Religious Right accused of backstabbing public broadcasting

[SirFozzie]

(got this from WikiNews)

A House subcommittee voted Thursday to sharply reduce the federal government's financial spending for Fiscal Year '06, including eliminating taxpayer funds that help produce such shows as Sesame Street and Arthur.

The spending cutbacks far exceeded even those requested by the White House. Among initiatives on the chopping block are $39 million for conversion to digital programming and $50 million for upgrading PBS's aging satellite technology.

The subcommittee also acted to eliminate federal money for the Corporation for Public Broadasting, a body created by Congress to pass funds on to public broadcasters. The CPB would see a 25 percent reduction in next year's budget, down from $400 million to $300 million, funds that currently account for 14.9% of all public broadcasting revenues[1] (http://www.cpb.org/about).

Ideological concerns over publicly-financed content have recently become a point of contention for the Republican-controlled CPB. The day after the new budget was approved, CNN obtained an internal memo by NPR's executive vice president Ken Stern that blamed the cuts on "recent public turbulence caused by CPB chairman Ken Tomlinson's irresponsible attacks on public broadcasting." Stern's memo also told staffers the cut would not hurt NPR directly because it receives little direct support from the CPB. Instead, he emphasized, smaller local stations that rely upon federal dollars are most likely to be affected, which could in turn take a bite out of regular dues and fees, NPR's largest revenue source.

Under the budget, the Ready to Learn program's $23 million appropriation for children's shows is rescinded in its entirety. John Lawson, president of the Association of Public Television Stations, said the cut was retribution for an episode of "Postcards From Buster" featuring a pair of lesbian parents from Vermont. A spokesman for the Appropriations Committee, John Scofield, denied the claim.

"Ready to Learn was one of more than 50 programs terminated in the spending bill," he told the New York Times. "It might be a nice program to do, but not in a flat budget with large budget deficits. We felt the same way about 49 other programs."

Overall, the cuts would signal the most dramatic cutback of public broadcasting since Congress created the CPB in 1967. The spending bill is expected to pass the Appropriations Committee and the House, but final legislation will be negotiated with the Senate.

[Bubba Wheels]

One good reason for not wanting to support PBS with tax dollars is because PBS is run by idiots. Good article some years ago about how proper marketing of license fees, ect..., of Barney could have funded PBS for years but instead the Norman Einsteins in charge basically gave the rights away.

[kcchief19]

I'm torn on the subject. On the one hand, I am a firm believer that public art is a critical investment for government and if you look around the world, we spend less on public art that almost any other advanced industrial nation. I would include public broadcasting in that category.

We have witnessed many fine, outstanding shows funded in part by CPB that I believe have made a tremendous impact. Sesame Street alone is worth every dollar we've ever spent on public broadcasting. It taught kids without trying to sell them something.

On the downside, there is certainly an argument to be made television funding may not be as necessary as it once was with the explosion of cable TV. Shows that once would only have been aired on PBS are now on stations like the History Channel and Discovery. As a result, PBS has gone in some odd directions trying to capture audiences. While funding from CPB is critical, it is still donations that are the heartbeat of public broadcasting in this country, and as a result PBS has been placed in the difficult role of pandering to the underwriters and its wealthy donor base.

But the problem with cuts in CPB is that it won't hit PBS and NPR, but rather local affiliates. That's where CPB money makes its biggest impact, and cutting that funding would be a horrible mistake for the public airwaves.

There are locallly produced programs on every local NPR and PBS that would never air on commercial radio or TV. We have a couple of news/talk stations in this town, but one is devoted primarily to business news and the other to Republican talk radio. There is nothing down the middle that will tackle any subject regardless of ideology in fair and responsible way aside from the NPR affiliate. It's refreshing to hear things on that station that are informative and are outside mainstream media.

[Dutch]

PBS should switch to straight news and running stories with as many facts as possible. Even if it's dedicated to running the top 24 news stories of the day and dedicating one hour to each and ranking them for access to prime-time billets.

If non-bias is impossible, then allow the atheist left to hire half the "analysts" and the christian right to hire the other half. And just let them duke it out.

I'd watch that and feel we are being better informed on both parties position on things. We might find them to be less evil if we actually knew what they wanted.

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by Dutch

PBS should switch to straight news and running stories with as many facts as possible. Even if it's dedicated to running the top 24 news stories of the day and dedicating one hour to each and ranking them for access to prime-time billets.

If non-bias is impossible, then allow the atheist left to hire half the "analysts" and the christian right to hire the other half. And just let them duke it out.

I'd watch that and feel we are being better informed on both parties position on things. We might find them to be less evil if we actually knew what they wanted.

hahaha, now it's the "atheist left"?

[MJ4H]

wouldnt that be the opposite of christian right?

[NoMyths]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

wouldnt that be the opposite of christian right?

Only semantically.

What about the Christian Left, after all?

[MJ4H]

what about them?

[NoMyths]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

what about them?

Beats me. I think they're mostly all sleeping right now.

[Young Drachma]

PBS is even run by a GOPer now, so I dunno. He brought balance - or at least - is trying to make it more evenhanded..though it'll never be not liberal, he even admitted it.

So I dunno, seems weird.

[Flasch186]

dont forget about the Jewish left.

[Dutch]

I've never been a fan of the term "Christian Right" since I am generally considered one simply for being a Republican and do not attend church. So I figured I'd share the wealth.

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by Dutch

I've never been a fan of the term "Christian Right" since I am generally considered one simply for being a Republican and do not attend church. So I figured I'd share the wealth.

I don't like the term, and I do go to church. I also happen to disagree with the "Religious Right" on almost every issue they tout as important. I do not like the influence that the "RR" has on the party, and I'd seriously like to see their momentum within the party curtailed.