NPR and PBS are under attack by the Republicans. But is this the greatest threat to "our" public media?

The Republicans in the House plan to introduce a new piece of legislation which would de-fund public radio (NPR) and television (PBS). In response, public stations have launched an online campaign and petition called "170 Million Americans" which you can view here


There's only one problem: Are we really sure that we WANT to maintain the current status quo with NPR and PBS, which welcomes massive corporate involvement in our so-called "public" media? Surely, 170 million U.S. citizens can do better than the abysmal news and information provided by our "public" media. As with many other crises in our country, we always find ourselves pushed against a wall, trying to defend what we already have. 


How much more powerful and empowering it would be if instead we started asking ourselves "What do we WANT? What kind of public radio and TV institutions would we want to have in a truly democratic society? Do we want our public media to be so easily manipulated by and financially dependent upon large corporations and government agencies? Surely, 170 million Americans are capable of coming up with a more democratically responsive system of public media. We need look no further than Great Britain, and its BBC radio and TV stations, to discover a design that generates all the income it needs to operate from direct public fees, and is not easily manipulatable by government's ever-changing political leaders.


Almost 1/4 of our "public" media's funding comes from for-profit corporations. This is unacceptable in a democratic society. And in fact, before corporations became "persons" protected by the Constitution, it was a major scandal if a corporation was found to have given money to a charitable or civic organization. In fact, it ws not uncommon for a corporation's directors to be charged with felonies for such a crime. My how times have changed!


So yes, by all means add your name to the online petition, but then ask yourself and your friends and your co-workers "What kind of public media do we want?"  and "What kind of media do we NEED if we are to function as a self-governing people in a democratic society?". And then consider taking the next step and DOING something about it. 


(I lead a workshop called "Taking OUR Local Mass Media Back From Large Corporations". As far as I'm concerned, that includes PBS and NPR. I'd be happy to lead this workshop in YOUR community. You can find more info about it on my website.)



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