It seems like just when things couldn't get stickier for public broadcasting in America, something else happens to make you question whether there's any "PR" left in "NPR."
Last year the public radio news organization fired news analyst Juan Williams over comments he made on a Fox News program (where he was also a contributor) about being nervous around Muslims.
This perceived PC slight saw Williams immediately embraced by ultraconservatives, and calls to cut public media funding ensued. Now the same outfit that brought down community organizing group ACORN (another thorn in conservatives' sides) is responsible for a hidden-camera video that caught a now-former NPR executive labeling the tea party movement as racist. Another video depicts an undercover operative posing as a member of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood trying to give NPR a $5 million donation.
"Cut them off" has become a rallying cry in the reactionary world of tea party politics - "them" being NPR and its television cousin, PBS, both of which receive a chunk of funds from the federally funded nonprofit Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Maybe the far-right feels this is giving the "gotcha" media, to use Sarah Palin's term, a taste of their own medicine - but it doesn't hold water. Outlets such as NPR and PBS have long been demonized as mouthpieces of the left, but that label carries no more validity than does a media executive who is outside the news gathering process calling tea party members racists.
Programs like PBS' "NewsHour" or NPR's "All Things Considered" sound positively dry in comparison with the screaming antics of cable television news, but they consistently present the facts without spin - they just don't get credit for it because their critics feel any lack of the sky-is-falling, "buy-gold-now" spin that they like to see indicates a liberal slant. The Fox News slogan "we report, you decide" would be more at home with these more austere public media programs - but they're using their resources to provide news, not flashy graphics and slogans.
In January of this year, the Valley's public TV station, KAET (Channel 8) celebrated its 50th year of broadcasting. A Tribune feature story from Jan. 30 looking back at that wealth of history shows the impact such an institution can have on our own community. Public broadcasting isn't something that should be de-funded lightly. Beyond news and analysis, it provides educational content and thoughtful discussion to those in the community who cannot afford expensive premium cable or satellite services, and it's an avenue of exposure to the arts when much of that cultural content has been stripped from public schools. It is, in fact, a powerful teaching tool for educators as well.
In other countries, citizens have no choice but to support public media. Not only is Great Britain's BBC government-funded, but each citizen is charged a license fee, or tax, for its use - whether or not they own a television or radio or a computer with an Internet connection. When British sitcom stars come to the U.S. to make pledge drive appearances on PBS stations, they remark on the wonder of our system, which gives supporters a voice to directly influence the kinds of programming they receive.
To eliminate all that in a fit of pique after sweeping November's elections would be a serious misstep by Republicans. Public broadcasting supporters who may not vote with their wallets when pledge drives come calling may certainly vote in elections two years from now, when the quality of their lives has been further degraded by the loss of programs that teach and inspire them and their children to strive for great things. The supporters of public media know how to organize using powerful social networking tools - tools that helped them get a president elected in 2008.
In the U.S., private funding for these outlets far outstrips public handouts. Maybe that means that some form of public media can stand completely on its own, and in this economy it's certainly appropriate to explore that possibility. We can have those conversations, but not if it becomes just another political football. If that happens, everyone immediately loses.
Dale Whiting posted at 8:24 am on Sun, Mar 13, 2011.
Should public funding be terminated for NPR and PBS, what will become the next fucus? I have come to value the unique and diverse perspectives found on Link.TV, which is DirectTV channel 375. For those who dispise NPR and PBS, LinkTV will be problematic. It is non-commercial and gets no public funding whatsoever. Should funding be removed from NPR and PBS, I expect they both will survive.
Cerulean posted at 10:08 am on Sun, Mar 13, 2011.
In my very humble opinion, there is nothing on free television that is as informative, current and/or well produced as the content on PBS. (I, personally, do not subscribe to DirectTV or cable so I can not speak for paid programming.)
I have read from others, like Dale Whiting, that it might be better for NPR to end it's relationship with government grants. I think for NPR that may be true.
Public television is different - with the advent of internet and how the web changes the way we get information from the world - I think it is more important now, than ever, to keep quality television available to the public at no extra cost for those who cannot afford all the 'connections'. PBS does that and it should have the support of government grants.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 10:31 am on Sun, Mar 13, 2011.
Are there two (2) ASU-PBS KAET Channel 8's here in the Valley ???..because the author is not watching the same Channel 8 that I do every night.
The KAET that I watch every night starting at 6:00PM, "News Hour" in the past was very balanced...but not lately. The stories and subjects that are discussed are no longer "UN-BIASED". More and more, I am seeing the balance not just "edging to the Left" but ..."leaning to the Left". Republicans are asked over and over and over ..."is this your new TEA PARTY AGENDA". Speaking of the TEA PARTY and SARAH PALIN....they were both ...RACKED OVER THE COALS...leading up to the 2010 National Election on the public discussion shows by EAST COAST/WEST COAST Liberal if not Left-Wing reporters and political pundits.
KAET's ...."Horizon" show is hosted (the word Moderator can not be used because there is nothing ...MODERATE...about this host) by Ted Simmons who starts off the daily "HORIZON" show dicussion with......"WHAT IS WRONG WITH ARIZONA ???"..or..."WHAT IS GOING ON WITH SHERIFF ARPAIO ???"..or .."WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE STATE SENATE ???". The discussion with either three Left-Wing or LIberal or outright Socialist (Illegal Alien Rights...give me a break) reporters or guests goes....VIRAL...from then on. If you don't believe me....watch the show....especially on Horizon's Friday Night Journalist Roundtable....where it is a ...Feeding Frenzy of character assassination of Governor Jan Brewer (Simmons loves to bring up over and over again...Brewer's 15 seconds of hesitation), Sheriff Joe Arpaio (Simmons loves to ask...."Just how many agencies are investigating the Sheriff)....and lately the ....TARGET...has been Arizona Senator Russell Pearce.
Horizon's Gang of Three (and Ted Simmons too)...has a ...SPECIAL DISLIKE...for Senator Russell, the author of SB1070. They are almost....FOAMING AT THE MOUTH...when he comes up for their ...SPECIAL ATTENTION. I have seen Great White Shark attacks on seals that were less gruesome.
As for the other KAET local discussion program, "HORIZONTE"...it is nothing but a ..PRO-ILLEGAL ALIEN AMNESTY ...propaganda show. I remember one show talking about the Tucson Unified School District's Ethnic Studies/Raza (raza means the race...the Hispanic race in this instance) as if it was being picked on just because they were trying to teach High School students a little Hispanic History.
What a joke...this program has High School students reading Socialist authors. Che Guevara's (Fidel Castro's sidekick") photo is hung on the wall behind the teacher ...as if he is a ...ROLE MODEL. This program teaches Hispanic/Black/Native American High School students that .... "White/Anglo" Capitalist America"....OPPRESSES THEM. That ...White America... is prejudiced against Hispanic Illegal Aliens..........ONLY BECAUSE OF THEIR...BROWN SKIN.
Why should the American Tax-Payer spend ...$420,000,000.00 (four hundred and twenty million dollars) for .....LEFT-WING/LIBERAL/SOCIALIST PROPAGAND ???
The Local Programs that I have brought up are not the only ....LEFT-WING/LIBERAL BIASED....programs either...they are just the ....WORST. If the DEMOCRATS and the Socialist/Liberal/Left-Wing want a propaganda CHANNEL...I and ...57% percent of the People in the Poll ...would have no problem with that but............NOT WITH OUR HARD-EARNED TAX DOLLARS ! ! !
Dale Whiting posted at 8:51 am on Mon, Mar 14, 2011.
Leon,
Cerulean and I are thrilled to hear that you watch channel 8 every night!
And yes, there are three channel 8's. On cable there is regular channel 8 and two "cable only" PBS channels which the regular 8 also broadcasts. There are some programing overlaps. On Direct TV we only get regular channel 8. But we do get Link TV. That is a privately funded, non-profit channel which combines world wide news programing with documentaries spanning the globe. Direct TV also as a BBC channel.
And Cerulean,
I point out that Public TV likely could do without PBS funding and still survive. But NPR needs to remain funded. There are far too many small stations serving their local markets without serious competition from other local broadcasters.
Cerulean posted at 6:52 pm on Mon, Mar 14, 2011.
Thank you Dale, I am thrilled to hear that Leon watches PBS every night. [smile]
Leon Ceniceros posted at 10:34 pm on Tue, Mar 15, 2011.
Where else would I get my daily dose of Socialist/Democrat/Liberalism if I didn't watch PBS ???
EmperorSmith posted at 3:46 pm on Sun, Mar 20, 2011.
This a different day and age from when that was put in place.
ValenS posted at 2:46 am on Wed, Dec 21, 2011.
This “new” war against public broadcasting has nothing to do with the budget. This is the same “new” war that was waged against public broadcasting in the ninties by the neo-cons, and it wasn’t new then either. The neo-cons are taking aim at anything that conflicts with their ideology, it has absolutely nothing to do with the budget. If it truly was about cutting spending, they would take aim at the bloated defense budget that provides no direct public service, other than putting billions in the pockets of defense contractors. No matter where one is politically, the simple fact is that we are spending money that steals from our kids’ future and our grandkids’ future, and we may be sure, that they will lack of money as we do, and payday lenders will prosper for sure. It is all deficit spending. No way should we fund public broadcasting during this financial crisis. Obama is taking in $2 trllion in taxes and fees and proposing to spend $3.6 trillion. That is an outrage and spending half a billion dollars on public broadcasting is part of the problem. And to our leftist friends, this is not Bush’s fault anymore – this is liberal spending that cannot be justified