In Defense of Public Broadcasting Part 1

Funding for Public Broadcasting is up on the chopping block. Many Republican Representatives in favor of removal of funding argue that cutting all funding will save the U.S. tax payer money for an unneeded item. We would disagree that Public Broadcasting is an unneeded item with its 170 million monthly users. Compared to the U.S. Census numbers of 310 million Americans, Public Broadcasting is used by fifty-five percent of the population. We think that it would be hard to find another item that fifty-five percent of the population uses.

Over thirty Representatives want to eliminate funding and the Corporation of Public Broadcasting. They believe that Public Broadcasting should not be in existence or federally funded. To put this in prospective, Public Broadcasting reaches 99% of public households compared to cable or satellite services, which only cover about 33% of all households. People that do not have the means to pay for television programming of the Discovery Channel can turn to the quality programming of their local PBS station.

Public Broadcasting is a great source for information, educational entertainment, documentaries and local events. Shows like Nova, Nature, Bill Moyers Journal, News Hour with Jim Lehrer, and Frontline. These shows provide new information to a vast public audience. Educational entertainment come from Sesame Street, Word Girl, Barney, and Clifford the Big Red Dog. These shows teach children at a young age skills that they will need the rest of their life. One story in particular comes from Andy Dehnart in an audio essay for All Things Considered in November of 2009. Dehnart could apply the lessons that he had learned from Sesame Street into real life. There are very few shows where life lessons taught to children at the age of 4 that can be applied at 40. Another item is the documentaries that Public Broadcasting helps produce and distribute. In addition to Frontline, Nature, and American Experience; there are the documentaries done by Ken Burns which include Baseball, The War, The Civil War, and Lewis and Clark Expedition. Finally the local programming, is a very important aspect of Public Broadcasting. Local news, entertainment, state issues, and even athletic events were covered by their local Public Broadcasting stations. In all reality your PBS station can cover all your needs, especially now with the splitting of the signal into three channels. We have only covered the tip of the iceberg in the great programming of PBS and the importance that it plays in society.

Overall, society has benefited from Public Broadcasting. The withdrawal of funding from it will hurt future generations of Americans. This funding is needed and should be protected. There are other areas of spending that could handle a cut, but Public Broadcasting is not one of them.


Tomorrow I will cover the importance of National Public Radio and the reason for the assault on Public Broadcasting.