News

WASHINGTON — New guidelines for improving its internal governance are tepid and do little to restore the public’s faith in the scandal-ridden Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Common Cause, Free Press and the Center for Digital Democracy stated today.

WASHINGTON — Kenneth Konz, in a letter to Common Cause, Free Press and the Center for Digital Democracy, has refused to publicly release e-mails and other documents pertinent to the recently concluded investigation of former Corporation for Public Broadcasting Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson.

WASHINGTON — Common Cause, the Center for Digital Democracy and Free Press today filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Broadcasting Board of Governors. The groups seek copies of any correspondence between the White House and CPB officials and other evidence uncovered in recent Inspector General investigations.

WASHINGTON — Free Press, the Center for Digital Democracy and Common Cause sent a letter today to top officials of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, demanding the immediate release of all evidence uncovered during a recently completed Inspector General’s investigation — including e-mail correspondence between ex-CPB Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson and White House adviser Karl Rove.

WASHINGTON — Free Press, the Center for Digital Democracy and Common Cause called on Corporation for Public Broadcasting President Patricia Harrison to resign following the long-awaited release of an Inspector General’s report, which exposes extensive wrongdoing by the leadership of the CPB. The report found that “political tests” were a “major criteria” in hiring Harrison to oversee the CPB.

WASHINGTON — Seventeen public interest, civil rights, media reform, community media, and consumer groups today delivered a letter to members of the House Commerce Committee urging the committee to protect American consumers and local communities as it moves forward on a rewrite of the 1996 Telecommunications Act.

WASHINGTON — Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, former chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, has resigned from the CPB board prior to the release of an Inspector General’s report on his efforts to impose his partisan agenda at PBS and NPR. Free Press Executive Director Josh Silver made the following statement:

WASHINGTON — Common Cause, the Center for Digital Democracy and Free Press today admonished the board of directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to open a closed-door meeting on the results of an investigation into wrongdoing by former Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson.

WASHINGTON — Free Press, the Center for Digital Democracy and Common Cause today deplored the recent hiring of government propagandists and GOP loyalists to top positions at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and demanded that the agency make public a forthcoming Inspector General’s report on ethical violations and partisan interference by its board members.

NEW YORK – The names of American Troops killed in the ongoing war in Iraq have been relegated to the depths of American newspapers, and the nation’s first and largest organization for Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is launching a campaign to change that, it was announced today.