Public Broadcasting

In Thursday's class, we discussed public broadcasting, both in the United States and around the world. I was really intrigued by Prof. Cohen's information regarding the coverage of the Iraq war. According to Cohen, during the time leading up to the war, the public broadcasting system's coverage was nearly as slanted as the mainstream coverage.

I was also fascinated by the statistics that Cohen offered regarding on-air guests. While most of the United States was in support of withdrawing troops from Iraq, the public broadcasting system remained biased in its coverage: for every one supporter in favor of withdrawing troops, PBS was required to air five people who said that we should stay in Iraq.

I must admit that I was a bit surprised by these statistics regarding public broadcasting. Prior to this discussion, I had assumed that PBS would at least be a bit less slanted than the mainstream media. Learning that even public broadcasting was a victim of the government's agenda was, admittedly, a bit shocking.

Cohen argued that the United States needs to instill insulated funding as a means of protecting the media. Insulated funding guarantees money regardless of the station's coverage; this would, in essence, allow media agencies to say whatever they'd like without fear of being shut down.

I found a 'Letter to the Editor' by Patrick Butler, president and CEO of the Association of Public Television Stations, on the Washington Post that breaks down the numbers regarding public broadcasting. There were quite a few interesting statistics in Butler's letter:

➤ "Public broadcasting represents a little more than one-hundredth of 1 percent of the federal budget."
➤ "Public broadcasting costs about $1.35 per citizen per year in America, a tiny percentage of comparable figures, among them $31.13 in Canada, $67.34 in Japan, and $85.52 in Great Britain."

It's really fascinating to see how little American public broadcasting is funded in relation to other countries. Knowing this information, it certainly makes sense to follow through with the financial plan that Cohen proposed in class: three or four tiny taxes would make American public broadcasting more financially supported than the BBC.