Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations • Hacker News Board

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#191

Post by munchler » Fri, Aug 01, 2025, 6:20 PM UTC

toomanyrichies wrote: post #136

munchler wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Things that are supported by a durable majority of the population. I wish that included public broadcasting, but it doesn't. Personally, I'm tired of hearing conservatives whine about public broadcasting. This will at least shut them up for good.

> This will at least shut them up for good. No it won't. The modern GOP is fueled by grievance. It needs an "other" in order to exist. They'll have a new enemy to rail against by this time tomorrow.

Yes, of course, but it won’t be public broadcasting anymore. That’s why this might be a win for public broadcasting in the long run.

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#192

Post by SV_BubbleTime » Fri, Aug 01, 2025, 6:20 PM UTC

legitster wrote: post #38

Contrary to the conservative spin over the years, I have found public broadcasting to be one of the least biased sources of headline news and information available. (For their national broadcasts at least - local ... can be hit or miss). In particular, their kids programming is the absolute best. Nothing flashy or exciting, but it's laser focused on education and has zero agenda. And the PBS kids apps are one of the…

>Contrary to the conservative spin over the years, I have found public broadcasting to be one of the least biased sources

Can we break this down?

You open with a effectively derogatory accusation about conservatives making things up…which I have no opinion on.

That immediately shows your own likely liberal bias and then you say you saw no problem with the programming.

Isn’t that exactly the issue? That you saw no issue and everyone that disagrees is just wrong?

How do you know? How would you know if CBP’s biases weren’t just your own?

Do you know the arguments against the biases of CPB, NPR, PBS from the people that can make their most effective arguments against those orgs, or do you know the lines of the people that already agree with you?

Jon Stewart Mill’s On Liberty has a great part about this… [It is not enough to know the refutations from your own teachers, you must learn them from the people that present them in their truest form].

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#193

Post by dragonwriter » Fri, Aug 01, 2025, 6:20 PM UTC

UncleOxidant wrote: post #171

I'm pretty certain that if public libraries didn't already exist and someone proposed the idea now it would be labeled "woke" and "socialist" and not get anywhere. We're in a very weird era, but pendulums swing and this too shall pass (in the meantime lots of damage is being done).

> I'm pretty certain that if public libraries didn't already exist and someone proposed the idea now it would be labeled "woke" and "socialist" and not get anywhere.

Public libraries do already exist and they are labeled "woke" and "socialist" and are dealing with both assaults on their funding and on their function.

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#194

Post by toast0 » Fri, Aug 01, 2025, 6:20 PM UTC

SV_BubbleTime wrote: post #162

toast0 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In particular, their kids programming is the absolute best. Nothing flashy or exciting, but it's laser focused on education and has zero agenda. I dunno, the Odd Squad has almost as much green screen as a Guardians of the Galaxy movie. If that's not flashy, I dunno. And Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman was pretty out there; a space ghost style host ordering kids around the streets of Boston. Also, the reboot of CyberChase…

You clearly have multiple kids… or a very niche set of entrainment you prefer.

Just one, but you know, I prefer to say a very rich set of entertainment. Although entrainment might be just as accurate. :)

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#195

Post by treyd » Fri, Aug 01, 2025, 6:20 PM UTC

dpkirchner wrote: post #131

smithkl42 wrote: post #76

> Public media has been one of the most trusted institutions in American life, providing educational opportunity, emergency alerts, civil discourse, and cultural connection to every corner of the country,” Harrison said. If that was true, losing the CPB would be a travesty. But as a loyal NPR listener for decades, I've found their stuff lately to be unlistenable. It's Fox, but for the Left, and with a bit more of an…

I don't agree -- NPR is about as center-right as it's possible to be. Just look at the efforts they've made to normalize Trump, it's way over the top.

And nonetheless it's an important voice to have since it will leave a void in the media landscape to be filled by opportunists.

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#196

Post by nullc » Fri, Aug 01, 2025, 6:20 PM UTC

smithkl42 wrote: post #76

> Public media has been one of the most trusted institutions in American life, providing educational opportunity, emergency alerts, civil discourse, and cultural connection to every corner of the country,” Harrison said. If that was true, losing the CPB would be a travesty. But as a loyal NPR listener for decades, I've found their stuff lately to be unlistenable. It's Fox, but for the Left, and with a bit more of an…

There is a surprising amount of influence in terms of what stations you listen to, not just due to the local programming but due to their choice of which national programming they air.

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#197

Post by xnx » Fri, Aug 01, 2025, 6:21 PM UTC

atonse wrote: post #91

xnx wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> PBS only receives about 15% of its funds from federal funding I'm a big fan of PBS, but I wonder if this common stat is misleading. Don't a huge portion of PBS funds come from member stations, which get a portion of their funds from federal funding?

My link is literally from the PBS foundation. I'm very careful about my sources in this age of constant misinformation.

Yes. I think 15% of funds from direct federal funding is totally correct, but I think there's also a portion from indirect federal funding.

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#198

Post by glial » Fri, Aug 01, 2025, 6:21 PM UTC

efitz wrote: post #101

thrownawaysz wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Just at what BBC is able to do in the UK. This is funny because BBC is a prime example of being a propaganda channel for the government of the day. And that's not new at all just look back at the coverage of the Troubles or the miners strikes in the 70s-80s. Yes it's not on the level of CGTN or Russia Today but BBC is not neutral at all https://theconversation.com/hard-evidence-how-biased-is-the-...

A lot of people are unable to see their own political bias; they look at BBC or Fox News and see “unbiased true reporting”. I highly suggest using Ground News (ground.news) for a week or a month as your sole portal into news stories, and then use their features to analyze bias in your selection of news stories and outlets. I use it regularly to try to offset my own biases.

At your recommendation I took a look at Ground News.

I'm not a fan of the continued reification of "left" and "right". I have heard conservatives lament that MAGA isn't truly conservative. I've heard economic reformers lament that liberal social policies are sucking the oxygen out of the room for real structural reform. In both cases the idea of a single "left" and "right" as a group, or even worse as the two sole options on the menu of how to think, is severely damaging to productive political dialogue.

Framing everything as left-vs-right is like doing PCA and taking only the first principal component - sure it might be contain some signal, but it flattens any nuance. Critically, it also pre-frames any debate into competing camps in a way that harms rather than serves. I would challenge groups like Ground News to offer other framings - why not "owners vs workers"? Why not "rural vs urban"? We should ask why they chose the framing they do. I have my own cynical opinion but I'll refrain from sharing.

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#199

Post by Cyph0n » Fri, Aug 01, 2025, 6:21 PM UTC

wffurr wrote: post #98

legitster wrote: post #38

Contrary to the conservative spin over the years, I have found public broadcasting to be one of the least biased sources of headline news and information available. (For their national broadcasts at least - local ... can be hit or miss). In particular, their kids programming is the absolute best. Nothing flashy or exciting, but it's laser focused on education and has zero agenda. And the PBS kids apps are one of the…

Losing PBS Kids will be a tragedy. One of the few high quality sources of kids' programming out there. So much of the commercial options are dreck.

+1. PBS Kids is a goldmine. Time to sails the high seas if you aren’t already :)

The other tragedy is the PBS Kids Games app on iOS and Android. It is chock full of educational games that tie into the various shows.

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#200

Post by JeremyNT » Fri, Aug 01, 2025, 6:21 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #54

digitalsushi wrote: post #2

When I was a teenager in the 90s an old guy took me aside and told me there'd be a day we get rid of public radio, and a day we'd have our final serving of affordable tuna sushi, and that after that, I'd be living in what he deemed the future. One down.

Public television and public radio isn't going anywhere, at least not anywhere any of the rest of linear media isn't already going.

Of course, if you live in a large metro the local stations will survive due to large numbers of wealthy and middle class benefactors. This is not necessarily so if you live in a typical red state middle size city or less.

Somewhat ironically a lot of the extreme cuts (this included) only serve to reinforce the status of major blue state metros as more desirable, since they have more resources available to fill the gaps left by federal austerity.