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Another Bush appointment in a politically
crucial area which the Democrats as of 5/09 have permitted to retain office.
PBS Run by Neoliberals
Patricia
Destacy Harrison is president and CEO of the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting in the United States, a position to which she was appointed with strong backing from CPB chairman Kenneth Tomlinson. Her candidacy arose in the midst of criticism from American
conservatives that the CPB and public broadcasters, CPB indirectly funds, namely NPR and PBS, exhibit
a "liberal bias" that excludes conservative viewpoints and participation. In
June 2005 she was appointed as President and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. This
was done with the strong backing of the then disgraced CPB chairman Kenneth Tomlinson who was forced to resign (below).
Er background includes working for her husband’s
PLR firm starting in 1973 in support of the chemical and pesticide industries.
The company was formed with the financial support of the Monsanto and Dow Chemicals in 1973. The E. Bruce Harrison Co*. in the 80s and early 90s functioned
as a fiece advocate for the industry and is credited with coining the term “junk science” to debunk some environmental
claims. Under Bush junior she became acting Undersecretary of Sate for Public
Diplomacy and then assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs. She
is a neoliberal insider.
Her politica
career began under George H.W. Bush who appointed her to the President’s Export Council in the U.S.Department of Commerce
in 1990. She was elected Co-Chair of the Republican National Committee in 1997, serving until 2001 when she was appointed to the post
of Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs by then-Secretary of State Colin Powell.
*
The E Bruce Harrison Company was sold to Ruder Finn. The company has a staff of 800, earnings of $99 million in 2006,
and is the second largest independent PR firm in the U.S. after Edelman. It is
now part of the global giant PR conglomate WPP Group, which has offices across the US and in Europe. Harrison Compay political activities was supported by companies like Coors and RJ Reynolds tobacco, who
actively promoted unrestrained free-market movment, reduction of taxes, and small government.
It worked with varius industries under the umbrella orgnisation Total Indoor Environmental Quality. These companies all had problems with volatile chemicals from their products.
Kenneth Y. Tomlinson (born August 3, 1944) is an American
government official. He is the former chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which manages Voice of America radio.
He served there from 1986 until 1994, when the BIB was dissolved by the International Broadcasting Act of 1994, and replaced
by Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG).
Tomlinson became a close friend of Karl Rove while they served together on the BIB.
According to The New York Times, there is an ongoing inquiry concerning possible criminal misuse of federal
money by Tomlinson. Investigators at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
said on 15 November 2005 "that they had uncovered evidence that its former chairman had repeatedly broken federal law and
the organization's own regulations in a campaign to combat what he saw as liberal bias."
According to the New York Times, State Department investigators determined in 2006 that he had "used his office
to run a 'horse racing operation'," that he "improperly put a friend on the payroll," that he "repeatedly used government
employees to perform personal errands," and that he "billed the government for more days of work than the rules permit."
He is a former board member of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, appointd chairman of CPB by George W.
Bush and served as chairman from September 2003 to September 2005. During his time as chairman, he pursued aggressive policies
of adding conservative viewpoint to CPB's programming. An internal investigation into his acts as chairman led to his resignation
in November 2005.
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