Higher-profile shows by right-wing producers may replace their National Desk

Originally published in Current, May 22, 2000

By Karen Everhart Bedford

Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.) recently revived right-wing complaints of public broadcasting's liberal bias by cautioning new PBS President Pat Mitchell against neglecting PBS's obligation to deliver an objective and balanced line-up.

Tauzin, chairman of the House telecommunications subcommittee that oversees CPB, wrote to Mitchell May 10 about PBS's intention to cancel National Desk, a periodic PBS series dealing with issues on the right-wing's agenda. He suggested that PBS replace it with a show of "similar cultural and political perspectives."

PBS has not officially cancelled National Desk, but is talking with its producers about delivering a high-profile documentary and two screenplays next year instead of the ongoing opinionated documentary series.

The series, produced by Lionel Chetwynd, Norman Powell and Conrad Denke through Whidbey Island Films, originally received backing from CPB as Reverse Angle, one of a number of conservative-oriented programs intended to "balance" PBS's line-up after a bruising fight over CPB's 1992 reauthorization. The law, the last reauthorization enacted by Congress, directs CPB to ensure "strict adherence to objectivity and balance in all programs or series of programs of a controversial nature."

"It is my understanding that the National Desk was added to the PBS schedule in part as a balance to the Frontline series ... ," Tauzin wrote. "Frontline is a quality show, but its programming is known to lean to the left in terms of its subject matter and perspectives, as do many other shows on the PBS schedule. I am hopeful that the good intentions of PBS programmers reflected in the 16 National Desk segments aired on public stations will ensure that a suitable replacement is included in future PBS schedules."

Tauzin's letter got big play in the broadcast trades on May 15, and drew a chastising editorial in Broadcasting & Cable: "Louisiana Congressman Billy Tauzin sounds like he's angling for a programming job at PBS. That might be okay if he didn't want to do it while still a member of Congress. ... The congressman may have been expressing a general preference, but no matter how softly he speaks, the office he holds is a big stick that cannot fail to impress."

"The letter was not written as a warning," explained Ken Johnson, Tauzin's spokesman. "It was a reminder of CPB's mandate to provide objective and balanced programming. As a friend of public broadcasting, Billy sees one of the best ways to prevent future brouhahas over funding is to assure that PBS has a strong and balanced programming line-up."

"We have no dog in this fight, except to say that we disagree with the characterization of Frontline adamantly," said Michael Sullivan, executive producer. "No one should make a determination on whether PBS is balanced based on the idea that Frontline is left-leaning, because it's not true." He described Tauzin's description of the series as an "old bromide that's been hanging around for a long time" because Frontline came into being during the Reagan Administration. "We're very interested in keeping an eye on whoever is in power."

Whither "National Desk"?

Absent from the brouhaha created by Tauzin's letter were producers of National Desk, one of whom said the team couldn't be happier with the package of new shows they're discussing with PBS. "We're delighted, absolutely thrilled," said Powell. Both Powell and Chetwynd, a political ally of pubcasting critic David Horowitz, have written and/or produced a number of dramas for commercial television.

"We've got a deal to do a two-hour, feature-length documentary on Hollywood in the time of the blacklist, and to do two additional screenplays for dramatic pieces on PBS," Powell said. He described Whidbey Island's relationship with PBS as "ongoing."

"In terms of National Desk, as it exists, we don't have plans to go forward with it in 2001 with additional episodes, but that doesn't mean we won't do it subsequently."

National Desk is an occasional public affairs series featuring conservative commentators who tackled topics such as the "Redefining Racism," "Children of Divorce," and more recently, "The War on Boys." Since its debut in 1997, the series achieved spotty carriage among stations and, like many public affairs shows, drew lower than average ratings for PBS. Last year, a trio of programs on the "unintended negative consequences of the feminist movement" prompted complaints from feminist groups that the shows were ideologically biased and disingenuously packaged as impartial journalism [earlier article].

PBS's goal in negotiating future programs from Whidbey Island was to "create something with impact and relevance and meaning," said John Wilson, acting program chief. "We feel good about where this can go."

A behind-the-scenes player who is not happy about where this is going is David Horowitz, whose attacks on public broadcasting in the early '90s sparked congressional fury over a liberal bias on public TV and radio. "The system as a whole—the combination of stations and the service—did not give the support to this series that it should have," he said. National Desk was "always an orphan in the system, and that crippled it." He contends that by dropping National Desk, PBS will be out of compliance with the 1992 balance requirements.

"We need to have a home in the system for conservatives or for people who are not liberals," he said, adding that the absence of conservative views on the air is "unhealthy."

 

	.	To Current's home page
	.	Earlier news: Strong commentary from the right draws strong feminis complaint, 1999.
	.	Outside link: Whidbey Island Films' National Desk site.

Web page posted June 4, 2000
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