WYPR Falsified Records, says Corporation for Public Broadcasting Inspector General

The Inspector Generals Office of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) in Washington D.C. has finalized their audit of Maryland public radio station WYPR, finding them in violation of multiple federal regulations. WYPR has violated the Federal Communications Act requiring public radio stations which receive taxpayer funds to have a functioning Community Advisory Board (CAB), according to the official federal Report # 903: Special Review of Your Public Radio Corporation. Click this link for the report.

The report also found that WYPR repeatedly certified they were in compliance with CAB regulations to get federal grant money, though they were not. They have very few records of having a functioning CAB from 2002 to 2007.

The CPB Inspector Generals Office also found that WYPR violated laws requiring opening meetings, the announcement of open-to-the-public WYPR Board of Directors and CAB meetings, in their method of keeping financial records; and by not accurately accounting for how they spent federal taxpayer funds.

The saveWYPR blog will summarize the report next week in Part II of this post. Right now we will focus on how WYPR submitted false compliance records stating they had a Community Advisory Board–when they did not–in order to receive federal grant money.

Our question is: Who signed those statements? Did they intentionally defraud the CPB and thereby siphon off taxpayer money? WYPR receives upward of $300,000 per year in CPB grant money, according to WYPR station manager Tony Brandon at the Jan. 2009 WYPR Board meeting.

This March 20, 2009 U.S. governmental report by an independent, national authority is a victory for the saveWYPR group and all concerned Maryland public radio listeners. Our outcry, our writing to local and federal officials, made it happen. Furthermore it confirms what people have been saying all alomg: 1) WYPR has been in violation of CPB regulations. 2) WYPR management runs a closed-to-the-public ship. 3) They did not support a functioning Community Advisory Board until “December 2008,” according to this report (p. 5). The first ever recorded CAB meeting was in May 2007, according to this report (p. 5). This fact–that WYPR’s first CAB meeting was in May 2007–also was confirmed to this blog by ex-CAB member Brendon Walsh on Feb. 20, 2008. This means WYPR was in violation of CPB requirements from inception in 2002 to mid-2007, though they submitted federal documents to the contrary and received hundreds of thousands of federal dollars.

“Despite these omissions,” says the report about WYPR’s lack of a Community Advisory Board, “WYPR certified its compliance annually when it applied for a CSG grant” (p. 4).

Of course we all know that when an individual, say, speeds on the highway and then claims they did not know the speed limit, they get a ticket anyway. When an individual misfiles their taxes and the IRS notices, they have to pay their back taxes with penalty. Well, WYPR misfiled their grant applications; they received hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars; they have been caught. Will the U.S. government enforce the law under the Federal Communications Act? The CPB Board of Directors now must review this report and act on it, according to Inspector Generals Office member E. Jeremey Hutton in communication with this blog. What will the CPB do?

We ask: Who signed these documents attesting false complaince?

We ask: Did WYPR management and station manager Tony Brandon intend to make false statements?

We ask: What did the WYPR Board know about multiple violations of federal law by WYPR management?

We say: We will find out.

We say: A criminal investigation is called for.

The report contains more explosive evidence. Still, in the interest of Internet brevity, I will save that for Part II next week, and then Part III the week after, of this ongoing investigation.

Tune in for our next blog entry. Contact the CPB. Read the report.