A feud over Bush's pick

Bell's nomination had been stalled since September because of concerns about his qualifications among several members of the Senate Commerce Committee, which must approve nominees to the board of the CPB, the private nonprofit that distributes federal funds to public television and radio stations.

But Bush was able to circumvent the need for Senate approval by naming Bell to the board Wednesday evening as a recess appointee. His term will last about a year, unless a permanent nominee for the seat is confirmed before then.

"There had not been action in the Senate on his nomination," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto. "The president felt the need to get it done."

Fratto said Bush believes Bell's 17 years of experience in network television gives him the right credentials for the post.

"He has innovative ideas on making public television more competitive with mainstream media and expressed a very strong commitment to improving CPB," he said.

Bell, executive producer of ABC's "According to Jim," said in an interview that he hopes to strengthen public broadcasting during his time on the board.

He added that the nomination process "has not been a lot of fun."

"The whole thing completely blindsided me," Bell said. "I don't think I was remotely aware of what a hot spot public broadcasting is politically."

Indeed, his appointment was condemned Thursday by some members of the Commerce Committee who said that Bell's lack of public broadcasting experience and his partisan writings for the conservative National Review made him an inappropriate choice.

"This appointment by the Bush administration makes it clear that they simply don't care about the integrity or quality of our public broadcasting system," said Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.).

As a contributor to the online edition of the National Review, Bell has made no secret of his political views, writing in one piece that he is "thoroughly conservative in ways that strike horror into the hearts of my Hollywood colleagues."