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The assertions in an article appearing in Wednesday's Variety are so ridiculous, it would be more fitting to be found on the pages of the Onion. William Triplett writes about the recent power struggle that has embroiled PBS.

PBS is neutral, prexy sez
Mitchell confirms pubcaster not under political influence

WASHINGTON -- Public broadcasting must -- and will -- remain free of political influence, PBS prexyprexy Pat Mitchell declared Tuesday.

"PBS is not the property of any single political party or activist group or foundation or funder with an agenda of any kind," Mitchell said in a speech at the National Press Club.

"Our editorial standards ensure it, and public opinion polls verify it," she continued. "PBS does not belong to a red or blue or purple constituency, and it does not shrink in the face of political threats.

"PBS has built and maintained a steadfast resolve to never give in to pressures to reflect a political agenda. That resolve is as rock solid today as it has ever been," she asserted.

Some conservatives -- most notably Ken Tomlinson, chairman of the Corp. for Public Broadcasting, which provides funding for PBS -- have criticized public broadcasting as having a liberal bias. Similarly, some liberals have criticized PBS in recent years for allegedly kowtowing to conservatives, as in the network's recent decision not to air an episode of a children's show that featured a lesbian couple.

While not mentioning Tomlinson or any other particular critics, Mitchell was clearly responding to allegations of bias, saying PBS is "that one place where education comes before titillation, where partisanship is checked at the newsroom door and, above all, is a media option that measures success by how many minds we open, how many lives we change, how many ways we strengthen communities and how well we serve this democracy."

Asked specifically after her remarks whether Tomlinson was trying to exert political influence on programming, Mitchell replied that she believes Tomlinson's publicly stated intent, which is to expand PBS' appeal to more viewers and supporters. But she reiterated a point she and others have made recently about polls showing that the majority of PBS viewers perceive public broadcasting as unbiased.

Pat Mitchell must be kidding.

She attempts to prove that PBS is politically unbiased by citing a poll of PBS VIEWERS. Is it surprising that a poll of its own viewers consider the content of its broadcasts to be fair? Of course the majority of its viewers are not troubled by its liberal slant. They are most likely so lost that they don't recognize it; or they are aware of the bias and wouldn't respond to a poll saying it exists. They certainly wouldn't want to undermine their liberal playground.

PBS offers some terrific programming; but it's thoroughly unrealistic to declare that its news and current events broadcasts are unbiased.

How can Mitchell seriously assert that PBS is the one place "where partisanship is checked at the newsroom door"?

Is she familiar with Bill Moyers?

Rather than directly criticize Ken Tomlinson's desire to bring some political balance to PBS, Mitchell skirts the issue. Judging from what Variety has printed, Mitchell's remarks seemed to be delivered as a rebuttal to what Tomlinson has claimed about PBS and its very leftist editorial lean. I'd say it was a verbal slap to Tomlinson's face.

Mitchell's states that success at PBS is measured by "how many minds we open, how many lives we change, how many ways we strengthen communities and how well we serve this democracy."

Translation: PBS measures success by how many minds they "open" to the evils of conservatism and how well they dispense their liberal propaganda.