PBS Panders to Right With New Programming
FAIR: Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting
A new
public television program called The Journal Editorial Report,
featuring writers and editors from the arch-conservative Wall Street
Journal editorial page, debuted Friday on public television
stations around the country. The show joins Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered,
hosted by conservative CNN pundit Tucker Carlson, and a planned program
featuring conservative commentator Michael Medved as part of what many
see as politically motivated decisions to bring more right-wing voices
to public television.
According to reports in the public broadcasting newspaper Current (1/19/04, 6/7/04) and in the New Yorker (6/7/04), conservative complaints about the alleged liberal bias of the program Now with Bill Moyers
contributed to the momentum to “balance” the PBS lineup. The new
programs seem to be the result of that pressure. In fact, Now will soon
see its role on public television diminish, as the program is cut from
one hour to 30 minutes when Moyers voluntarily leaves the program later
this year.
At the center of this controversy is the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB),
which provides significant federal funding for public broadcasting
projects. Two Bush appointees to the board last year, Cheryl Halpern
and Gay Hart Gaines, are big donors to the Republican Party, and do not
hide their political agenda. As Common Cause noted in December 2003,
Gaines raised money for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga), and
chaired his political action committee, GOPAC: “At the same time that
Gaines was raising money for Gingrich's GOPAC, Gingrich was pushing
Congress to cut all federal funds to public TV.”
CPB was
initially intended to be a “heat shield” for public broadcasting,
protecting programmers from political pressures from partisan lawmakers
who control the purse strings. It's long since become a mechanism for
transmitting Congress' ideological desires to public broadcasting, and
the new shows announced for public TV show that it's very effective in
that role.
(Click here to read the complete article.)
CALL TO ACTION
Please ask PBS's Pat Mitchell what new shows are planned to balance the new conservative-oriented public TV shows.
CONTACT:
PBS
Pat Mitchell, President and CEO
viewer@pbs.org
Phone: (703) 739-5000
Fax: (703) 739-5777
Or use the PBS comment form:
http://www.pbs.org/aboutsite/aboutsite_emailform.html
You might also want to contact your local PBS affiliate about PBS's rightward lurch:
http://www.pbs.org/stationfinder/index.html
Thank you for your help.
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