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Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

cpb.org

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Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#501

Post by aspenmayer »

vkou wrote: post #465
aspenmayer wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought they meant NPR was generally neoliberal left of center, and their coverage has perhaps moved toward the center post-Obama while still being left of it.

Where exactly is the American 'center' as of 2025? Where is the midway point between the modern establishment left and the establishment MAGA right? Because to me, that midpoint looks to be way to the right of, say, Mitt Romney or George Bush Jr or Reagan.

I think the center in modern American politics has historically been neoliberalism, which explains why the center keeps holding. Neoliberalism is only now having to respond to populism on the left and right, which has caused the balance of power to shift on each side. The neoconservative bloc has attained power on the right with the rise of Trump and the Tea Party before him, and some folks on the left have acquired influence, like Bernie Sanders and AOC. The center is holding less and less as the bureaucracy is being fired and defunded.

I don’t mean to be dismissive, as I think your reading is also accurate. The center of mass is shifting, but I’m not sure the locus of control is as much.

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#502

Post by tptacek »

atonse wrote: post #478
tptacek wrote: post #469

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We'll find out, but I think always the bias on HN is towards whichever interpretation of an event is most dramatic.

It's unfortunate, but as someone who's been on HN since probably 2010, I remember the ethos of this site to news like this used to be a lot more "let's find an opportunity" – maybe I'm looking with rose colored glasses. People would say "should we setup a donation site" or "how can we build a product that saves local affiliate stations money" etc etc etc. Maybe that's still happening quietly. But I just see a lot mor…

I don't think it's HN-specific; I see the same thing on the other (local) board I spend time on. I think this is just human nature.

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#503

Post by tptacek »

rangerelf wrote: post #477
tptacek wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the cuts are bad and certainly there will be programming losses. It's just not an existential threat to public media in America, which has over the last 20 years become far less dependent on local stations. GBH, which produces Frontline, gets $177MM in revenue from major donors and viewer subscriptions.

I don't know if I'm the only one that finds fault with: > GBH, which produces Frontline, gets $177MM in revenue from major donors and viewer subscriptions. Given Frontline is a production for public consumption, for public good, it shouldn't have to be financed by donations, it absolutely should be financed by the federal government. I find your tone (sorry) offensive, in the sense that you DON'T find it dramatic and…

Frontline is a product, just like all the rest of journalism. The time to have gotten on this high horse was when Craigslist slaughtered local media.

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#504

Post by duderific »

pstuart wrote: post #492
tptacek wrote: post #469

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We'll find out, but I think always the bias on HN is towards whichever interpretation of an event is most dramatic.

We are now in a timeline where dramatic concerns are legitimate. I would love to be proven wrong on this, but there's plenty of clues to show that I'm not.

Next up in the timeline - when a bad jobs report lands, the person reporting the unwanted data gets fired [0]. Undoubtedly a toadie will be put in their place who will report numbers that make fearless leader look better.

We are now well on our way to George Orwell's 1984 dystopia.

[0] https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/01/business/trump-job-report-num...

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#505

Post by spencerflem »

sfblah wrote: post #496
leviathant wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah yeah. If you want to find the Republicans in public broadcasting, look at the board members. Same thing happened with newspapers and local TV news after Bush 2 loosened media ownership rules. Next you're going to tell me the New York Times has a liberal bias, right? Save it.

Is there some written work online that represents your viewpoint on the NYT? I'd genuinely like to read it. I'm a centrist person who can absolutely see that Fox is on the right. But, I can also see that NPR and NYT are on the left. It's hard for me to understand how someone could with any seriousness disagree. But I'm interested in reading more about your viewpoint on this.

“The Left” does not mean to the left of you personally. It’s like how there’s only two types of drivers, insane speeders and insane slowpokes and that’s true no matter how fast you drive :p

The “left” in terms of voters is against the genocide in Gaza and for socialist policies and candidates like Mamdani. Plenty of polls and evidence supports this.

NYT undid their endorsement policy to specifically Not endorse mamdani and is very biased against Palestine. Their opinion columns like David Brooks etc are blowhard conservatives too.

In terms of mainstream news sources, I consider the Guardian US to be a reasonable big tent news source for the center left.

NPR is centrist. They take no sides even if (imo) one is obviously correct.

NYT and WaPo is the ‘reasonable right’ (still report facts but with a right wing spin- see their billionaire owners).

Fox etc. are not news they are ‘entertainment’ and do not report facts and are a vile propaganda engine that must be destroyed

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#506

Post by torstenvl »

tptacek wrote: post #451
ndiddy wrote: post #433

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure! I'd love to provide you with evidence. In West Virginia, a state with a population of 1.8 million, West Virginia Public Broadcasting reported 193,687 weekly TV viewers and 85,933 weekly radio listeners in FY 2023. https://wvpublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/WVPB-Annual-... In New Mexico, a state with a population of 1.8 million, New Mexico PBS reported 720,000 weekly TV viewers in 2024. https://www.newmexic…

I looked only at the New Mexico numbers, and they seem to be dwarfed by their own streaming numbers through Passport. Those OTA viewers are just going to switch to streaming.

Streaming is not viable in the vast majority of the country. Just because it's available to the vast majority of the population doesn't mean that the minority who live in rural areas don't count.

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#507

Post by tptacek »

ndiddy wrote: post #459
tptacek wrote: post #451

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I looked only at the New Mexico numbers, and they seem to be dwarfed by their own streaming numbers through Passport. Those OTA viewers are just going to switch to streaming.

The NM report says that there were 900,000 total Passport streams in 2024. Because there are 52 weeks in a year, that's an average of only about 17,300 streams per week.

Have you looked any closer at these numbers? This is something like 90% of the entire New Mexico household audience. Does that sound plausible to you?

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#508

Post by kyo_gisors »

tptacek wrote: post #296

This is a giant thread full of people lamenting the demise of public broadcasting so it seems like someone should write the comment that points out that CPB doesn't do PBS programming. They don't develop content. They're a grantmaking organization that manages the distribution of the congressional PBS appropriation. The actual PBS and NPR shows you're familiar with are generally developed and produced privately, and…

[dead]

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#509

Post by xelxebar »

atonse wrote: post #478
tptacek wrote: post #469

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We'll find out, but I think always the bias on HN is towards whichever interpretation of an event is most dramatic.

It's unfortunate, but as someone who's been on HN since probably 2010, I remember the ethos of this site to news like this used to be a lot more "let's find an opportunity" – maybe I'm looking with rose colored glasses. People would say "should we setup a donation site" or "how can we build a product that saves local affiliate stations money" etc etc etc. Maybe that's still happening quietly. But I just see a lot mor…

> how can we build a product that saves local affiliate stations money

Let's bring back those supposed good 'ol days!

What are some valid business models that could successfully fund local affiliates? Knowing nothing of the industry, some initial questions come to mind:

- Is there value in cross-affiliate connections and referrals where a broadcasting association could work?

- Direct donations seems like a filled market, but what about donation pooling?

- Does private equity have an interest in these affiliates and why or why not?

- Is there a product in marketing and branding local stations that appeases YouTube and related algorithms? Would this fundamentally work against the mission?

Re: Corporation for Public Broadcasting ceasing operations

#510

Post by marricks »

1234letshaveatw wrote: post #190
marricks wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just because conservatives hate kids and don't want to be teachers/educators/work at universities doesn't mean it's biased or bad. It's like if you wanted a diversity of opinions designing a rocket so you decided to pull in flat earth's as well as new earth creationist. You're not getting a better rocket. Perhaps a better fireworks show, though.

right on! down with DEI!

Yeah, because hiring qualified female, black, and queer people is exactly the same as hiring someone who hates what the job and what it's trying to accomplish.
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