A House subcommittee voted Thursday to sharply reduce the federal government’s financial support for public broadcasting, including eliminating taxpayer funds that help underwrite such popular children’s educational programs as “Sesame Street” and “Arthur.” In addition, the subcommittee acted to eliminate within two years all federal money for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting – which passes federal funds to public broadcasters – starting with a 25 percent reduction for next year, from $400 million to $300 million.
Let’s get one thing clear. If this is about that episode of Buster… The one that never aired. The one that had a brief stop off at a family’s home where the family was two women living together. It was not Muff Diving for Kids 101. I know this is largely about the supposed liberal bias within PBS’s programming but to gut children’s television – that has impacted the lives of generations of children. This is so so so so so stupid.
We can give billions in farm subsidies. We can spend millions of dollars creating a public television system for the Middle East (more of a propaganda channel) but we can’t preserve funds to keep the legacy of public broadcasting that has enriched millions of lives.
We were PBS kids. We watched Nova and Nature every Tuesday night. Mr. Rogers growing up. Sesame Street sometimes. The Computer Chronicles was my first look at the future geek I would become. Newton’s Apple was always cool for a quick learning. This is just so damned stupid.
I hope that if they gut funding that the Corporation for Broadcasting just says fuck-all and goes whole-hog into some investigative journalism on all fronts, at all levels and just spends their last gasping breath doing a takedown of all the hypocrisy and corruption in the federal system.
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