Absentee member Michael Lynton pushed to become temporary Broadcasting Board of Governors chair

Sources tell BBG Watch that Democrats on the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) are pushing for Michael Lynton, an absentee member, to become temporary BBG chair until a permanent chairman is named, whenever that may be.

Lynton has distinguished himself for being one of the worst absentee board member. He has missed at least four BBG meetings, including the January one, but other BBG members, particularly Enders Wimbush and Dana Perino, both Republicans, have also missed a number of board meetings. Former chair, Walter Isaacson, was distracted by his book writing project and his full time Aspen Institute job, but at least he did not miss any BBG meetings unlike many of his colleagues.

Critics have accused the part time board of relinquishing its responsibilities to a group of bureaucrats rated in the official government-wide employee opinion surveys as the worst managers in the federal government. They were responsible for convincing the board to end all Voice of America radio and TV broadcasts to China. The plan embarrassed the BBG and was killed in Congress.

The latest scandal attributed to BBG and International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) executives running the agency instead of the part time board involves the publishing of a fake interview with a Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny by recently hired contractors from Russia working at the Voice of America Russian Service. Critics accuse these executives of replacing experienced journalists with contractors and urging less critical reporting toward the Kremlin.

Other than Isaacson, only the senior Republican member Victor Ashe has had a perfect attendance record at Board meetings. Ashe has been pushing for greater transparency and accountability at the BBG. While BBG Watch had been initially critical of another BBG Democrat Michael Meehan, he has lately become forceful in demanding better performance and more accountability from BBG/IBB executives, according to our sources. Another Democrat, Susan McCue, was said to have defended Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty president Steven Korn who is blamed by critics for poor personnel decisions, plummeting employee morale and his “old white guys” and “cute high school intern” comments.

Michael Lynton is the Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment. He is the former CEO of AOL Europe and Chairman and CEO of Pearson plc’s Penguin Group.

Mr. Lynton is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the boards of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Rand Corporation.

He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School and is proficient in French, German and Dutch.

Lynton serves on the BBG Governance Committee.

Lynton was appointed to the board on July 2, 2010 to a term expiring on August 13, 2012. By law, any member whose term has expired may serve until a successor has been appointed and qualified.

The selection of Lynton to serve as the temporary BBG chair has not yet been announced.

The official BBG website reported meanwhile that President Obama has designated Ambassador Kathleen Stephens as the Acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, a job that includes representing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG).

Stephens, a U.S. Foreign Service Officer with the rank of Career Minister, assumed the post February 6 and will serve pending Senate confirmation of Tara Sonenshine, President Obama’s nominee for the position.

Prior to this assignment Stephens was U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea from September 2008 to October 2011. Since joining the Foreign Service in 1978, she has served in numerous posts in Washington, Asia, and Europe and received numerous honors, including the Presidential Meritorious Service Award in 2009.

Her book “Reflections of the American Ambassador to Korea” was published in Korea in 2010.

The BBG is composed of eight members appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate and the Secretary of State, who serves ex officio. The Secretary is represented on the Board by the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.

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