Corporation for Public Broadcasting

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The Corporation for Public Broadcasting logo, used from 2000 to the present.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is a private non-profit corporation which is chartered and funded by the United States Federal Government to promote public broadcasting. The CPB was created on November 7, 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. CPB initially collaborated with the pre-existing National Educational Television network, but in 1969 decided to start its own network, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which signed on officially in October of 1970, after NET was forced by the CPB and the Ford Foundation, to merge with the New Jersey PBS station, WNDT-TV (now called WNET-TV). The Corporation for Public Broadcasting provides some funding for the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio (NPR), but much more of its funding goes to public television and radio stations that are members of PBS or NPR, as well as to other broadcasters that are independent of those organizations. CPB also funds some Internet-based projects.

[edit] Funding of and by CPB

The CPB annual budget is funded almost entirely by federal appropriations. In 2005, unrestricted revenues summed to $480.4 million, $386.8 million of which come from congress' allocation to the corporation's general fund. (Other federal funds were earmarked for particular projects, mostly infrastructure development.)<ref>Corporation for Public Broadcasting's 2005 annual report</ref>

About 90% of the 2005 budget was distributed to public broadcasters across the country, including both local and national organizations.<ref name="farhi">Paul Farhi (April 22, 2005). PBS Scrutiny Raises Political Antennas. The Washington Post</ref> CPB also distributes money directly to PBS and NPR to fund both programming and equipment. In 2004, for instance, about US$38 million went to PBS itself and about US$2 million went to NPR itself. Although these direct contributions may seem small, CPB indirectly provides very substantial funding to both PBS and NPR, as public radio and television stations feed a significant portion of their budgets back to PBS and NPR through their purchase of PBS and NPR programming.

Stations which receive CPB funds must meet certain certification requirements, such as to maintain or provide:

Open Meetings
Open Financial Records
Community Advisory Board
Equal Employment Opportunity
Donor List and Political Activities

[edit] Political Composition of the CPB Board

The CPB has nine board members who serve six-year terms and are selected by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate.

Presently (February 2006) the CPB board contains three Republicans, two Democrats, and one independent.

According to the Public Broadcasting Act, the White House cannot appoint persons of the same political party to more than 5 of the 9 CPB board seats. Thus, of the three vacant seats, President George W. Bush may appoint only two Republicans.

[edit] Conservative appointments<ref name="farhi"/><ref>NPR's On the Media interview with Tomlinson, May 6, 2005</ref><ref>*NPR's On the Media follow-up, July 15, 2005</ref>

Under the administration of George W. Bush, the board has one more Republican than Democrat (with one independent member as well), and there have been complaints by people within PBS and NPR that the CPB is starting to push a conservative agenda^{[citation needed]}, while board members counter that they are merely seeking balance. Polls of the PBS and NPR audiences in 2002 and 2003 indicated that few felt that the groups' news reports contained bias, and those that saw a slant were split as to which side they believed the reports favored. The President of the CPB, Patricia Harrison, is the former Co-Chair of the Republican National Committee; its chair is Cheryl Halpern, a Republican.

The charge of a conservative agenda reached a head in 2005. The point man of the controversy, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, was the chair of the CPB board from September 2003 until September 2005. During his time as Chair, he drew the anger of PBS and NPR supporters by unilaterally commissioning a study of alleged bias of the PBS show, NOW with Bill Moyers, conducted by a conservative colleague, and by appointing two conservatives as CPB Ombudsmen. On November 3, 2005, Tomlinson resigned from the board in the face of allegations of scandal. A report of his tenure by the CPB Inspector General, requested by House Democrats, prompted his resignation. On November 15, the report was made public.

[edit] Board members

These eight board members are in office as of November 2006 (one seat currently vacant):

Cheryl Halpern (chair), Republican, nominated January 2003 by President George W. Bush, confirmed by the U.S. Senate November 2003.
Gay Hart Gaines (vice chair), Republican, nominated December 2003 by President George W. Bush, confirmed by the U.S. Senate November 2004.
Beth Courtney, Independent, nominated April 2003 by President George W. Bush, confirmed by the U.S. Senate November 2003.
Frank H. Cruz, Democrat, nominated August 1994 by President Clinton, reconfirmed to second term September 2000.
Claudia Puig, Republican, nominated December 2003 by President George W. Bush, confirmed by U.S. Senate November 2004.
Ernest J. Wilson III, Democrat, nominated to first term by President Clinton in 2000. Renominated to second term November 2004 by President George W. Bush, confirmed by Senate November 2004.
former Senator David H. Pryor, Democrat, nominated June 2006 by President George W. Bush and confirmed September 2006 by the U.S. Senate
Chris Boskin, Republican, nominated June 2006 by President George W. Bush and confirmed September 2006 by the U.S. Senate