Kenneth Tomlinson
Encyclopedia
Kenneth Y. Tomlinson is a former editor at Reader's Digest and American government official. He is the former chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors
, which manages Voice of America
radio, and formerly Chairman of the Board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which manages funds appropriated by Congress in support of public television and radio. According to The New York Times
, there was an inquiry concerning possible 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
, and served as chairman from September 2003 to September 2005. During his time as chairman, he pursued aggressive policies of adding conservative
viewpoint to programming supported by CPB funds. An internal investigation into his acts as chairman led to his resignation in November 2005.
, Tomlinson began his career in journalism working as a reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch
in 1965. In 1968 he joined the Washington
bureau of Reader's Digest
.
He was a correspondent in Vietnam
, and co-authored the book P.O.W., a history of American prisoners of war in the Vietnam War
. In 1977 and 1978, he worked out of the Digest's Paris
bureau covering events in Europe
, Africa
and the Middle East
.
Tomlinson married Rebecca Moore Tomlinson, a former congressional aide to Bill Stuckey and Sonny Montgomery, in 1975. They have been married ever since and live at Springbrook Farm in Fauquier County, Virginia
, and have two sons. William M. Tomlinson graduated from Vanderbilt University
in 2000 and is a sports producer for ESPNews
. Lucas Y. Tomlinson was a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and a 2001 graduate of the United States Naval Academy
in Annapolis, MD, who currently works as a military consultant for Booz Allen
in Washington D.C.
In September 1982, President
Reagan
nominated Tomlinson to be his fourth Director of the Voice of America
(VOA), where he served through August 1984. Some of the Reagan Administration's innovations for the Voice, such as the advent of editorial
s extolling Administration policy, stirred opposition and fears that the broadcasts could be seen as propaganda
.
In October 1986, President Reagan nominated Tomlinson to be the fourth chairman of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
(NCLIS), where he served until May 1987.
In May 1987, President Reagan nominated Tomlinson to be a member of the Board for International Broadcasting (BIB) where he served until 1994 when the BIB was dissolved by the International Broadcasting Act of 1994 and replaced by the Broadcasting Board of Governors
(BBG). Tomlinson became a close friend of Karl Rove
while they served together on the BIB after President
Bush
nominated Rove to be a member of the BIB in 1989.
Following his work at VOA, Tomlinson returned to Reader's Digest as managing editor in 1984. He was named executive editor in 1985 and became editor-in-chief in 1989.
Tomlinson was the Virginia Press Association's Virginian of the Year in 1994 and is a member of the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame.
Tomlinson retired as editor-in-chief of Reader's Digest in 1996. After moving to Virginia soon after, Tomlinson was named president and director of the National Sporting Library
in Middleburg, Virginia
in 1999.
magazine wrote when Tomlinson "...uses terms like “fair and balanced” in talking about what PBS should be, it is understandably seen as code guaranteed to evoke charges of the “Foxification” of PBS and raise alarm bells with liberals and moderates, as well as with viewers who just don’t care about a political agenda at all."
Tomlinson commissioned a $10,000 study into Bill Moyers
' PBS
program, Now with Bill Moyers without informing the board of the investigation. He also retained two Republican lobbyists to try to defeat a Congressional proposal that would have increased the representation of broadcasters on the board, again without informing the board of the contracts.
The inspector general's report issued 15 November 2005, said that Mr. Tomlinson appeared to have violated both the federal law and the corporation's own rules in raising $5 million to underwrite The Journal Editorial Report, a PBS program by the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal
.
Mr. Tomlinson, in a statement distributed with the report, rejected its conclusions. He said that any suggestion that he violated his duties or the law "is malicious and irresponsible" and that the inspector general had opted "for politics over good judgment."
"Unfortunately, the Inspector General's preconceived and unjustified findings will only help to maintain the status quo and other reformers will be discouraged from seeking change," said Mr. Tomlinson, who has repeatedly defended his decisions as part of an effort to restore balance to programming. "Regrettably, as a result, balance and objectivity will not come soon to elements of public broadcasting."
In April 2005, the contract of the former CPB president, Kathleen Cox, was not renewed. She was replaced by Ken Feree, a Republican
and former adviser to chairman of the Federal Communications Commission
, Michael Powell
.
Tomlinson resigned from the CPB board on November 4, 2005 after the board saw the report about his tenure by the Inspector General of the CPB, requested by House Democrats. The report described possible political influence on personnel decisions, including e-mail correspondence between Tomlinson and the White House which indicated that Tomlinson "was strongly motivated by political considerations in filling the president/CEO position."
Tomlinson was replaced by Cheryl Halpern
.
and Senator Christopher Dodd
forwarded accusations of misuse of money from an employee at the board.
The New York Times reported that the inquiry was pursuing accusations that Tomlinson had spent federal money for personal purposes and hired unqualified and ghost employees. It also reported that State Department investigators had seized records and e-mail
from the board, including correspondence between Tomlinson and Karl Rove
, one of President
George W. Bush
's senior advisors. Rove, an old friend of Tomlinson's, helped to secure Tomlinson's position as chairman.
A summary of the year-long report, prepared by the inspector general of the State Department was released by Mr Berman on August 29, 2006. It concludes that Tomlinson used his office at the Broadcasting Board of Governors to oversee a stable of thoroughbreds. Berman has asked that Tomlinson be removed from his position immediately in the light of the reports findings.
The State Department report noted his use of his office to oversee a stable of thoroughbreds but did not mention one specific way in which his professional responsibilities and personal interests appear to have intersected.
In the statement issued through his lawyer, Mr. Tomlinson said that he was "proud of what I have accomplished for U.S. international broadcasting" and that the investigation "was inspired by partisan divisions inside the Broadcasting Board of Governors."
He implied that it was more efficient for him to work for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting at his office at the broadcasting board. About his horse racing work, he said the inspector general had concluded that it amounted to "an average of one e-mail and two and a half minutes a day" at the office.
He also said he spent more time on broadcasting responsibilities at his farm and residences than he spent on his horses at the office.
In early September 2006, the BBG appointees voted on two resolutions related to the inspector general's report: whether to call for Tomlinson's resignation, and whether to sharply curtail his authority. Both resolutions failed in votes that split along the Governors' party lines.
Broadcasting Board of Governors
The Broadcasting Board of Governors is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for all non-military, international broadcasting sponsored by the U.S government. It was previously a department within the United States Information Agency until 1999.-Origins:Starting in...
, which manages Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
radio, and formerly Chairman of the Board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which manages funds appropriated by Congress in support of public television and radio. According to The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, there was an inquiry concerning possible 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
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a non-profit corporation created by an act of the United States Congress, funded by the United States’ federal government to promote public broadcasting...
, and served as chairman from September 2003 to September 2005. During his time as chairman, he pursued aggressive policies of adding conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
viewpoint to programming supported by CPB funds. An internal investigation into his acts as chairman led to his resignation in November 2005.
Biography
A native of Grayson County, VirginiaGrayson County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 17,917 people, 7,259 households, and 5,088 families residing in the county. The population density was 40 people per square mile . There were 9,123 housing units at an average density of 21 per square mile...
, Tomlinson began his career in journalism working as a reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch
Richmond Times-Dispatch
The Richmond Times-Dispatch is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond the capital of Virginia, United States, and is commonly considered the "newspaper of record" for events occurring in much of the state...
in 1965. In 1968 he joined the Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
bureau of Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...
.
He was a correspondent in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, and co-authored the book P.O.W., a history of American prisoners of war in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. In 1977 and 1978, he worked out of the Digest's Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
bureau covering events in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
.
Tomlinson married Rebecca Moore Tomlinson, a former congressional aide to Bill Stuckey and Sonny Montgomery, in 1975. They have been married ever since and live at Springbrook Farm in Fauquier County, Virginia
Fauquier County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 55,139 people, 19,842 households, and 15,139 families residing in the county. The population density was 85 people per square mile . There were 21,046 housing units at an average density of 32 per square mile...
, and have two sons. William M. Tomlinson graduated from Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
in 2000 and is a sports producer for ESPNews
ESPNEWS
ESPNEWS , launched on November 1, 1996, is a 24-hour-a-day sports news television channel...
. Lucas Y. Tomlinson was a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and a 2001 graduate of the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
in Annapolis, MD, who currently works as a military consultant for Booz Allen
Booz Allen Hamilton
Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. , or more commonly Booz Allen, is an American public consulting firm headquartered in McLean, Fairfax County, Virginia, with 80 other offices throughout the United States. Ralph Shrader is its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. The firm was founded by Edwin Booz in...
in Washington D.C.
In September 1982, President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
nominated Tomlinson to be his fourth Director of the Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
(VOA), where he served through August 1984. Some of the Reagan Administration's innovations for the Voice, such as the advent of editorial
Editorial
An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
s extolling Administration policy, stirred opposition and fears that the broadcasts could be seen as propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
.
"Someone complained that your editorials sound just like Ronald Reagan," Mr. Tomlinson said, "and I said you're darn right and I'm proud of it. The editorials should reflect the viewpoint of the party in power."
In October 1986, President Reagan nominated Tomlinson to be the fourth chairman of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
The National Commission on Libraries and Information Science was an agency in the United States government between 1970 and 2008. The activities of the Commission were consolidated into the Institute of Museum and Library Services.-Origins:...
(NCLIS), where he served until May 1987.
In May 1987, President Reagan nominated Tomlinson to be a member of the Board for International Broadcasting (BIB) where he served until 1994 when the BIB was dissolved by the International Broadcasting Act of 1994 and replaced by the Broadcasting Board of Governors
Broadcasting Board of Governors
The Broadcasting Board of Governors is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for all non-military, international broadcasting sponsored by the U.S government. It was previously a department within the United States Information Agency until 1999.-Origins:Starting in...
(BBG). Tomlinson became a close friend of Karl Rove
Karl Rove
Karl Christian Rove was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush until Rove's resignation on August 31, 2007. He has headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives...
while they served together on the BIB after President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
nominated Rove to be a member of the BIB in 1989.
Following his work at VOA, Tomlinson returned to Reader's Digest as managing editor in 1984. He was named executive editor in 1985 and became editor-in-chief in 1989.
Tomlinson was the Virginia Press Association's Virginian of the Year in 1994 and is a member of the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame.
Tomlinson retired as editor-in-chief of Reader's Digest in 1996. After moving to Virginia soon after, Tomlinson was named president and director of the National Sporting Library
National Sporting Library
The National Sporting Library & Museum The National Sporting Library and Museum, located in beautiful, historic Middleburg, Virginia, is dedicated to preserving, promoting, and sharing the literature, art, and culture of horse and field sports...
in Middleburg, Virginia
Middleburg, Virginia
Middleburg is a town in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States with a population of approximately 976 as of July 2010.-History:The town was established in 1787 by American Revolutionary War Lieutenant Colonel and Virginia statesman, Levin Powell. He purchased the land for Middleburg at $2.50 per...
in 1999.
CPB tenure
Tomlinson was appointed as chairman of the CPB board by President George W. Bush, for a two-year term, in September 2003. He embarked upon a mission to purge CPB of what he perceived as "liberal bias". His efforts sparked complaints of political pressure. Broadcasting & CableBroadcasting & Cable
Broadcasting & Cable magazine is a television industry trade magazine published by NewBay Media. Previous names included Broadcasting/Telecasting, Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising, and Broadcasting...
magazine wrote when Tomlinson "...uses terms like “fair and balanced” in talking about what PBS should be, it is understandably seen as code guaranteed to evoke charges of the “Foxification” of PBS and raise alarm bells with liberals and moderates, as well as with viewers who just don’t care about a political agenda at all."
Tomlinson commissioned a $10,000 study into Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers is an American journalist and public commentator. He served as White House Press Secretary in the United States President Lyndon B. Johnson Administration from 1965 to 1967. He worked as a news commentator on television for ten years. Moyers has had an extensive involvement with public...
' PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
program, Now with Bill Moyers without informing the board of the investigation. He also retained two Republican lobbyists to try to defeat a Congressional proposal that would have increased the representation of broadcasters on the board, again without informing the board of the contracts.
The inspector general's report issued 15 November 2005, said that Mr. Tomlinson appeared to have violated both the federal law and the corporation's own rules in raising $5 million to underwrite The Journal Editorial Report, a PBS program by the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
.
Mr. Tomlinson, in a statement distributed with the report, rejected its conclusions. He said that any suggestion that he violated his duties or the law "is malicious and irresponsible" and that the inspector general had opted "for politics over good judgment."
"Unfortunately, the Inspector General's preconceived and unjustified findings will only help to maintain the status quo and other reformers will be discouraged from seeking change," said Mr. Tomlinson, who has repeatedly defended his decisions as part of an effort to restore balance to programming. "Regrettably, as a result, balance and objectivity will not come soon to elements of public broadcasting."
In April 2005, the contract of the former CPB president, Kathleen Cox, was not renewed. She was replaced by Ken Feree, a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
and former adviser to chairman of the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
, Michael Powell
Michael Powell (politician)
Michael Kevin Powell is an American Republican politician and lobbyist. He is the incoming president of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association . He was appointed to the Federal Communications Commission by President Bill Clinton on 3 November 1997. President George W. Bush designated...
.
Tomlinson resigned from the CPB board on November 4, 2005 after the board saw the report about his tenure by the Inspector General of the CPB, requested by House Democrats. The report described possible political influence on personnel decisions, including e-mail correspondence between Tomlinson and the White House which indicated that Tomlinson "was strongly motivated by political considerations in filling the president/CEO position."
Tomlinson was replaced by Cheryl Halpern
Cheryl Halpern
Cheryl Feldman Halpern was the chair of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting from 2005 to 2007. In this capacity, she has been a critic of National Public Radio, accusing the public network of anti-Israeli bias. She has extensive experience with overseeing pro-American media campaigns abroad...
.
Broadcasting Board of Governors tenure
In July 2005, the State Department opened an inquiry into Tomlinson's work at the Broadcasting Board of Governors, after Representative Howard L. Berman, Representative Tom LantosTom Lantos
Thomas Peter "Tom" Lantos was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1981 until his death, representing the northern two-thirds of San Mateo County and a portion of southwest San Francisco...
and Senator Christopher Dodd
Christopher Dodd
Christopher John "Chris" Dodd is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States Senator from Connecticut for a thirty-year period ending with the 111th United States Congress....
forwarded accusations of misuse of money from an employee at the board.
The New York Times reported that the inquiry was pursuing accusations that Tomlinson had spent federal money for personal purposes and hired unqualified and ghost employees. It also reported that State Department investigators had seized records and e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
from the board, including correspondence between Tomlinson and Karl Rove
Karl Rove
Karl Christian Rove was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush until Rove's resignation on August 31, 2007. He has headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives...
, one of President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
's senior advisors. Rove, an old friend of Tomlinson's, helped to secure Tomlinson's position as chairman.
A summary of the year-long report, prepared by the inspector general of the State Department was released by Mr Berman on August 29, 2006. It concludes that Tomlinson used his office at the Broadcasting Board of Governors to oversee a stable of thoroughbreds. Berman has asked that Tomlinson be removed from his position immediately in the light of the reports findings.
The State Department report noted his use of his office to oversee a stable of thoroughbreds but did not mention one specific way in which his professional responsibilities and personal interests appear to have intersected.
In the statement issued through his lawyer, Mr. Tomlinson said that he was "proud of what I have accomplished for U.S. international broadcasting" and that the investigation "was inspired by partisan divisions inside the Broadcasting Board of Governors."
He implied that it was more efficient for him to work for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting at his office at the broadcasting board. About his horse racing work, he said the inspector general had concluded that it amounted to "an average of one e-mail and two and a half minutes a day" at the office.
He also said he spent more time on broadcasting responsibilities at his farm and residences than he spent on his horses at the office.
In early September 2006, the BBG appointees voted on two resolutions related to the inspector general's report: whether to call for Tomlinson's resignation, and whether to sharply curtail his authority. Both resolutions failed in votes that split along the Governors' party lines.
External links
- USC Center on Public Diplomacy Profile
- A Different Reception for Public Broadcasting, Washington Post, May 20, 2005
- NPR transcript describing Tomlinson-supported monitoring
- CPB statement on Tomlinson's resignation
- Former CPB Chairman Ken Tomlinson Resigns, Broadcasting & Cable, November 3, 2005
- Kenneth Tomlinson's campaign contributions at NewsMeat.com
- Kenneth Tomlinson at SourceWatch
- Spending Inquiry for Top Official on Broadcasting, The New York Times, November 4, 2005
- Office Of Inspector General Report Of Review, 15 November 2005 (Konz Report - public version)