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The House on Wednesday evening overwhelmingly rejected President Bush's plan to eliminate the $420 million federal subsidy for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The 357-72 vote demonstrated the enduring political strength of public broadcasting. The outcome was never in doubt, unlike a fight two years ago when Republicans tried but failed to slash public broadcasting subsidies.
Iin a time when our nations writing and reading scores are at all time lows, Bush wants to eliminate a broadcasting company that teaches kids just how to do that.
I think there are more important things for the President to worry about than Sesame Street. I guess people forget the days before 1000 cable channels were available. I don't see the harm. I just tune them out if they have a show I don't care for. PBS should stay.
My question is when they reintroduce the fairness doctrine will PBS be subject to it's terms ? Let's say for every Bill Moyer's bias report we have a Sean Hannity counterpoint.
NK, is there some innate need to at least fudge the truth when it comes to Bush? He didn't try to "end PBS", he wants to "end the federal subsidy" for CPB, which accounts for about 15 percent of its budget. I'm all for it if PBS is not going to carry out its mission, which CNN acknowledges was "created the corporation in 1967 to shield public broadcasting from political influence." That it's failing in that mission is about as questionable as whether or not Donald Trump has bad hair.
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the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has had a legal mandate to ensure "strict adherence to objectivity and balance in all programs or series of programs of a controversial nature."
The opening lines of Bill Moyers' Essay; Beg Your Pardon, which aired on June 15, 2007:
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Welcome to the Journal. Iraq is a bloody mess and getting bloodier every day. So what's been all the buzz this week among the people who took us to war from the safety of their beltway bunkers - I mean Washington's ruling clique of neoconservative elites? Their passion of the week is to keep Scooter Libby from going to jail. I'm not making this up.
Please be my guest and highlight the "strict adherence to objectivity and balance" in those lines. After his 'welcome', he paints a bleak and bloody picture of Iraq, followed by criticism and ridicule, used a favorite liberal pejorative and ended with condescion - all directed toward conservatives/Republicans. I resent the fact that part of my tax money is funding bias and insult toward me, especially when there's more than enough of that already from the mainstream media.
If you have a problem with the content of one program then send it to the ombudsman, that's what he's there for: PBS | Ombudsman
And you don't think people have complained of Moyers' bias before? Has it changed anything? Nevertheless, I think I'll do just that and see where it gets me.
I don't think that PBS should be eliminated. I just think that they should have to make their money the old fashioned way... through advertising, rather than though government grants.
If Sesame Street is such a terrific show, and I believe that it is, then it should be able to support itself without my tax dollars. The Sesame Street character licensing agreements are big money for them. They don't need tax dollars to support it, and they don't need an entire tax-supported network just for that one show. Other PBS shows have made the change ove to commercial TV, like Ghostwriter and The Magical Schoolbus. To say that popular PBS kids shows "wouldn't be able to survive without government funding" is pure BS.
And the idea that Sesame Street is the reason that we need an entire PBS chanel is ludicrous. Are you aware, Karma, that the average age of a PBS watcher is 38 years old? If he's still watching PBS just for Sesame Street or to learn how to read, there's a problem that is muh larger than any that PBS can solve.
Furthermore, the entire justification for the existance of PBS was that PBS was the place to air the shows that nobody else would air. That was true back in the days before cable TV became popular. But now there's
The History Channel for historical programs,
Discovery Channel for educational TV,
A&E for artsy films,
CNN for news,
BBC America for British TV programs,
Disney Channel and Discovery Kids for childrens' educational programming,
ION television and ABC Family for family programming,
Lifetime, Oxygen and WE for womens' programming,
BET for African American programming,
Telemundo for Hispanic programming,
Here and Logo for gay and lesbian programming,
Animal Planet for animal/biology/ecology programming,
Turner Classic Movies for classics,
The Food Network for cooking shows,
etc.
And each one of these channels does the job of PBS. We don't need PBS as our sole outlet for these tpes of programs, because there are now other outlets for them.
In short, there is no justification for PBS to be funded by our tax dollars. None of the justifications for the existence of a government-assisted PBS still exist.
And you don't think people have complained of Moyers' bias before? Has it changed anything? Nevertheless, I think I'll do just that and see where it gets me.
Here is what it got me so far:
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Thank you for your thoughts. Michael Getler values viewers' submissions, and he and his assistant try to read all letters. The ombudsman's column will address significant issues related to how PBS upholds its own standards of editorial integrity.
It won't even get you a guarantee that they'll even look at a complaint.
And each one of these channels does the job of PBS. We don't need PBS as our sole outlet for these tpes of programs, because there are now other outlets for them.
Part of that etc.:
In addition to Telemundo, you also have Univision and TeleFutura for Hispanics, the English language Latino themed Sí TV, the English language network of China CCTV-9, Starz inBlack, and Colours TV - "The Muliticultural Network."
Then we have:
HGTV and DIY for home, garden and do-it-yourselfers
Healthy Living Channel for people that have no life
C-Span if you need a nap
Fine Living for the rich and snobby
RFD-TV for the average Joe Bob
Fox Reality for people without a brain
Angel for Christians
BYUTV for Mormons
And last and perhaps least, Free Speech TV for moonbats.
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