PBS Struggles, Pressed by Right and Competitors

[Syrinx]

WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 - It was no accident that PBS found itself turning
to Elmo, the popular "Sesame Street" character, to lobby on Capitol
Hill this week. There were not many options.

Public television is suffering from an identity crisis, executives
inside the Public Broadcasting Service and outsiders say, and it goes
far deeper than the announcement by Pat Mitchell that she would step
down next year as the beleaguered network's president.

Some public television executives said that running PBS was a
thankless job, and that managing a far-flung network composed of
independent fiefs around the country was a particularly daunting
assignment. They also said they were facing larger issues that would
challenge any executive, like increased competition from the cable
industry.

Corporate underwriters have been less willing to finance PBS programs,
which has left the network increasingly dependent on Washington, where
Republicans criticize its programming as elitist and liberal.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/17/business/media/17pbs.html?hp&ex=1108616400&en=a1985e5941a33001&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[liveoaktx]

1. And a lot of the left has given up them since they shy away from

controversy.

[BayCityProgressive]

2. should we just end the channel?

It seems like no matter what happens with it someone will be upset that their tax money is going to it. Maybe we should just leave this all in the hand of private investors.

[stillcool]

3. Apparently it already is...

and if funding is the problem then,.. well there's your answer. Money is always the issue, and the repugs are not getting any poorer.

[AlCzervik]

4. thats so sad, i grew up watching pbs

and they still have some wondergul and very informative shows on. Bill o'reilly and the other asshats have been slamming them for years and it looks like it worked.

[natrat]

5. a little bit sad but.....fuck them,,,guilty as the rest

kpfa pacifica is just about the only news outlet that seems honest

[HootieMcBoob]

11. Pacifica is a radio network

PBS is a television broadcasting network. They're the only people making shows like "Frontline" and "Nova" and "The American Experience". They produce hundreds of shows each year that are excellent. There is no one else who will do the types of things that they do.

If they are able to build a big enough endowment that would enable them to remain independent from the asshat politicians and put people on the board that are committed to excellent programing - period. That would be great.

My fear, as always, is of the radical right-wingers in this country. They are adamantly against anything that they consider to be "elitist". And we all know what that means - anything to do with real science or is intellectual in nature and that doesn't unquestioningly push the right-wing ideology. They are unabashedly fascist at the core and every day they get a little more bold.

[GetTheRightVote]

6. I hope PBS makes it yet, but they do need to stop listening to the

Repubs and it would probably help them to turn to the left who are looking for a media which will support their kind of stories.

:kick:

[ailsagirl]

7. I would HATE to see PBS go...

"elitist and liberal"

Those morons are so good at throwing meaningless words around.

God forbid. Elitist? Maybe because intelligent people tend to watch PBS!! Liberal?? It's hardly a liberal mecca but it is less "biased" than cable and network news.

I mainly watch it for its programs, not its news stories anyway.

[Kimber Scott]

8. And thou shalt not commit liberalism!

I don't remember reading that anywhere, do you? I've read,

Thou shalt not kill, or covet thy neighbor's oil.
Thou shalt not steal, or worship money above Me.
Thou shalt not treat thy fellow human beings like shit and thou shall take care of thy parents in their old age.
And, Thou shalt not lie, or sleep with fake reporters - even if they can wrestle.

I've read this and other stuff, but never did I read, "Thou shalt not be a liberal." So, to the conservatives of the world, I say, "Thou shalt go to hell."

[LynnTheDem]

9. Iraq, misinformed viewers; Faux Moos 80%; PBS/NPR 23%

MISinformed; FAUX MOOS 80%

NPR/PBS 23%.

http://truthout.org/docs_03/100403F.shtml

Of COURSE the rethugs want to keep Faux Moos and kill PBS. Rethugs LIKE being the dumbest most misinformed MFers on the planet.

[0rganism]

10. but.... but... who will show Boohbah?

What other television network will have the sheer lack of common sense necessary to show us the stories from this alien paradise, besides the BBC? No, it too will fall, annexed by endless JAG reruns and cyclic Girls Gone Wild infomercials.

Oh, the HUMANITY!

[Orsino]

12. Notice something?

"....managing a far-flung network composed of
independent fiefs around the country was a particularly daunting
assignment."

The above is a nice description of what American media are supposed to be. The task is only daunting because we've allowed the growth of corporate monoliths who find it easy to dominate a pseudo-independent organization like PBS.