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Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

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Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#331

Post by starkparker »

atonse wrote: post #168
jaredwiener wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PBS and NPR do not operate like the commercial networks -- ABC/NBC/CBS/Fox/Etc are big corporations that produce (or commission/license, it gets...weird) shows to be distributed on their affiliates, that, depending on the city you are in, can be owned by the network OR another company that operates it like a franchise. Their affiliate agreement governs how much of the network programming they play -- though there are…

As others have said, the big guys (WGBH in Boston, WETA in DC, etc) will have minimal impact since they have a large pool of donors. But the little guys will suffer more. Ultimately, I think we can all agree that we hope the impact won't be catastrophic as far as the number of listeners impacted.

Yep. Public media operations in rural and small-city markets are often as small as one full-time employee and cover large spans of territory. A cut to each of those stations might be as small as $150k but could represent much of their ability to do much more than minimal playback of out-of-market packages (which also degrade since many are published in part or full through CPB grants).

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#332

Post by esseph »

atonse wrote: post #100
not2b wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I agree overall that this is not a good thing for also furthering a knowledge gap between rural and urban areas. But in the age of internet streaming, wouldn't rural areas still have access to stream public radio? Genuinely asking. I tried looking for sources on station audience sizes, alternatives they might have, etc. But it was difficult to find.

Public radio and local broadcasting has been gobbled up by right-wing sources, including Sinclair

Watch this clip:

https://youtu.be/xwA4k0E51Oo?feature=shared

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#333

Post by testing22321 »

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…

> If that was true, losing the CPB would be a travesty.

America and many Americans have lost their way, and have always struggled to get perspective on a topic.

As out outsider looking in, let me be clear.

This IS a travesty, and will be a notable mark in the history books when people look back in 50 or 100 years and ask “how did it happen?”

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#334

Post by munchler »

asadotzler wrote: post #310
munchler wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's been a political football for decades. Conservatives use it as an example of liberal spending run amok, so public broadcasting has had to constantly look over its shoulder during that time. No, I would like to eliminate corporate influence as well, but that might not be possible in a capitalist society.

Take a tax supported public good, remove the public support and then claim to worry about corporate influence? What do you think was holding that corporate influence at bay?

Unfortunately, the necessary level of public support doesn't exist, so relying on government money isn't viable. I hope public broadcasting will get enough money directly from individuals to resist excessive corporate influence, but we'll have to see.

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#335

Post by pfortuny »

munchler wrote: post #187
pfortuny wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is not what "public" means in ordinary language. Public is intended to mean "supported by taxes". Support by donations is always dependent on the largest donor.

Not going to argue semantics with you. The US government was the largest donor until now. No single non-governmental donor will ever have that level of influence again.

I now realize (sorry) that my European mindset has tricked me, most likely. The term is very loaded here towards the meaning I gave it.

You are probably right.

My apologies.

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#336

Post by kulahan »

atonse wrote: post #168
jaredwiener wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PBS and NPR do not operate like the commercial networks -- ABC/NBC/CBS/Fox/Etc are big corporations that produce (or commission/license, it gets...weird) shows to be distributed on their affiliates, that, depending on the city you are in, can be owned by the network OR another company that operates it like a franchise. Their affiliate agreement governs how much of the network programming they play -- though there are…

As others have said, the big guys (WGBH in Boston, WETA in DC, etc) will have minimal impact since they have a large pool of donors. But the little guys will suffer more. Ultimately, I think we can all agree that we hope the impact won't be catastrophic as far as the number of listeners impacted.

My guess is that things will largely continue as they have been, but we'll get a lot fewer of those cute little stories about a random one-off issue in a town of 300 people or whatever.

Probably not the biggest loss if I'm right, but still a major bummer, and yet another connection between the rural and the urban is severed.

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#337

Post by nemomarx »

1234letshaveatw wrote: post #218
dpkirchner wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

So true, it is so telling that everyone complaining about it is a conservative...

I've seen leftist complaints about NPR - they take corporate sponsorships after all

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#338

Post by legitster »

Boogie_Man wrote: post #306
legitster wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Counterpoint, when these episodes were first aired, these weren't viewed as political issues. Only in response to these ideas have they become politicized. And since PBS has backed away from making episodes like these.

I might be missing what you mean, but I tried to explain as best as I could how I would understand these things to be "related to "politics" ". Offensiveness of difficultly in pronouncing native Alaskan name - I believe this would be grouped under the umbrella of something like "linguistic imperialism" by people of particular political bents, which is an issue that at least heavily relates to politics. Land acknowled…

None of these things are inherently political unless you interpret them to be.

They have several shows that depict interracial marriages, while some people might try to take this as a political statement, most of us would not see it that way.

In a similar vein, I don't see how pronouncing names correctly could be a political issue.

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#339

Post by pfortuny »

munchler wrote: post #294
GuinansEyebrows wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's not a semantic argument. you misunderstand the term in question.

Until this change, public broadcasting got 85% of its funding from donations, so whatever the term used to mean, that's what it means now.

Honest question: apart from the name ("Public BC"), what makes it "public" in the US if most of its income is private?

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#340

Post by gazpachotron »

randcraw wrote: post #303

With the inevitable cutbacks coming to NPR, I wonder how big a hit classical music will take. NPR delivers 95% of the classical music that airs in America, much of which comes from small market stations which will be the first to die with the end of CPB.

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