News

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.

WASHINGTON — Free Press and the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) today applauded the Senate Commerce Committee’s unanimous passage of the Truth in Broadcasting Act as a first step toward ensuring the public’s right to know about the origins of audio and video news releases.

WASHINGTON — More than 20 public interest, civil rights and media reform groups today delivered a letter to members of the Senate Commerce Committee urging the Committee to make the availability of spectrum for unlicensed use a major priority of any digital television (DTV) transition legislation. The Committee is expected to vote on a DTV bill on Thursday.

IOWA CITY — More than 500 people filled the Pomerantz Center at the University of Iowa on Wednesday night for a “Town Meeting on the Future of the Media,” voicing their concerns about media consolidation to Federal Communications Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein.

WASHINGTON — Free Press and the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) today called on Congress and the Justice Department to prosecute government officials who violated federal laws by purchasing favorable news coverage for the president’s policies.