infobong.com

The New York TImes just posted a story about public efforts by the chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to "correct what he and other conservatives consider liberal bias" at PBS. Not surprisingly, chairman Tomlinson points to "NOW With Bill Moyers" as evidence of the network's leftward leaning. I'd certainly agree that "NOW" is one of the most politically left shows on TV anywhere, but it only airs once a week, while the conservative "News Hour with Jim Lehrer" airs each night, which isn't even to mention "Wall Street Week" or the Tucker Carlson vehicle "Unfiltered."

The article says Tomlinson secretly hired a consultant to perform review the content of "NOW" and political learnings of "NOW" guests. After the review, Tomlinson concluded the network is too pink. I'm guessing he didn't do an ideological analysis of "Wall Street Week."

Using "NOW" to claim that PBS as a network tilts to left seems disingenuous. Although Bill Moyers may have been hated by conservative, he's left the show, and his replacement David Brancaccio came from the PRI business show "Marketwatch." In addition, PBS added Carlson's "Unfiltered" during Moyers tenure specifically to balance out the perceived liberalism of "NOW."

The article says that Tomlinson does not intend to eliminate public affairs programming, but it seems difficult to divorce investigative reporting or pieces critical of domestic affairs without the perception of a "liberal" or anti-institutional bias. The story quotes a former CPB president saying Tomlinson wants to "help the people in public broadcasting understand why some people in the conservative movement think PBS is hostile to them." I frankly want to understand why many people in the conservative movement are hostile to PBS.