Post by MProffitt on Jun 6, 2004 14:04:20 GMT -5
Public Television's 'Heat Shield' Withers Under White House Pressure
By Chellie Pingree
MediaChannel
Wednesday 02 June 2004
Washington - Public broadcasting has found itself in the crosshairs of a partisan firing squad. New and intensifying ideological pressures from the Bush Administration have forced the public broadcaster to add new programs and alter others, in an attempt to be "more balanced" in the view of the current leadership.
At a time when Americans are finding it more and more difficult to get past the clutter and partisanship on commercial TV and radio to find truthful sources of information about their government, this ideological pressure may gag one of the few sources of independent, substantive news and commentary that Americans can count on.
The fact that members of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which provides federal funds to public radio and TV, should play politics with its program content should disturb us all, whatever our political views.
The visionaries who created public broadcasting set up the CPB as the nonprofit corporation providing federal funds to public radio and TV. CPB's primary mission has always been to serve as a "heat shield" between government and public broadcasting, protecting programming from government interference.
But instead of serving as a "heat shield," CPB now is the agent of ideological interference. And public broadcasting's news and public affairs programs in particular will be harmed if conservative members of the CPB have their way.
In a New Yorker's expose published on Monday, media writer Ken Auletta documents several disturbing trends.
The CPB recently decided to fund two programs - one hosted by Tucker Carlson, who speaks for conservatives on CNN's "Crossfire," and one moderated by Paul Gigot, editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal. At the same time that these programming additions were being made, "NOW with Bill Moyers," which receives no CPB funds, was cut from an hour to 30 minutes. Earlier in 2004, Moyers announced that he will be leaving the program by the end of the year.
Moreover, according to Auletta's article, the Bush Administration appears to be conducting a litmus test for choosing CPB board members. The White House asked CPB board candidate Chon Noriega, a UCLA media professor and co-founder of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers, whether the Corporation should intervene in programming "deemed politically biased." When Noriega replied that intervention should be used in only extraordinary circumstances, the appointment process ground to a halt. The White House has since asked Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) to put forward another candidate.
www.truthout.org/docs_04/060704L.shtml
This is going to take ALL of us who are as concerned and alarmed about this as I am. ITS LETTER WRITING TIME! And ask everyone you know!
By Chellie Pingree
MediaChannel
Wednesday 02 June 2004
Washington - Public broadcasting has found itself in the crosshairs of a partisan firing squad. New and intensifying ideological pressures from the Bush Administration have forced the public broadcaster to add new programs and alter others, in an attempt to be "more balanced" in the view of the current leadership.
At a time when Americans are finding it more and more difficult to get past the clutter and partisanship on commercial TV and radio to find truthful sources of information about their government, this ideological pressure may gag one of the few sources of independent, substantive news and commentary that Americans can count on.
The fact that members of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which provides federal funds to public radio and TV, should play politics with its program content should disturb us all, whatever our political views.
The visionaries who created public broadcasting set up the CPB as the nonprofit corporation providing federal funds to public radio and TV. CPB's primary mission has always been to serve as a "heat shield" between government and public broadcasting, protecting programming from government interference.
But instead of serving as a "heat shield," CPB now is the agent of ideological interference. And public broadcasting's news and public affairs programs in particular will be harmed if conservative members of the CPB have their way.
In a New Yorker's expose published on Monday, media writer Ken Auletta documents several disturbing trends.
The CPB recently decided to fund two programs - one hosted by Tucker Carlson, who speaks for conservatives on CNN's "Crossfire," and one moderated by Paul Gigot, editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal. At the same time that these programming additions were being made, "NOW with Bill Moyers," which receives no CPB funds, was cut from an hour to 30 minutes. Earlier in 2004, Moyers announced that he will be leaving the program by the end of the year.
Moreover, according to Auletta's article, the Bush Administration appears to be conducting a litmus test for choosing CPB board members. The White House asked CPB board candidate Chon Noriega, a UCLA media professor and co-founder of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers, whether the Corporation should intervene in programming "deemed politically biased." When Noriega replied that intervention should be used in only extraordinary circumstances, the appointment process ground to a halt. The White House has since asked Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) to put forward another candidate.
www.truthout.org/docs_04/060704L.shtml
This is going to take ALL of us who are as concerned and alarmed about this as I am. ITS LETTER WRITING TIME! And ask everyone you know!