Since I used to be sufficiently old to go to “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood,” I’ve lived rent-free on “Sesame Road.” I by no means paid “The Electrical Firm” or purchased a ticket for “Masterpiece Theater.”
As a teen, I bought hooked on PBS documentaries and NPR information and tradition protection. My understanding of the world was immeasurably expanded by watching “Frontline” and listening to “All Issues Thought-about” and “Contemporary Air.” I’ve repeatedly binged “Rick Steves’ Europe,” seen each Ken Burns movie a minimum of twice and owe a lot of my grip on Our Republic’s historical past and hope for its future to innumerable viewings of “American Expertise.”
All through my 57-plus years on this planet, public broadcasting has enriched my life in any variety of methods.
Till every week in the past, I by no means paid a penny for it.
I’m ashamed to say I’ve all the time taken PBS and NPR without any consideration. Each are free to eat, however to not produce. The influence of public media in a free society is priceless. Holding it free is expensive. Holding it alive requires kicking in, which Chrissy and I did with a month-to-month pledge. It’s not a lot, however any funding in a necessary American establishment is assured to pay important dividends.
Such investments are essential within the wake of the Trump administration’s “recission” of $1.1 billion beforehand authorised to underwrite the Company for Public Broadcasting. The CPB is the channel for funding PBS and NPR and their member stations, together with our personal WVIA. Late Friday, CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison introduced that the treasured American establishment is not going to survive Trump’s price range axe.
“Regardless of the extraordinary efforts of hundreds of thousands of People who referred to as, wrote, and petitioned Congress to protect federal funding for CPB, we now face the troublesome actuality of closing our operations,” Harrison mentioned. “CPB stays dedicated to fulfilling its fiduciary obligations and supporting our companions via this transition with transparency and care.”
I reached out to WVIA President and CEO Carla McCabe a number of days previous to Harrison’s grave announcement. McCabe mentioned the station and its benefactors are engaged on options, however she had nothing new to report. We agreed to catch up later this month. Within the meantime, she referred me to WVIA Information protection of the assault on public broadcasting.
“It is a substantial loss for us,” McCabe informed WVIA reporter Roger DuPuis. “We’re important on this group, and we have now to discover a means ahead to proceed providing the trusted and important providers our viewers relies on.”
I’ve identified and revered Roger as a colleague and competitor for greater than 25 years. I labored alongside a number of journalists on the WVIA roster for many years. They’re greater than associates to me. They’re household. Now, they’re rivals, however striving for a similar aim that drives my colleagues and me at The Instances-Tribune — offering important, participating content material in service to an knowledgeable, empowered viewers.
I’ve all the time valued public media, however till now by no means paid for it, which at greatest made me a hypocrite, at worst a thief. With out subscribers and advertisers, newspapers wouldn’t exist. I by no means let myself overlook that my profession — and the numerous blessings it bestows — is funded by individuals who for some mysterious cause worth my work (and a few who hate it a lot they’ll’t afford to disregard it). With out that help, I’d need to get a “actual” job. (I’ve had too lots of these. That is far more enjoyable.)
Again in April, Chrissy and I spent an extended weekend in Washington, D.C. One of many highlights was a bucket list-worthy tour of NPR’s nationwide headquarters. One in every of our dearest longtime associates works there, and he or she escorted us via public media’s interior sanctum, together with the small house the place the “Tiny Desk Live performance” collection is produced and the huge newsroom the place a number of the greatest journalism on this planet involves life. It was like a go to to “Journolympus.”
Our buddy informed us Harrison and different NPR higher-ups had been assembly with Home Republicans to foyer them to not approve cuts to public broadcasting. I informed her that was good, however naive. Republicans have all the time been towards public broadcasting. In 1969 — the 12 months “Sesame Road” opened for guests — Nixon wished to chop CPB funding in half. Mr. Rogers went to Washington and testified to the worth of public broadcasting, significantly within the mental and emotional growth of America’s kids.
It was inconceivable to say no to Mr. Rogers, who left the neighborhood for good in 2003. He was 74. Nixon’s proposed cuts had been nixed and he moved on to Watergate and resigned in shame to keep away from impeachment. There are a lot of nice PBS packages that doc Nixon’s historic self-immolation. I’ve watched all of them.
In 2012, Mitt Romney’s menace to “fireplace” Huge Chicken was a significant misstep in his clumsy, quixotic marketing campaign towards President Barack Obama. Trump threatened to chop ALL public media funding in his first time period, however was so busy warding off impeachments, firing the few “adults” in his Cupboard and fumbling the federal response to the pandemic that he by no means bought round to it.
By knocking off the CPB throughout the first few months of his second time period, Trump and his MAGA minions made catastrophic harm to public media a precedence. The very best response from these of us who worth public media is to make funding it a precedence. (Subscriptions to this newspaper are additionally welcome.)
Whereas the lack of the clawed-back funding is a dire setback, McCabe informed Roger she trusted the group to rally in help of public broadcasting and WVIA. Now that the CPB is on the best way to its grave, donor help will probably be much more important.
“Under no circumstances will this be simple,” she mentioned. ”We should make robust selections. This will lead to adjustments to our programming and operations, however I’m hopeful. I imagine on this crew, and we have now an extended historical past of group help. I imagine we’ll appeal to a broad base of supporters in any respect ranges who perceive our worth.”
This repented former freeloader belatedly however earnestly values public media sufficient to pay for it. Gained’t you be my rent-paying neighbor?
CHRIS KELLY, the Instances-Tribune columnist, believes public media is crucial to the “American Expertise.” Contact the author: ckelly@scrantontimes.com; @cjkink on X; Chris Kelly, The Instances-Tribune on Fb.
