The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributes government money to public television and radio stations, has shut down after Congress took back the $1.1 billion it had given the agency to use over two years.
The objection was that public broadcasting’s reporting had become too liberal and one-sided. If that’s the case, the responsibility lies with the managers who allowed it to happen. It’s not difficult to present both sides of an issue.
A second objection, less frequently stated, is that since people today have many times more news and opinion sources than they did when public broadcasting began in the 1960s, there’s no need for government assistance.
True enough. But that should not mean the end of insightful programs like PBS’ “Finding Your Roots,” a genealogy dream come true.
Government funding made up a small but significant amount of public stations’ budgets. To replace that money, public broadcasters should turn to the obvious solution: More sponsorships and advertising. This is a simple fix.
Jack Ryan, Enterprise-Journal
