Editor-
This is in response to a letter by Jared Shane Ellis (June 22, 2005) regarding public funding of PBS and NPR. While I understand the concern about public funding going to “liberal” agendas, I think Mr. Ellis may have forgotten a few things about public television. First, there is far more to PBS than one sided news programs. The service provides amazing educational programming, performing arts shows, family oriented shows, history programming to rival the History Channel, and the best selection of children’s programming under the sun. My children watch PBS daily, and because of the wonderful programming, they are both highly advanced verbally and intellectually (how many 3 year olds do you know that can write their names, spell dozens of words and even do basic addition and subtraction?). While I would like to take full credit for the intellect of my children, and while I understand the negative social stigma of toddlers being allowed to watch TV, I attribute the degree of advancement in large part to PBS. My kids have watched “Sesame Street”, “Arthur”, “Clifford” and countless other programs, on a daily basis since they were born. I watch, and you said you do also, large amounts of the other programming.
Secondly, one must always remember that PBS survives on donations “from a viewer like you” much more so than on public dollars. That’s why they program the best shows during donation drives. They must cater to their donor audience, or they will not receive enough funding to survive. While it is true that PBS stations receive governmental support, federal support accounts for only 15.5 % of funding. The state contributes an additional 13.6 %. The rest of the funding is up to private business, colleges (who receive incredible payoff for their dollar with telecourse materials), and private individuals. The demographic of the donors needs to be considered. To whom is the idea of a public television system, free of commercial interruptions, the most appealing? What sort of businesses would contribute to this type of system? LIBERAL ONES! That’s right, even KBYU, as conservative as you can get, benefits from “liberal” donors who espouse the ideology behind “public broadcasting”. Is it any wonder why the few news programs that are shown on such a station have the “liberal” slant you perceive? It’s called playing to your target market, and it’s the oldest marketing trick in the book.
My suggestion? If the “liberal” news programming bothers you that much, during the very short time it interrupts the rest of the wonderful programming…don’t watch. You can always open the Deseret News or turn on FOX News Channel for a “fair and balanced” (and appropriately right wing) view of the news. As for NPR…get an IPOD. (I hear KSL news podcasts now!)
C. HillSophomore English/Theatre
