This is a better outcome than Trump minions taking over CPB
Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations
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Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations
#32According to this page [1] PBS only receives about 15% of its funds from federal funding. The rest is from donations. 1: https://foundation.pbs.org/ways-to-give/gifts-to-the-pbs-end... So this certainly won't be the death of PBS, as I had feared. Update 2: For the record (easier to respond in this original post than to each response), I am not defending the decision at all. I grew up listening to NPR, and have been o…
PBS themselves[1] state that CPB funding is what kept local stations solvent, so without funding, they will likely close. They also state that the bulk of CPB funding pays for national NPR and PBS programs, so those will see cuts, too. [1] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/house-gives-final-appr...
Rural stations relied heavily on CPB funding; urban stations get most of their funding from donations or corporate underwriting. So big city public TV and radio will survive, but those in less populated areas might go under unless some other source of funding is found.
Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations
#33According to this page [1] PBS only receives about 15% of its funds from federal funding. The rest is from donations. 1: https://foundation.pbs.org/ways-to-give/gifts-to-the-pbs-end... So this certainly won't be the death of PBS, as I had feared. Update 2: For the record (easier to respond in this original post than to each response), I am not defending the decision at all. I grew up listening to NPR, and have been o…
The CEO stated repeatedly that many small stations are likely to be forced to shutdown
Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations
#34I listen to NPR every day and, honestly, I think this might be for the best. It's going to hurt for a while, but in the end, I think public broadcasting will be stronger when it stands on its own without interference from politicians.
> I think public broadcasting will be stronger when it stands on its own without interference from politicians.
What does the "public" in public broadcasting mean to you?
Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations
#35Woah! This stuff is unwinding faster than my priors. I'm going to have to re-evaluate everything I thought true about the US. I just always assumed "strong institutions" meant something here. That it was all a house built on sand is disconcerting.
Institutions are only as strong as their defenders and supporters - and like countless Empires before it, the USA has bled its institutions dry of credibility and/or resources over the past several decades in a futile attempt to satiate a handful of wealthy extremists. This was entirely expected and predicted once neoliberalism took hold in the Democratic and Republican parties and began rotting out the central pilla…
Yep, billionaires-as-termites on the public infrastructure is an apt analogy
Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations
#36Woah! This stuff is unwinding faster than my priors. I'm going to have to re-evaluate everything I thought true about the US. I just always assumed "strong institutions" meant something here. That it was all a house built on sand is disconcerting.
Before you think this is happening quickly, do note that public institutions have been under attack from the right for generations, including publicly funded education, public broadcasters, public health and social programs.
These attacks are not unique to the United States; there is a coordinated effort across many countries by public policy groups and private interests. The United States are highly visible due to their ownership of global media, but the Republican party has been pursuing these objectives publicly and clearly for more than 30 years, and has made incremental progress to the point where they were able to re-engineer the Supreme Court and lower courts, as well as elect far right politicians who would tear up the rules to make it happen.
This is the sharp upwards curve of increase in velocity that is the result of sustained accelleration over the last few decades. It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better, and not just in the United States.
Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations
#37I listen to NPR every day and, honestly, I think this might be for the best. It's going to hurt for a while, but in the end, I think public broadcasting will be stronger when it stands on its own without interference from politicians.
> I think public broadcasting will be stronger when it stands on its own without interference from politicians. What does the "public" in "public broadcasting" mean to you?
Ideally, it would be entirely non-commercial, funded by direct donations from the public.
Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations
#38Contrary 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 few things I can hand to my kid worry-free. And the fact that it's money-free and ad-free to access in this modern age is a miracle.
The only people who could support this are not just wrong, they are people out of touch with reality. These are people who think public parks are a waste of space. Or that having nice things to share is elitist.
Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations
#39I listen to NPR every day and, honestly, I think this might be for the best. It's going to hurt for a while, but in the end, I think public broadcasting will be stronger when it stands on its own without interference from politicians.
Hasn't it been largely free of interference up until now? And would you prefer it suffer from corporate interference like all other media?
Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations
#40Woah! This stuff is unwinding faster than my priors. I'm going to have to re-evaluate everything I thought true about the US. I just always assumed "strong institutions" meant something here. That it was all a house built on sand is disconcerting.
The dissolution and dismantling of US gov institutions that we are witnessing is unprecedented in modern times. Hell, a few of the agencies being attacked were created with bipartisan support. I would say it isn't that our institutions were built on sand, more that its hard to stop a madman who broke into your house with a chainsaw (a la Musk) from knocking down a few load-bearing walls. It is easier to destroy almos…
> Hell, a few of the agencies being attacked were created with bipartisan support.
It's worse than that. PEPFAR was a signature initiative of the previous Republican president.