The Destruction of Public Television

Maybe you've noticed the changes that have occurred on PBS under the guidance of the current administration and the last congress. These changes are said to have no effect on the programming. However, it seems this is yet another Orwellian attempt at double speak, i.e. no change means major change.

The inclusion of sponsors such as Boeing and ADM are having serious ramifications on the quality of news programming. Case in point: While the diversity of viewpoints was always sorely lacking on programs such as The Newshour, the recent transition from established, although by no means objective, sources to what can only be described as front organizations is destructive to say the least. To allow organizations such as Freedom's Watch (a poorly disguised front for the pro-war position of the Bush administration) airtime to smear a prominent senator for disagreeing with the president and to make seriously specious claims about him (although one can have little sympathy for Mr. Warner)is an abuse of the public airwaves.

But even beyond allowing egregious agenda promotion, a.k.a. commercial propaganda, to parade as news, one must wonder how it seems to go unnoticed that groups such as Freedom's Watch are actually proselytizing for the position of the so-called sponsors. Not only does Boeing, Lockheed Martin, etc. get to plaster their logo all over a formerly citizen-supported media, but they apparently get to inject what is to their economic benefit into the discourse. One must wonder if at every news program on PBS there is a corporate rep now standing over the editing process or if their is a corporate goon under the ombudsman's desk.

So once again it seems the Bushie's are getting their way with little or no opposition - replace funding with mandatory scripting.