Television
PBS hires conservative pundit

By The Associated Press

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NEW YORK — PBS, frequently in the crossfire for a perception that it leans left, has hired conservative commentator Tucker Carlson to host a weekly public-affairs program to launch in June.

PBS also announced it would air David Frost's interview with President Bush, being conducted this week before the president's trip to the United Kingdom, next Sunday on its stations (no time has been announced by KCTS).

Carlson, who will keep his job on CNN's "Crossfire," said he'd like to get beyond the few dozen Washington officials that are regulars on political talk shows.

"The standards are going to be pretty clear — tell me something I don't know, and no lying," he said.

Tim Graham, of the conservative watchdog group Media Research Center, said that while he's pleased about Carlson's show, most conservatives believe PBS could have done better: "Maybe he's what PBS wants. He's not a red-meat thrower."

Carlson responded to Graham's criticisms, saying, "I've heard that before. Maybe it's because things amuse rather than enrage me most of the time."

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