Ivey replaces five Alabama Public Television board members amid PBS debate

On Friday, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey dismissed five members of the Alabama Educational Television Commission’s board of directors and appointed five replacements.

In an email to the Alabama Reflector, Ivey’s communications director, Gina Maiola, wrote that “Governor Ivey believed it was time for the Alabama Educational Television Commission to have a fresh start.” The move follows almost a year of debate over the organization’s relationship with PBS and a recent poll assessing APT’s statewide popularity.

The five new board members are Wallace Gilberry, Ric Smith, Neil Lamb, Sally Smith and Samory Pruitt. Each board member represents one of Alabama’s seven congressional districts. The two members who were not removed, Tijuanna Adetunji and Logan Glass, represent the 2nd and 4th districts, respectively.

Over the last year, Alabama Public Television has faced criticism from conservatives over its relationship with national public broadcaster PBS.

In November, the Alabama Educational Television Commission overwhelmingly voted to continue its relationship with PBS after dozens of Alabamians attended the organization’s meeting to support PBS and oppose a proposed measure to sever ties.

That same month, Ivey called for a poll to gauge public approval of Alabama Public Television and its relationship with PBS. The board approved spending almost $50,000 on a poll in July, drawing the money from APT’s rainy day fund.

Results of the poll were published last week. Two-thirds of respondents said Alabama Public Television was very or somewhat valuable “to families and students in Alabama today.” A plurality viewed its coverage as politically balanced.

Additionally, a majority of respondents said APT should maintain its ties with PBS, and fewer than 20 percent said it should stop carrying PBS programming.

The replacement of most of the board appears likely to be an attempt to move past the debate over affiliations with PBS and NPR, as several of those removed were viewed as responsible for making APT’s relationship with PBS a political issue and requiring the $47,500 poll.

Les Barnett and Ferris Stephens, who Pete Conroy told AL.com “wanted to make an issue of PBS,” were both removed as commissioners, as was Conroy himself.

Commissioner Bebe Williams, who represented the 5th Congressional District on the committee and said she “wouldn’t have a problem with NPR if there was a balance” during a recent meeting, was also one of the five commissioners removed from office on Friday.