We are starting to hear the word cronyism a lot during the last few days in Washington. It's plain to see that
placing political friends with no experience in important posts can have its consequences, heart breaking
consequences. And this is
not a partisan concern. Editorials like this one from
the Keene Sentinel in New Hampshire, one of the most conservative newspapers in the country are popping up all over:
Three years ago this month, the PBS TV series "Now" broadcast a chilling two-part report on the massive threat that hurricanes posed to the city of New Orleans. The program noted that everyone in a position of authority understood the danger of levees bursting and the city being flooded. Warding off that danger was a matter of resources. Near the end of the program, reporter Daniel Zwerdling summed up the situation:
"We've tried to find scientists who'd say that these predictions of doom could never really come true, and we haven't been able to find them. The main debate seems to be, when the country is facing different kinds of threats, which ones should get the most attention? The federal government has been cutting money from hurricane protection projects, partly to pay for the war against terrorists."
Did the "Now" program spur a public investigation leading to government action? Not at all. Instead, "Now," which often focuses on unmet needs, found itself under investigation. Kenneth Tomlinson, chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, had the program's contents analyzed and accused the producers of being too critical of the Bush administration.
With the post-Katrina cleanup and recovery now under way along the Gulf Coast, this has become a week of "What-ifs."
It's not surprising our friends at NOW with Bill Moyers were among the journalists who did their job in exposing the threat to the city of New Orleans and the nations transportation infrastructure.
While the public is processing this lesson I don't think the administration will change their ways this month when they move to install Cheryl Halpern as the new Corporation for Public Broadcasting chairperson. What qualifications does she have? Experience in children's education or a background in documentary film? Nope, she was one of George Herbert Walker Bush's "Team 100" fundraisers and she has given more than $324, 000 to republican candidates and national party committees since 1980. We did a study on her a little while back if you want to
learn more about her.
Worse then her lack of experience, she also has the wrong attitude. When she was confirmed by the Senate as a CPB board member a couple of years back she suggested that the board ought to have more authority to influence programming decisions, and that perhaps fines should be levied against pubcasters if the CPB board felt they were "unbalanced." What kind of information can we expect to receive from public broadcasting if we allow it to be run by ideologues and political friends with deep pockets? What will the consequences be?
