from
Common Cause Blog
By Chellie Pingree
Posted on Mon Jun 13, 2005 at 01:32:31 PM EST
Last week a House subcommittee voted to cut funding for public broadcasting, aiming to radically change programming on National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The proposed cuts include $23.4 million in federal funds for children's educational shows, such as "Sesame Street," "Clifford the Big Red Dog," and "Arthur." The loss of these shows would deprive millions of American children of valuable educational programming.
I did what I felt was a thorough search but I was unable to find any diaries on this topic. I apologize if it has already been posted.
We need to kill this funding-cut proposal immediately. Please call the leadership of the Appropriations Committee today and demand that they immediately work to restore full funding for public broadcasting:
Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) (202) 225-5861
Vice-Chairman Ralph Regula (R-OH) (202) 225-3876
Call these leaders and ask them not to meddle with the funding for public broadcasting. In addition, please email your Member of Congress and let him or her know that you oppose efforts to slash funding for public broadcasting:
http://www.commoncause.org/savepublicbroadcasting
We must take these actions today. Last week's vote was "a malicious wounding, if not outright attempted murder, of public broadcasting in America."
This type congressional effort to cut funding for public broadcasting is not new. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) unsuccessfully tried to eliminate funding for public broadcasting in the 90s and there are still some in Congress who share his vision. And, it is not a surprise that the congressional opponents of public broadcasting have chosen this time to renew their efforts, considering the powerful friend they have on their corner, Kenneth Tomlinson, the chairman of CPB.
Mr. Tomlinson is waging an all-out campaign to politicize the CPB and interfere with the editorial independence of NPR and PBS because he thinks they are biased. Tomlinson and his friends in Congress, who are trying to gut public broadcasting, cling to this opinion despite the results of two recent CPB-funded polls that showed that Americans in overwhelming numbers view public broadcasting as a trusted source of news and information.
This is why we need to move fast to fend off these overt attacks on public broadcasting, which a vast majority of Americans find to be a "trustworthy" source of information. So please contact Representative Lewis at (202) 225-5861 or Representative Regula at (202) 225-3876, as well as your member of Congress and urge them to restore funding for public broadcasting.
Let us know how your calls are going by posting your comments right here on our blog. Of course let us know if you have any questions and feedback on our campaign. We will be reading and replying to all of your queries, engaging in discussion the best we can
Thank you again for all you do for Common Cause.
I sent my emails, I was impressed by how easy Common Cause makes this process.
While Public Broadcasting is not perfect, it is the best mainstream avenue we have. It is the home of NOW, FRONTLINE, and NOVA. The less funding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting gets from the federal government, the more the programming will be cut or, perhaps even worse, the more programming will be beholden to corporate interests.