Public Media Blog Posts
New Attack Launched on Public Media
According to press reports, Sen. Jim DeMint and Rep. Doug Lamborn are circulating letters in the Senate and House to rally support for cutting all federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and its nearly 1,300 local stations. The letters argue that the $445 million CPB budget is an “enormous” cost to taxpayers.
The letters come just a month before the CPB is supposed to deliver a report to Congress outlining how it could operate without federal funding. This timing is particularly troubling in light of a recent federal appeals court decision that opened the door to political ads on NPR and PBS stations.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
There’s good news and bad news in the world of public media funding.
First, the good news.
Court OKs Political Ads on NPR and PBS
Sounds like an Onion headline, but it’s not. Yesterday a U.S. appeals court struck down a ban on political advertising on public TV and radio stations. That means your local NPR and PBS stations could start airing all those nasty attack ads that clog up the airwaves in an election year.
Civic Health and Public Journalism
The annual Pew State of the News Media report is like a yearly physical exam for journalism in America. This year the prognosis is mixed, at best. Newspapers are still raking in double-digit operating margins, but after years of consolidation they are over-leveraged with debt that is cutting into their profits. There are more hours of news on local TV, but much of it consists of rebroadcasts, meaning there is actually less original reporting. Tablets and mobile devices are driving significant new traffic to news sites, but monetizing that traffic is still difficult.
Making Community Radio a Reality
This is the story of what happens after a bill becomes a law.
In this case it is the story of the Local Community Radio Act. Or as we like to call it, “The Little Bill That Could (Even When It Seemed Like It Couldn’t).”
Public Television: We're #1!
For the ninth year in a row, public television has ranked as the most trusted institution in America, trumping all other forms of media, the courts and the federal government.
Public Television: We're #1!
For the ninth year in a row, public television has ranked as the most trusted institution in America, trumping all other forms of media, the courts and the federal government.
Public Media: Still on the Chopping Block
Last November Free Press released On the Chopping Block: State Budget Battles and the Future of Public Media, an inventory of dramatic state-level funding cuts to public broadcasting. Our report, co-authored by Josh Stearns and Mike Soha, documents how state support for public broadcasting has plunged since the economy took a nosedive in 2008. What’s more, the report notes that politics — not financial considerations — have driven much of this budget cutting.
Public Media: Still on the Chopping Block
Last November Free Press released On the Chopping Block: State Budget Battles and the Future of Public Media, an inventory of dramatic state-level funding cuts to public broadcasting. Our report, co-authored by Josh Stearns and Mike Soha, documents how state support for public broadcasting has plunged since the economy took a nosedive in 2008. What’s more, the report notes that politics — not financial considerations — have driven much of this budget cutting.
No Cuts to Public Media in the Next Budget
If you’re like me, you’re used to hearing “This program was made possible by supporters like you” at the end of NPR and PBS shows. But this year those words take on a special significance.
Thanks to an incredible outpouring of support from people all across the country, public media survived the most serious political attacks in Congress it has faced in years. Repeated efforts to pass bad bills, sneak through dangerous cuts and undermine the fundamental structure of public media failed thanks to the hard work of activists and fans who wrote to Congress, called their policymakers and even showed up in Washington, D.C., to make their voices heard.
Change the Channels
Check out the interactive map to see consolidating newsrooms near you.
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