Broadcasting Board of Governors Chairman decides to quit

Controversial US Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) Chairman Kenneth Y Tomlinson has asked President Bush not to put his name in nomination for another term. Tomlinson said he serves at the pleasure of the President and plans to remain in office until his successor is confirmed.

In a letter to President Bush dated 9 January, Tomlinson said he is proud of his record of service and “appreciated deeply your repeatedly submitting my name to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for reconfirmation to this position. However, I have concluded that it would be far more constructive to write a book about my experiences rather than to seek to continue government service.”

In the letter, Tomlinson cited the role he has played in launching Arabic-language satellite television across the Middle East, daily Persian-language satellite television to Iran, expansion of radio and television to Afghanistan and significantly increasing radio and television transmissions to Cuba.

Tomlinson’s chairmanship of the BBG began in 2002. He previously served as Editor-In-Chief of Reader’s Digest following a 28-year career with the magazine. In 1982, he was appointed by President Reagan and served two years as Director of Voice of America. He later served as a member of the Board for International Broadcasting (which supervised Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) for eight years beginning in 1986.

(Source: Broadcasting Board of Governors)

Media Network's Andy Sennitt comments:

This decision is hardly unexpected. At the end of August 2006, a State Department investigation found that Tomlinson misused government money on several occasions. The report found he improperly put a friend on the payroll, used his office to run a “horse racing operation”, repeatedly used government employees to perform personal errands, and billed the government for more days of work than the rules permit. In a statement, Tomlinson said he believed the investigation results were “inspired by partisan divisions inside the BBG”.

In 2005, Tomlinson was ousted from another post, at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, after another inquiry found evidence that he had violated rules meant to insulate public television and radio from political influence.

Source: Media Network

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