PBS PRESIDENT DEFENDS CONTENT.

Byline: David Kronke TV Writer

PBS president Pat Mitchell had severe words for Kenneth Tomlinson, chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, who is under fire for using public funds to pursue a partisan agenda.

Speaking Tuesday in Beverly Hills to members of the Television Critics Association, Mitchell flatly stated that if Tomlinson's efforts were intended to prevent producers of PBS programming from tackling controversial issues, ``then he's failed.''

Tomlinson surreptitiously paid $14,000 to a man in Indiana (who has since eluded reporters) to monitor PBS programs such as ``Now With Bill Moyers'' (who has since retired from the program) in an effort to detect bias in the programming and choice of guests. However, the report itself betrayed bias, as Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and former Republican congressman Bob Barr of Georgia were deemed ``liberal'' and ``anti-administration'' for apparently expressing views that differed somewhat from administration policy.

``It's very troubling, very troubling,'' Mitchell said, ``that an organization that serves stations, set up to see that public television has public trust, could not go about what we have done for 35 years, which is to address problems openly, candidly and collaboratively. We are there to serve America, and to go publicly criticizing is unfortunate. To do a secret report surveying our programs - we could have provided a list of guests for free; he could have called me. There are ways to do this that are more constructive. Our job is to keep the public trust, and we regret these actions were taken.''

Reportorial balance is not just a matter of left or right, she continued.

``Our editorial standard is balance over the schedule, not within a program,'' she explained, adding that 80 percent of Americans polled saw no bias on PBS programming. ``It's not just political bias. What worries me is that you can't program by political equivalency. It's just not true that there are only two sides to every issue. On controversial issues, we require producers to be transparent about how they reach their conclusion, whatever it may be.''

Mitchell was fresh from Capitol Hill, where on Monday she and Tomlinson addressed senators on an appropriations committee panel on funding the CPB. A vote is expected later this week on funding. Despite an initial scare, it looks as though Congress will allot its annual $400 million expenditure, which represents 15 percent of the system's annual budget.

``The role of the CPB is to be a heat shield between federal funds and anything produced'' for PBS, Mitchell said. ``There are clearly questions (regarding Tomlinson's actions), and rightly so, as to whether that heat shield is in place, and the (CPB) Inspector General is looking into that. Obviously, these are big issues that are not going to go away.''

Asked if Tomlinson should step down, Mitchell demurred. ``He doesn't report to me, so I have no say over his coming or going.''

Viewers' ardor in defending PBS against Tomlinson's report didn't surprise Mitchell.

``Millions of Americans care deeply about public broadcasting, and they rise up every single time there's an effort to weaken it,'' she said.

Mitchell also addressed PBS' previous, albeit tinier, controversy, involving an episode of the children's series ``Postcards From Buster'' featuring a lesbian couple. PBS' decision to pull the episode was ``appropriate,'' she said, adding that many individual stations opted to air it anyway.

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Kenneth Tomlinson, chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, testifies before a Senate appropriations committee Monday.

Dennis Cook/Associated Press