Inspector General Report Rips Broadcasting Board Of Governors Operation

Ashe

A report by the Inspector General about the BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS criticizes the overseer of RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY and RADIO/TV MARTI as being torn by "acute internal dissension" caused by an unnamed board member, reports the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS.

The report claims that the board has been hit by "chronic absenteeism, vacancies that have gone unfilled, outright conflicts of interest and 'a degree of hostility that renders its deliberative process ineffectual,'” and blames domination by one board member identified by the DAILY NEWS as VICTOR H. ASHE II, a former Ambassador to POLAND and Mayor of KNOXVILLE who was former President GEORGE W. BUSH's roommate at YALE.  ASHE told the paper that the report does not identify "a single area of waste," and defended his participation, noting that he is the only board member to attend every meeting since JUNE 2010 and has asked "inconvenient questions" while serving on the board.

The BBG is presently undermanned, with only six of the nine board seats filled; the report offers eight recommendations for the operation, including adding a CEO, barring board members from sitting on the RFE/RL boards, and other suggestions.

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