News

WASHINGTON — New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced yesterday that his office has subpoenaed nine of the largest radio conglomerates as part of his ongoing payola investigation. Timothy Karr, campaign director of Free Press, made the following statement:

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration’s 2007 budget, delivered to Congress on Monday, cuts $103.5 million in federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) over the next two years. Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, made the following statement:

WASHINGTON — Paula A. Kerger, a top executive at New York’s Educational Broadcasting Corporation and Thirteen/WNET, has been named as the next president and CEO of the Public Broadcasting Service.

Free Press Executive Director Josh Silver made the following statement:

WASHINGTON — Two-thirds of Internet users have serious concerns about practices by Internet network owners to block or impair their access to information and services, and the majority of those surveyed support congressional action to prevent this practice, according to a new poll released today by consumer and public interest groups.

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.