FAIR: Meacham to PBS Would Send the Wrong Message

[alp227]

According to a report on the New York Times website (3/9/10), PBS is in talks with Newsweek editor Jon Meacham to be co-host of its forthcoming Need to Know program. If the report proves accurate, it gives viewers little hope for the kind of critical, uncompromising programming that public television was created to foster. Meacham's consideration for a show that would replace hard-hitting independent programs Now and the Bill Moyers Journal sends a clear and troubling message about PBS's priorities.

Meacham is a fixture on commercial TV pundit shows in addition to his Newsweek duties. In these venues, he is a consummate purveyor of middle-of-the-road conventional wisdom with a conservative slant. After the 2008 election, Meacham authored an article on America as a "center-right nation"-- a conclusion based on dubious historical analogies (Sarah Palin is Thomas Jefferson) and cherry-picking national election results, casting aside evidence that would undermine the conclusion.

Read more: http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4037

Damn, this sucks...I hope that Meacham gets booted sooner than Conan O'Brien got booted from The Tonight Show if Meacham is a shallow little mouse on his new show.