aTypical Joe: a gay New Yorker living in the rural South

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Watch for it

Ken Tomlinson was the guest on Sunday’s Q&A. He seemed very prepared and careful, right on message; Brian Lamb was a perfect place for him to do this. But he promises something I expect will be much more interesting:

LAMB: At the hearing that we covered recently, you were challenged to debate Bill Moyers. And you said yes.

TOMLINSON: I would be happy to debate Bill Moyers. It’s not going to be good for public broadcasting because the more Tomlinson and Moyers talk about what has happened in public broadcasting, the more people are going to say, wait just a second, something is not right in public broadcasting.

There should have been balance through the years. You know, balance is something—C-SPAN proves that balance is something that is achievable if you put it as a priority. And I don’t demand a tape measure be applied to every show or every night, but you can feel the balance of C-SPAN.

And in recent years you felt unbalanced in sections of programming in public broadcasting.

LAMB: Did anybody follow up and suggest that that actual debate be held?

TOMLINSON: Oh, if Mr. Moyers wants to do it, then we’ll have lunch and we’ll plan something. As I said, I don’t think it’s good for public broadcasting but I’m certainly willing to do it.

LAMB: Will it be in a public forum?

TOMLINSON: Yes.

LAMB: Coverable by this network and others?

TOMLINSON: I assume so.

LAMB: And do you think it will be soon?

TOMLINSON: I think it will probably be in the fall, in September.

Now that will be worth watching. Of course, by then he’ll no longer be chair and we’ll have instead his close ally, New Jersey lawyer and real-estate developer (and major GOP donor) Cheryl F. Halpern, who believes journalists should be penalized for biased programs.

As it becomes increasingly politicized (it’s never been good on that score) my antipathy to public broadcasting continues to build.

Media Matters has more on the C-SPAN interview.