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Newsroom Editors & Contributor Opinions
The Standard Of Probity In Television News
Washington — If someone gives you $ 28 million a year to produce a news and public affairs program for public television, should you be publicly accountable for how those funds are spent? PBS thinks not. So does MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, the Liberty Media corporation unit that gets the money. What do you think?
Jim Lehrer, NewsHour Anchor
Journalistically, PBS’ NewsHour with Jim Lehrer sets the bar for probity, relevance and reportorial accuracy in television news. Both Lehrer and partner Robert MacNeil brought their network news standards and methods to PBS when the program first aired on October 20th, 1975. The program has changed little over its 33 year run on PBS. MacNeil left the broadcast in 1995 to pursue fiction writing, while Lehrer continued in the anchor role.
Robert MacNeil
NewsHour has been under attack for decades by political forces who claim its attempts at political balance are insufficient. Historically, such attacks have failed — in part because of the sound journalistic foundation established by founders Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil. Relevancy and probity are important constituents of every NewsHour story. Sound bites are avoided so that a fuller, in-context exposition of a person’s views can be presented. Depth of presentation is central to how NewsHour seeks to inform its audience.
Newsroom Magazine has asked how the program is produced, how donor monies are spent, and who controls content and personnel. On these issues, PBS, NewsHour producer MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, and controlling owner Liberty Media remain silent. Some might wonder if Newsroom Magazine has any reason to believe there may be chicanery or wrongdoing involved. The answer is no — for there is no evidence of any impropriety. All the more reason to wonder why production cost matters are concealed from public view.
According to information provided to Newsroom Magazine by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, the cost of producing NewsHour this year will be $ 28 million. For those knowledgeable about the costs of television production, such an amount raises questions about cost-effectiveness if not management accountability. Absent any requirement for air-time compensation to stations, television news programming costs are comprised largely of salaries and benefits. Given the small on-air staff, is it inappropriate to question where the monies go? When we asked MacNeil/Lehrer about how their income was spent, their spokesman assured us all of the monies went into producing the broadcast. When we asked for details, none were immediately forthcoming. That information is not a matter of public record — at least not for Newsroom Magazine.
Among the companies and foundations providing NewsHour production funding are Archer Daniels Midland, PepsiCo, New York Life, Smith Barney, Travelers Group, Pfizer, CIT Group, Chevron, Grant Thornton, The Pew Charitable Trusts, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Pacific Life, the Ford Foundation, The Carnegie Corporation of New York, The National Science Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Atlantic Philanthropies, The Park Foundation, BP, Toyota, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and public contributions to PBS stations. Some of the corporate givers receive airtime for commercials or corporate image videos. There are no questions about where the money comes from — but the levels of financial disclosure and/or donor content influence are not available to the general public.
Do the foundations and corporate donors know where the $ 28 million goes? They probably do, as most likely do the sponsors who contribute significant sums to keep NewsHour on the air. Whether the charitable foundations and corporate sponsors know how their monies are spent fails to answer the larger issue: what is there about NewsHour production costs that warrants them being so secret? Do public television supporters have a right to know how their contributions are spent? Is it reasonable for the public to ask who controls public television news? Apparently not. Unlike so many organizations, including all the major charities in this country that are required to publicly account for how every penny they receive in contributions is spent, PBS chooses not to do so.
Liberty Media Interest In MacNeil/Lehrer
Controlling interest in NewsHour’s producing company, MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, was sold to AT&T in the mid 1990s — one of NewsHour’s major donors. As AT&T’s fortunes changed, MacNeil/Lehrer was spun off as part of Liberty Media — an AT&T tracking stock. Today Liberty Media is a large, complex media conglomerate under the control of John Malone. Liberty Media’s earnings come entirely from its array of media investments and holdings. Among the many businesses in which Liberty Media holds a 100% interest are Starz Entertainment, the Atlanta Braves Baseball Club, Overture Films, True Position, and television stations in Wisconsin. Liberty Media has acquired significant holdings in online media and service companies.
One of the companies in which Liberty Media owns a controlling interest ( 67% of voting shares ) is MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. Perhaps Liberty Media is a contributor to MacNeil/Lehrer in terms of reverse earnings. If so, one would think they might like to be recognized for their efforts to help finance public service and news programming on PBS. Liberty Media disclosure documents describe MacNeil/Lehrer as:
Producer of “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” in addition to documentaries, Web sites, interactive DVD’s, civic engagement projects and educational programs.
Liberty Media public filings and financial disclosures do not break out the performance or investment valuation for its MacNeil/Lehrer Productions holdings.
Who Profits From Public Television News?
The question raised by Newsroom Magazine goes to who controls public television news. Is it PBS, or the charitable foundations? Is it the corporate sponsors, or perhaps John Malone’s Liberty Media? Whomever it is, it’s not the level of funding, or the names of the donors that matter — it’s how well the resources are used. How does NewsHour spend $ 28 million in public and private monies it receives?
There are bona fide public policy reasons for asking such questions — especially when some of the funds raised for NewsHour production are given by ordinary working-class people. If one believes that small public donations don’t warrant disclosure, why isn’t that made clear during quarterly fund raising drives? Why is there secrecy about this? What is it that PBS and MacNeil/Lehrer Productions believe ought to be kept from public view?
But there is another, perhaps even more important question. What is known to corporate sponsors who qualify for on-air credit, or demand commercial time? Do they know how the monies are spent? How about the charitable foundations? Do they know how their monies are spent? Practical economics suggests that everyone knows — except the public.
There Is No Free Lunch
Public television is not free television. Every program aired by PBS costs money to produce. News and public affairs programming is central to public television’s mission. Public support for PBS and its member stations is paltry by any measure. So outside funding is required if public broadcasting is to remain this nation’s principal source of cultural and information programming. The New York Times’ recent article about PBS did not fully acknowledge the immense value public television adds to our lives.
As a nation and as a body politic we have failed public broadcasting. We have failed to provide an ongoing and reliable source of funding just as we have failed to put in place responsible oversight and accountability. In the real world, cash flow comes with demands for accountability. Public television asks for and receives public funding — some by governmental grant and some through ongoing fund raising by member stations. The questions we’ve raised about NewsHour go to issues of whether MacNeil/Lehrer are accountable and responsible stewards of the public interest. The mere fact that someone is neither suspected of, nor accused of impropriety is not the issue. Journalists who demand that government disclose what it does with public funds ought to be willing to demand that of themselves.
It seems a fair question to ask the responsible adults who run television’s most thoughtful and probative news operation.
Robert Butche
Publisher
Newsroom Magazine