead in agitating against IranDespite wrongheaded predictions about the war on Iraq, neocons are on the frontlines advocating military conflict with Iran After doing such a bang up job with their advice and predictions about the outcome of the war on Iraq, would it surprise you to learn that America's neoconservatives are still in business? While at this time we are not yet seeing the same intense neocon invasion of our living rooms -- via cable television's news networks -- that we saw during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, nevertheless, a host of policy analysts at conservative think tanks -- most notably the American Enterprise Institute -- are being heeded on Iran by those who count - folks inside the Bush Administration.
Bill Berkowitz After six years, opposition gaining on George W. Bush's Faith Based InitiativeUnmentioned in the president's State of the Union speech, the program nevertheless continues to recruit religious participants and hand out taxpayer money to religious groups With several domestic policy proposals unceremoniously folded into President Bush's recent State of the Union address, two pretty significant items failed to make the cut. Despite the president's egregiously tardy response to the event itself, it was nevertheless surprising that he didn't even mention Hurricane Katrina: He didn't offer up a progress report, words of hope to the victims, or come up with a proposal for moving the sluggish rebuilding effort forward. There were no "armies of compassion" ready to be unleashed, although it should be said that many in the religious community responded to the disaster much quicker than the Bush Administration. In the State of the Union address, however, there was no "compassionate conservatism" for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Bill Berkowitz Frank Luntz calls Republican leadership in Washington 'One giant whining windbag'On the outs with the GOP, legendary degrader of discourse is moving to California He doesn't make great art; nothing he does elevates the human spirit; he doesn't illuminate, he bamboozles. He has become expert in subterfuge, hidden meanings, word play and manipulation. Frank Luntz has been so good at what he does that those paying close attention gave it its own name: "Luntzspeak."
Bill Berkowitz Spooked by MoveOn.org, conservative movement seeks to emulate liberal powerhouseFueled with Silicon Valley money, TheVanguard.org will have Richard Poe, former editor of David Horowitz's FrontPage magazine as its editorial and creative director As Paul Weyrich, a founding father of the modern conservative movement and still a prominent actor in it, likes to say, he learned a great deal about movement building by closely observing what liberals were up to in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Bill Berkowitz Ward Connerly's anti-affirmative action jihadFounder and Chair of the American Civil Rights Institute scouting five to nine states for new anti-affirmative action initiatives Fresh from his most recent victory -- in Michigan this past November -- Ward Connerly, the Black California-based maven of anti-affirmative action initiatives, appears to be preparing to take his jihad on the road. According to a mid-December report in the San Francisco Chronicle, Connerly said that he was "exploring moves into nine other states."
Bill Berkowitz Tom Tancredo's missionThe Republican congressman from Colorado will try to woo GOP voters with anti-immigration rhetoric and a boatload of Christian right politics These days, probably the most recognizable name in anti-immigration politics is Colorado Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo. Over the past year, Tancredo has gone from a little known congressman to a highly visible anti-immigration spokesperson. "Tancredo has thoroughly enmeshed himself in the anti-immigration movement and with the help of CNN talk show host Lou Dobbs, he has been given a national megaphone," Devin Burghart, the program director of the Building Democracy Initiative at the Center for New Community, a Chicago-based civil rights group, told Media Transparency.
Bill Berkowitz Institute on Religion and Democracy slams 'Leftist' National Council of ChurchesNew report from conservative foundation-funded IRD charges the NCC with being a political surrogate for MoveOn.org, People for the American Way and other liberal organizations If you prefer your religious battles sprinkled with demagoguery, sanctimoniousness, and simplistic attacks, the Institute on Religion and Democracy's (IRD) latest broadside against the National Council of Churches (NCC) certainly fits the bill.
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