17 Jun 2005
Lobbyists' Role for Public TV Is Investigated

I have been a fan of PBS, and especially NPR, for a number of years. I have never been a fan of government subsidies to them, however, and have actually made it a point not to contribute to the local public stations because they feed at the public trough, which includes my tax dollars. I may have to rethink this little personal libertarian rebellion in light of what's happening at the CPB under the Bush administration.

If you take a road trip in America nowadays, and turn on your radio to while away the time, you'll soon discover that the AM band is filled with the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage and other assorted right wing loonies - talk shows all. And "Christian" radio - mostly consisting of a few national radio preachers and the local yokel stuff. The only glimmer of light in this darkness (on the AM side of the dial) is Neil Boortz - he's a libertarian, or at least has sympathies in that direction, but he's a voice in the wilderness - and only for a couple of hours a day. The news broadcasts on AM are hourly three minute briefs - that's all folks.

On the FM side of the dial you have music, music, music and NPR. They offer the only alternative to slobbering right wingers on the radio band - and I wouldn't characterize them as "slobbering left wingers" by any stretch. I believe that they honestly try to present something resembling a cross-section of opinion, but they do get more liberals on their talk shows than conservatives, probably because of the rap they've developed over the years for being the "liberal" network.

I'm convinced that the Bush Administration is out to eviscerate them, given the appointments they've made to the board and the recent actions detailed in the article below. If they succeed, the airwaves will become the exclusive province of their political allies.

Now, the little libertarian in me says that the market should correct this error - if there's a demand for a more liberal talk and news station, the market should fulfill it. But we're dealing with a restricted and heavily regulated market here - and given the way the FCC has allowed "deregulation" to proceed, it is increasingly dominated by a few large corporations. And these are increasingly tied into the Republican Party - will they bite the hand that feeds them by airing liberal shows? Take a drive with the radio on - you can hear the results for yourself.

I'm not sure what the answer is here - but if the plan goes through Congress to slash the budget of the CPB, I'm going to reconsider giving some of my hard earned $$$ to my local NPR station despite their tax funded status, if for no other reason than to keep my blood pressure in check on a cross country drive ...

Investigators at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting are examining payments to two Republican lobbyists that were not disclosed to the corporation's board.

(link) [NYT > Home Page]

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