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[ronito]

Today's Sesame Street will be brought to you by...um no one. So stay tuned kids for the "The O'reilly Factor for kids!" , followed by "Why liberals hate freedom and how to report them." after that "Why corporate greed is good for poor people." Remember kids, leader loves you!

 

[FINALFANTASYDOG]

Today's Sesame Street will be brought to you by...um no one. So stay tuned kids for the "The O'reilly Factor for kids!" , followed by "Why liberals hate freedom and how to report them." after that "Why corporate greed is good for poor people." Remember kids, leader loves you!

Precisely!

Having a government sponsored media come out and directly support candidates/rules/ products/ even issues doesn't seem too friendly

I remember right before the election this American Life (www.thislife.org : The Extreme Radio Enjoyment) came out with a "swing set" hour show that basically was an hour long endorsement of good ole John Kerry, They've had countless other political shows like that in the past.

Please, let me know, why somebody should be forced by government to pay to support poltical candiates that advocate views directly opposite of their beliefs.

 

[Willco]

So stay tuned kids for the "The O'reilly Factor for kids!"...

 

[Dilbert]

I remember right before the election this American Life (www.thislife.org : The Extreme Radio Enjoyment) came out with a "swing set" hour show that basically was an hour long endorsement of good ole John Kerry, They've had countless other political shows like that in the past.

Since you mentioned it, I looked up the contents of that show (available here as RealAudio):

A journey through the minds of undecided voters. For months – through the Swift Boat ads, the convention speeches, the debates – we tracked a few of these voters to find out why they just can't make up their minds. Plus, a story of someone courting undecided voters, and another about people trying to sabotage undecided voters (and everyone else).
Prologue. Host Ira Glass asks how it's possible that some people still don't know what they think of President Bush just a few days before election day.
Act One. My Buddy, Hackett. Ira spends hours talking to James Hackett, known to his friends, and by the end of the story, to Ira, as Gig. He's a doctor in Cincinnati and a lifelong Republican. But he hates President Bush. Pretty much hates everything he's done since taking office. Over several months, he sways from Kerry to Bush and back again, sometimes with Ira's help, before coming to a final decision. One that probably surprises even him. (18 1/2 minutes)
Act Two. Cold-Cock the Vote. Jack Hitt tells tales of voter sabotage so outrageous that we swear will get you yelling at your radio and calling for people's heads. (14 minutes)
Act Three. One Son, One Vote. Matthew Chasteen is eighteen. He's joined the Navy, and he's voting for the first time. He doesn't know what to do. His brother David, an Iraq war veteran, is pushing Kerry, even though he'd been an enthusiastic Bush supporter last time around. His mom, Monica, is probably voting for Bush. She's in the Air Force Reserve and is headed to Iraq next year. Matthew is mostly confused by both their arguments. Producer Sarah Koenig goes to watch the first presidential debate with him, and suddenly Matthew makes his mind up, with a vengeance. (14 minutes)
Act Four. He's Got Legs. This American Life producer Lisa Pollak goes canvassing with her friend Andy in Ohio. He's a first time door-knocker for MoveOn. He knows what to say to Kerry supporters. He knows what to say to Bush supporters. But he's a little hazy about how to handle the undecideds. (9 minutes)
Song: "Decision or Collision," ZZ Top

Care to explain how that amounts to an "hour-long endorsement of John Kerry?"

 

[Shinobi]

:lol :lol :lol I never would've believed it...

 

[The Shadow]

 

[GG-Duo]

Ah, if only everything in life can be proven by comic strips.

 

[Flynn]

2) PBS rocks, so does NPR. PBS produces kids programming that is actually good for kids. Things that stimulate their imaginations, teach them, etc. Nick Jr, Disney Kids, Cartoon Network are nothing but mind numbing shit... sure kids like it, but given an option kids would eat candy all day long too..

Also, PBS is relatively commercial free. There should be someplace where kids are safe from advertising.

 

[ge-man]

I hate the asshole who draws this comic.

The whole PBS liberal bias is fucking joke if anyone has paid close attention to them in the last few years. Even Bill Moyers try as hard as he can to balance NOW out, and he is an unapologetic liberal. The CPB is underfire only because it's not a 24 hour bullhorn of conservative viewpoints like FOX and others. The fact that studies have shown that the audience for both PBS and NPR have been the least likely of audiences to be misled by the lies about WMD in Iraq and Sadam's supposed connection to Bin Laden has made the CPB a liability in their plan to do a Orwellian reconstruction of reality through the media.

The douchebag that made that strip either has no clue about what actually is shown on PBS, is delusional, or is being disingenuous like a host of other talking heads who have infected the mainstream media with crap.

 

[Vieo]

None of this would have happened if you dumbasses voted for Ralph Nader like I did.

 

[DDayton]

If I'm correct, aren't the cable public access stations paid/provided for by the local cable distributor and/or the commercial channels?

Wouldn't it make more sense to designate a truly -public- station in each area, and have it paid for by a fee from each of the commercial stations broadcasting in the area?

That would seem to make more sense than having a blanket federal cash infusion. Make the commercial entities using the airwaves (which, in theory, are owned by the public) support a free, "public" station... both for radio and for television.

(I know this isn't what anyone is currently doing, but it seems like it might be a good idea.)

 

[Alcibiades]

I have to agree PBS is becoming irrelevant, but at one point it was one of my most-watched stations, mostly for political stuff, I think the McCauglin report or whatever it's called...

also, some poster mentioned the Houston PBS station...

well I get at least 2 PBS stations when I'm in College Station for school during the fall/spring (3 since I sometimes watch the Hi-Def station), and the one I spend a lot of time watching late nights is the Houston one, because I became addicted to broadcasts of their classes...

they literally show actually distance courses on their- FOR FREE, and they even replay some semester after semester, the exact ones...

one of my favorite is this business course taught by the older, chubby dude, he's like sharing the secrets of life and stuff like that, they've re-run that one season after season...

There was a communications (speech) course on their, and I was watching the student final presentations, and that's where I learned to fold a t-shirt...

also a pyschology course on their was good (I think it was a gender course, not sure)...

this is all run by the University of Houston I think, and I was addicted to these at one point...

still, I think the reduction in funding is actually a good thing...

 

[etiolate]

The only thing that can save PBS is Doctor Who!

 

[etiolate]

I'm not sure if PBS swings left, from my experience their employees do, but the television shows I normally see have no political basis. Kids shows, nature shows, history and itnernational stuff.

NPR on the other hand swings left and I don't think you can deny that. The republicans own the radio airwaves otherwise, so I don't think they'd worry about one left leaning outlet.

 

[Pudding Tame]

The CPB mandate is not to get ratings, not to sell advertising, and not to give the public what it wants. It is supposed to serve the public, it does this by providing informative and cultural programming that would be non-viable in a commercial market.

For those of you that don't think that PBS and NPR as viable do you honestly believe that you'll see stuff like the News Hour on commercial television where with the exception of the 24 hour news stations the trend is to reduce news coverage because of it's cost. The only reasons you still find broadcast stations still doing it is because they are required to in order to recieve their liscense. Also one hour of the News Hour is more infomative than 24 hours of CNN, Fox, and MSNBC. Why? Because they ignore popular scandle and bleed/lead stories like Micheal Jackson and Laci Peterson and focus on news that actually affects peoples lives.

One of my favorite shows on PBS was the Mechanical Universe, a program that explained Newtonian Physics through mathematical formulas and crude computer graphics.

Do people honestly think that they would see a program like that as well as a number of other PBS shows on commercial television?

And before you answer with the stuff like the History Channel, Dicovery Channel, etc. have you ever paid attention to their programming. If it doesn't have anything to do with war or horrific natural disasters, or the historical flavor of the week (Gladiators!, Christ!, Was Christ a Gladiator!?!?,etc.) you probably won't see it on The History Channel. With the Discovery Channel, how much do you actually learn from watching American Chopper, Monster Garage, Shark vs. Lemur and it's ilk? Not a lot.

Also etiolate, NPR staff does skew left but it's still pretty much the only place on the radio dial where there is actual debate between the left and the right, and not a shouting match between two people constantly cutting each other off.

 

[Danj]

At least in U.K. and Japan if you don't watch it, you don't have to pay.

I can't speak for Japan, but here in the UK, if you own a mains-powered device capable of receiving broadcast television, you DO have to pay, even if you only use it for console games.

 

[Pudding Tame]

Yeah, I'm in Japan now and if you own a TV, you have to pay to fund NHK. More if you use a sattelite service.

 

[ToxicAdam]

Goodbye Charlie Rose. Best interviewer on TV.


I don't think there will be much to worry about. All that is good on PBS will continue to exist in some other form if it is disbanded. Household names like Nova, This Old House, Sesame Street will most definitely be picked up by other broadcasters.

 

[Dilbert]

I don't think there will be much to worry about.

I vehemently disagree. Also, I note the complete lack of "NPR" in your response.

 

[shantyman]

The CPB is underfire only because it's not a 24 hour bullhorn of conservative viewpoints like FOX and others.

AMEN.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

This is another step on the right-wing's consolidation of power. What do you do wwhen you have majority control? Tighten it.

Attack judges, since they are not elected and represent a check/balance on unlimited power. Get that and you can do *anything* in government.

Screw with fillibuster rules, designed to keep a majority from unchecked power in congress.

Start wiping out media criticism. Control the flow of information for "security"" reasons, attack any non-complient channels as dangerously unbiased.

And heck, I'm mostly *moderate*.

 

[Pudding Tame]

In Houston, we probably have the worst PBS channel in the country. No original programming, all crap produced by some other channel. It is on a college campus, but no student produced content. Basically it really sucks. And then they have the nerve to ask for money every month. If there was anything worth paying for, I would but seriously there is nothing on PBS that you can't get anywhere else. Actually the Sesame Street stuff is about it.

Not that I agree with this move, but PBS really needs to step their game up. Every other channel has had to, why do they feel they are different?

You're mistaking PBS for public access. The college I went to had an NPR station. Students worked at the station but there were no student produced progrms. Why? Because students don't have the time to produce a regular weekly programs that serve the public interest of listeners or viewers that probably extend far beyond the city they broadcast from. We also had a college station, that was the station to watch if you wanted to see dorm room strip poker, people high on pot laughing at inside jokes and the blank eyed amature news@5.