NEW PBS HEAD

The Public Broadcasting Service Monday appointed Paula A. Kerger, a New York public-television executive, as its new president, reports The New York Times and The Washington Post. Ms. Kerger will replace Pat Mitchell, who spent six years running PBS, the organization that finances programs for the nation’s 348 public-television stations. The appointment comes as the service is facing increasing criticism that it supports programs that have a liberal bias and as it encounters greater competition from cable channels, which are featuring more documentaries and other programming usually shown on public television.