CPB's Republican chair talks about "balance"

Today's New York Times reports on Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, chair of the Corporation of Public Broadcasting (CPB). Just as commercial media are being pushed to the right by corporate owners such as the Sinclair group, so the CPB, under Tomlinson, is pushing a right-wing agenda on public media, under the guise of "balance." The Benton Foundation notes that Tomlinson has:

• 1) "contracted, without knowledge of the rest of the CPB board, an outside consultant to keep track of the guests' political leanings on one program, "Now With Bill Moyers,"
  
• 2) "hired the director of the White House Office of Global Communications as a senior staff member to draft guidelines governing the work of two ombudsmen whom the corporation recently appointed to review the content of public radio and television broadcasts, and
  
• 3) "encouraged corporation and public broadcasting officials to broadcast "The Journal Editorial Report," whose host, Paul Gigot, is editor of the conservative editorial page of The Wall Street Journal".

Tomlinson has also made it clear to the CPB board that his choice for a new chief executive is Patricia Harrison, "a former co-chairwoman of the Republican National Committee who is now an assistant secretary of state."