Press Release
Public interest groups urge Corporation for Public Broadcasting to open meetings to the public
Contact: Timothy Karr, 201-533-8838
WASHINGTON -- Ten public interest groups today released a letter they have delivered to each member of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's board of directors and to new CPB President Patricia Harrison. Free Press signed the letter with the Center for Creative Voices in Media, the Center for Digital Democracy, Chicago Media Action, Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting, Common Cause, the Consumer Federation of America, Media Access Project, Media Alliance and the National Hispanic Media Coalition.
The letter calls for increased openness and transparency in the way the CPB board operates and conducts its meetings. It specifically asks for the board to vote on resolutions at its next meeting that would:
prohibit board members from approving any contracts without the full knowledge and consent of the board, and make those contracts public;
require that any time the CBP studies public broadcasting programming, it must first notify and get the consent of PBS, NPR or the appropriate public broadcasting entity it intends to examine;
make its quarterly meetings public via real-time online, video, audio and other communications and release online its director's conflict-of-interest statements; and
permit the public to address the board at its open meetings.
"Opening the CPB to full public scrutiny will help cleanse the organization of covert partisanship," said Free Press Campaign Director Timothy Karr. "Quality public programming must be allowed to stand on its own merits. There's no place at the CPB for those who seek to manipulate broadcasting content for political gain."
"The uproar over certain policy decisions by CPB Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson makes clear that the public cares deeply about how the CPB views its role," said Common Cause President Chellie Pingree. "Citizens should not be kept in the dark about how the CPB does its work."
"CPB must become accountable to the public, who foot its bills in the hundreds of millions yearly," said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. "Why does the board fear disclosure and transparency?"
"We need to put the public back into public broadcasting," added Jerold Starr, executive director of Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting. "We can start with the CPB meetings where judgments about who is to be served and decisions about how to spend taxpayers' money are made."
Signers of the letter want the CPB board to consider and vote on these resolutions at their next board meeting on Sept. 19-20. The groups stressed that opening up its process was the first of many reforms that CPB should address.
"These policies promoting transparency and sound, non-partisan corporate governance should be standard policy for such a body, not a debatable or contentious request," said Jeff Perlstein, executive director of Media Alliance.
"These suggested reforms are important first steps toward achieving these important goals," said Jonathan Rintels, executive director of the Center for Creative Voices in Media. "America needs a public broadcasting system that operates in full sunshine, free from outside political and corporate pressure."
A copy of the letter is below.
###
July 27, 2005
Kenneth Y. Tomlinson
Chairman
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
401 Ninth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004-2129
Frank Cruz
Vice Chair
Katherine Milner Anderson
Board Member
Beth Courtney
Board Member
Gay Hart Gaines
Board Member
Cheryl Halpern
Board Member
Claudia Puig
Board Member
Ernest J. Wilson III
Board Member
Patricia de Stacy Harrison
President and Chief Executive Officer
Dear Members of the CPB Board and Ms. Harrison:
We believe it is critically important for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to have unimpeachable policies related to corporate governance and public accountability. We are alarmed by press reports over the past several months that indicate a number of troubling activities by the CBP or its directors. We also are concerned that CPB does not appear to have adopted policies promoting public disclosure of its meetings, records and activities.
We share a concern about the health and vitality of public broadcasting. In that spirit, we ask that you submit and support the following resolutions at the next CPB board meeting scheduled for Sept. 19-20, 2005. The following suggestions for board action reflect our views that CPB should act as transparently as possible, particularly when it comes to the allocation of taxpayer funds for certain board activities.
We look forward to discussing these items with you at your earliest convenience:
No member of the CPB board, including its chair, shall approve a contract without the knowledge of the entire board. Such a contract must have the support of a majority of the board, and be processed by the corporation's president, general counsel and other appropriate staff in accordance with the corporation's rules and bylaws. Any such contract shall immediately be made public.
CPB shall not conduct any studies or reports on public broadcasting programming without first informing PBS, NPR or the relevant public broadcasting organizations of its intent to do so. Prior to such a contract, CPB shall receive comments in writing from the appropriate public broadcasting entities about the merits of such a study. Only then shall the board vote on the proposed study. Such studies shall immediately be made available to the public.
CPB shall make its quarterly board meetings available to the public, via real-time online, video, audio and other communications. All other corporation meetings open to the public, including board committees, shall also be available electronically. CPB shall archive such meetings for public viewing. All CPB board agenda items shall be made available to the public reflecting their full record, including any background documents used for decision-making.
CPB shall permit members of the public to speak at open meetings, within reasonable limits of schedule, by providing notice the morning of said meeting.
CPB shall also make available, via online and archived files, conflict-of-interest statements filed by all directors.
Please contact Celia Wexler of Common Cause at 202 833-1200 if you have any questions. We will be contacting you soon as well.
Sincerely,
Chellie Pingree
President
Common Cause
Jeff Chester
Executive Director
Center for Digital Democracy
Josh Silver
Executive Director
Free Press
Alex Nogales
President & CEO
National Hispanic Media Coalition
Mark Cooper
Director of Research
Consumer Federation of America
Jerold M. Starr
Executive Director
Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting
Jeff Perlstein
Executive Director
Media Alliance
Jonathan Rintels
Executive Director
Center for Creative Voices in Media
Harold Feld
Senior Vice President
Media Access Project
Mitchell Szczepanczyk
Chicago Media Action
The letter calls for increased openness and transparency in the way the CPB board operates and conducts its meetings. It specifically asks for the board to vote on resolutions at its next meeting that would:
"Opening the CPB to full public scrutiny will help cleanse the organization of covert partisanship," said Free Press Campaign Director Timothy Karr. "Quality public programming must be allowed to stand on its own merits. There's no place at the CPB for those who seek to manipulate broadcasting content for political gain."
"The uproar over certain policy decisions by CPB Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson makes clear that the public cares deeply about how the CPB views its role," said Common Cause President Chellie Pingree. "Citizens should not be kept in the dark about how the CPB does its work."
"CPB must become accountable to the public, who foot its bills in the hundreds of millions yearly," said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. "Why does the board fear disclosure and transparency?"
"We need to put the public back into public broadcasting," added Jerold Starr, executive director of Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting. "We can start with the CPB meetings where judgments about who is to be served and decisions about how to spend taxpayers' money are made."
Signers of the letter want the CPB board to consider and vote on these resolutions at their next board meeting on Sept. 19-20. The groups stressed that opening up its process was the first of many reforms that CPB should address.
"These policies promoting transparency and sound, non-partisan corporate governance should be standard policy for such a body, not a debatable or contentious request," said Jeff Perlstein, executive director of Media Alliance.
"These suggested reforms are important first steps toward achieving these important goals," said Jonathan Rintels, executive director of the Center for Creative Voices in Media. "America needs a public broadcasting system that operates in full sunshine, free from outside political and corporate pressure."
A copy of the letter is below.
###
July 27, 2005
Kenneth Y. Tomlinson
Chairman
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
401 Ninth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004-2129
Frank Cruz
Vice Chair
Katherine Milner Anderson
Board Member
Beth Courtney
Board Member
Gay Hart Gaines
Board Member
Cheryl Halpern
Board Member
Claudia Puig
Board Member
Ernest J. Wilson III
Board Member
Patricia de Stacy Harrison
President and Chief Executive Officer
Dear Members of the CPB Board and Ms. Harrison:
We believe it is critically important for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to have unimpeachable policies related to corporate governance and public accountability. We are alarmed by press reports over the past several months that indicate a number of troubling activities by the CBP or its directors. We also are concerned that CPB does not appear to have adopted policies promoting public disclosure of its meetings, records and activities.
We share a concern about the health and vitality of public broadcasting. In that spirit, we ask that you submit and support the following resolutions at the next CPB board meeting scheduled for Sept. 19-20, 2005. The following suggestions for board action reflect our views that CPB should act as transparently as possible, particularly when it comes to the allocation of taxpayer funds for certain board activities.
We look forward to discussing these items with you at your earliest convenience:
Please contact Celia Wexler of Common Cause at 202 833-1200 if you have any questions. We will be contacting you soon as well.
Sincerely,
Chellie Pingree
President
Common Cause
Jeff Chester
Executive Director
Center for Digital Democracy
Josh Silver
Executive Director
Free Press
Alex Nogales
President & CEO
National Hispanic Media Coalition
Mark Cooper
Director of Research
Consumer Federation of America
Jerold M. Starr
Executive Director
Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting
Jeff Perlstein
Executive Director
Media Alliance
Jonathan Rintels
Executive Director
Center for Creative Voices in Media
Harold Feld
Senior Vice President
Media Access Project
Mitchell Szczepanczyk
Chicago Media Action
