Remarks by Cheryl Halpern

CPB Board of Directors Meeting

Washington, DC
November 15, 2005

Thank you. These past few weeks have been especially challenging for everyone at this table. As the chair of this board, I can attest to the hard work put in by every member, and by the staff of the Corporation.

I want to thank especially the Inspector General, Kenneth Konz. Ken has done a diligent job compiling much needed information. He has helped the board immeasurably in understanding what needs to be fixed.

I want to take this opportunity to thank those who have cooperated with the Inspector General and contributed to his work. It is vital to our mission, and to public confidence in public broadcasting, that we regularly look at how we handle financial matters, compensation and severance issues, and other features of corporate governance.

As the new chairman of the board, I take these issues extremely seriously. We must correct the errors that allowed any violations of governance policy to occur. Problems occurred due to long-standing systemic weaknesses in the Corporation's policies and practices on a range of issues.

Whether it is a matter of communication between the board and the management, the legal counsel we receive, or our internal financial controls, we must strengthen our governance practices. We intend to hold ourselves – as all corporations must do – to a higher standard. That goes for both staff and board members.

We must always understand that public broadcasting is a trust. We serve an important purpose. And our mission requires the highest standards of integrity.

There will be in the coming days and weeks much opportunity to reflect on what we need to do next. While the Inspector General's findings are bracing, they offer an opportunity for us to take clear and decisive actions to correct past practices and build a stronger public broadcasting system.

The board has already made a number of decisions about how to implement the recommendations of our counselors and auditors. We will regularize the process of hiring senior staff, as well as the process of setting appropriate compensation. We are strengthening our commitment to open meetings. We are taking clear steps to bring us to full compliance with corporate by-laws. And the steps we are taking will make it impossible for there to be even a perception of interference in matters – including programming – that are properly the responsibility of the Corporation's managers.

I intend to follow through, with the cooperation of this board, on several broad areas:

We will establish benchmarks for our future success in meeting governance goals. The Inspector General as well as our outside counsel and auditors have identified several areas where we need to make improvements, including:

• Contract management
• Communication between the board and management
• Human resource management
• Compensation and severance policy

In these and other areas we will not only establish goals - we will set a clear timeline for meeting those goals.

As we do so, we must also reaffirm the Corporation's responsibility to its original mission, and to subsequent legislation to make public broadcasting accurate, balanced, creative, and diverse in its program offerings. Public broadcasting can do more to improve its programming in all areas – and we must pursue this goal.

We will work to establish the Corporation as more than a source of funding. We must make the Corporation a source for great ideas. That means making the Corporation the main address for all public broadcasters to publicize their successes, address their shortcomings, and develop best practices in programming, administration, financing, and other vital tasks. Much of the excellence in public broadcasting goes little noticed for lack of promotion. The Corporation's board will focus its energies on making this excellence known to all.

These are admittedly ambitious goals. And I do not take them on lightly. But it is clear that the Corporation, facing the challenges it now has, must focus on the future. We have a clear mission. Congress spelled it out for us in law – and we must honor it.

I look forward to working with this board – each and every member of it – the Corporation staff, and our partners – especially PBS, NPR, ITVS, and the Minority Consortia -- as we build a brighter future for the Corporation and public broadcasting.

Thank you.