JOHN STOSSEL; CUT OFF GOVERNMENT PBS FUNDING

[powergirl]

I have always hated this dude. I hated his stupid "Give me a break" pieces on 20/20. He makes crap up all the time and I hate his stupid haircut.
. . .

Stossel, co-anchor of ABC News' "20/20," writes in his recent syndicated column that "public broadcasting is a classic example of welfare for the well-off. We PBS viewers are 44 percent more likely than other Americans to make more than $150,000 a year. "I enjoy PBS, but it hardly seems fair that the government demands you buy it for me."

. . .

When PBS was launched in the 1960s, most Americans had only the Big Three networks to choose from, so PBS provided more variety than TV offerings. But now there are hundreds of channels and if there's a demand for what PBS might offer, "the market will provide it," said Stossel.
. . .

Said Stossel: "When anyone suggests cutting the PBS budget, people say, 'They’re trying to kill "Sesame Street.' But 'Sesame Street' is big business and would survive in any environment."

As for the claim that only PBS can do "honest" news broadcasts and documentaries because it doesn't depend on advertising dollars, Stossel maintained: "Twenty-five years ago, Ralph Nader proclaimed that consumer reporting would never appear on commercial TV. It would only thrive on public TV, he said, because commercial stations would defer to advertisers.

"Today, PBS carries almost no consumer reporting, probably because the bureaucrats who run it are too nervous about offending anyone. By contrast, there is plenty of consumer reporting on commercial TV."

link below

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/8/9/100111.shtml



:argh:

[Wapsie B]

1. The righties drag this out every year.

Just more red meat for the conservative masses.

[eallen]

2. I sometimes wonder if PBS wouldn't do better as a non-profit spin-off...

It has a large following. Only a small fraction of its funding comes from the government. The current rules regarding donations hamper other income routes.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

4. A nugget of truth, there...

PBS has become so bound by politics that one wonders if a non-profit corporation with a cable presence couldn't do a better job. Their public affairs programs are now only slightly to the left of CNN, and there really is little in the way of consumer reporting.

Wonder how many potential Bill Moyers' are out there, waiting to be freed from the shackles of corporate reporting. Keith Olbermann -- move toward the light!

[Southsideirish]

3. Yawn.....August must be a very slow month for poor Stossel if he has to .

dig up this tired, old bit.

[zalinda]

5. First of all, he assumes that all people can afford

cable. Not true!!!! I'd really like to see the stats and make him eat his words. I'm really beginning to hate him.

zalinda

[Supersedeas]

6. Coincidence that he attacked John Edwards the eve of the Dem Convention?

[Greeby]

7. Stossel!

I forgot about Stossel! *screams* STOOOOOOOOOSSSSSEEEEEEEELLLLLLL!!!!!!

:evilgrin: