dangers all around
bored at work, i made the mistake of looking at the news.
posted by claire @ 6/10/2005 03:08:00 PM
3 comments
clairevoyant paranoia
i wish i had a story to tell .... i have many, many options and a strong sense that freedom is within where i shall never find it .... freedom is lost, failure is just around the corner, and the only thing that consoles me anymore is the sound of my voice
6.10.2005
About Me
- Name: claire
- Location: Houston, TX
i am a professional parent, a former montessori teacher, a previous children's library assistant, and once an aspiring anthropology student
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3 Comments:
Maybe this isn't such a bad thing. As the Post article points out the Feds only account for 15% of the CPB's funding. It's not such a strethch to imagine that they can make up that amount from private donations. Congress has been reducing or effectively reducing funding for years, so public radio has had to develop a network of alternative funding. If the government gets out, PBS will just have to lean on that network a little more. And as a result, we will get a PBS/NPR that is entirely free of government control. No more worrying about "bias," so they can send that son-of-a-bitch Tucker Carlson packing. And maybe they won't have to program such middle-of-the-road dreck like "Antiques Roadshow" every other night.
shockingly, i think you're being too optimistic. npr and pbs are already struggling for funds. if you haven't noticed, pbs has fundraising shows on almost every night, not just once a quarter like they used to. i think that's why they are always showing antiques roadshow or suze ortman - they are big favorites among the fundraising set. i don't see the cpb giving up its influence. i think the committee proposal to cut funding is a move to give cpb even greater editorial control. they play the fund-cutting card, then let it slide and not pass the senate, but as consequence can say to public broadcasters - if you don't want the funds to really get cut you need to do this and this.... next week, the chairman and republican dominated board will elect a new president of cpb. the expected winner is patricia harrison the former co-chair of the rnc. yes, things have been bad in public broadcasting for a while (since bush sr.'s term, i think), but it seemed to have almost reached an equilibrium. but, now, i think things will get very, very bad indeed.
So it seems the thing to do to get editorial control back is to get government influence out of it entirely. There are other ways to raise money that won't require that Republicans dictate programming. That's the only way we're not going to get watered down content. Then they will be forced to use the FCC to exercise any control, but they will be far less successful going that route, since any standards they hold the newly private public radio to, they will also have to hold Fox to. Good luck, chumps.
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