Funding for public television stations across the nation may be in jeopardy because of allegations that Boston public television station WGBH improperly traded mailing-list names with the Democratic National Committee.
Rep. W. J. “Billy” Tauzin, R-LA, chairman of the telecommunications subcommittee, which approves funds to public television stations, has scheduled a hearing tomorrow to investigate “how long the practice has been going on and how pervasive it is,” Ken Johnson, a Tauzin spokesman, told DIRECT Newsline. If true, the practice would be in violation of Internal Revenue Service regulations prohibiting a non-profit from favoring one political party. It is alleged that the station did not solicit names from the Republican party.
The hearing comes amid news reports that WGBH had been swapping mailing lists with the Democratic Party since 1993. In May, WGBH admitted that an employee had mistakenly given a few thousand names to the Democratic National Committee in exchange for an equal number of names. But this week, the DNC said that more than 32,000 names had changed hands since 1993, according to the Boston Globe.
“It implies a cozy relationship of the recipient of public funds with the funding organization,” Johnson said. “It’s immoral, it’s unethical and it’s a stain on the American political process. We intend to stamp it out.”
Public television stations WNET in New York and WETA in Washington, D.C., have also reportedly acknowledged that they shared donor lists with political groups.
WGBH said in a statement that it has had a formal policy “prohibiting us from leasing or exchanging names to any political organization.” The station said it is “carefully reviewing our history of list exchange and/or lease.” An auditor has been appointed to review the station’s list practices.
“We are ready, as appropriate, to work with Congress to ensure that such practices, i.e., public broadcasters buying, selling or trading lists with partisan political campaigns and committees, do not take place,” the Corporation for Public Broadcasting said in a statement. The CPB’s inspector general is investigating.
The DNC was unavailable for comment at deadline.
The controversy erupts as Congress was considering reauthorizing the CPB system funding through 2003. Public television stations rely heavily on government funding. In 1999, $250 million dollars came from the federal government.
The appropriations bill is still pending, but the mood at WGBH and CPB is wary. “This is a disappointment,” said Jeannie Bunton, CPB director of communications, Washington, D.C. “We’ve worked very hard over these past several years to demonstrate our commitment to public service,” she added.
Tauzin intends to request an oversight hearing, said Johnson. The station’s list brokers may be asked to testify. “If public television stations think they can skirt federal law by going through list brokers, they have another think coming,” Johnson said.
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