Public Broadcasting Should Go Private

[Dave]

The first line of the article below says it all... when the president of a government funded broadcasting makes more money then the president, something isn't right. In this day and age, I believe that the public radio should go private as it really doesn't represent everyone. Given the fact that PBS in particular could easily support its self simply from the marketing of some of the programing like Sesame Street for instance. Public broadcasting needs to do what everyone else should be doing... living within their means and making the tough decisions.

 

When presidents of government-funded broadcasting are making more than the president of the United States, it's time to get the government out of public broadcasting.

While executives at the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR) are raking in massive salaries, the organizations are participating in an aggressive lobbying effort to prevent Congress from saving hundreds of millions of dollars each year by cutting their subsidies. The so-called commercial free public airwaves have been filled with pleas for taxpayer cash. The Association of Public Television Stations has hired lobbyists to fight the cuts. Hundreds of taxpayer-supported TV, radio and Web outlets have partnered with an advocacy campaign to facilitate emails and phone calls to Capitol Hill for the purpose of telling members of Congress, "Public broadcasting funding is too important to eliminate!"

PBS President Paula Kerger even recorded a personal television appeal that told viewers exactly how to contact members of Congress in order to "let your representative know how you feel about the elimination of funding for public broadcasting." But if PBS can pay Ms. Kerger $632,233 in annual compensation—as reported on the 990 tax forms all nonprofits are required to file—surely it can operate without tax dollars.

The executives at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which distributes the taxpayer money allocated for public broadcasting to other stations, are also generously compensated. According to CPB's 2009 tax forms, President and CEO Patricia de Stacy Harrison received $298,884 in reportable compensation and another $70,630 in other compensation from the organization and related organizations that year. That's practically a pittance compared to Kevin Klose, president emeritus of NPR, who received more than $1.2 million in compensation, according to the tax forms the nonprofit filed in 2009.

Today's media landscape is a thriving one with few barriers to entry and many competitors, unlike when CPB was created in 1967. In 2011, Americans have thousands of news, entertainment and educational programs to choose from that are available on countless television, radio and Web outlets.

Despite how accessible media has become to Americans over the years, funding for CPB has grown considerably. In 2001, the federal government appropriated $340 million for CPB. Last year it got $420 million. As Congress considers ways to close the $1.6 trillion deficit, cutting funding for the CPB has even been proposed by President Obama's bipartisan deficit reduction commission. Instead, Mr. Obama wants to increase CPB's funding to $451 million in his latest budget.

Meanwhile, highly successful, brand-name public programs like Sesame Street make millions on their own. "Sesame Street," for example, made more than $211 million from toy and consumer product sales from 2003-2006. Sesame Workshop President and CEO Gary Knell received $956,513 in compensation in 2008. With earnings like that, Big Bird doesn't need the taxpayers to help him compete against the Nickleodeon cable channel's Dora the Explorer.

Taxpayer-subsidized broadcasting doesn't only make money from licensing and product sales. It also raises plenty of outside cash.

Last year, for example, the Open Society Foundation, backed by liberal financier George Soros, gave NPR $1.8 million to help support the latter's plan to hire an additional 100 reporters. When NPR receives million-dollar gifts from Mr. Soros, it is an insult to taxpayers when other organizations, such as MoveOn.org demand that Congress "save NPR and PBS" by guaranteeing "permanent funding and independence from partisan meddling," as the liberal interest group did last month. It was even more insulting when PBS posted a message on Twitter thanking MoveOn.org—the group that once labeled Gen. David Petraeus as "General Betray Us"—for the help.

The best way to stop the "partisan meddling" in public broadcasting that MoveOn.org complains about is by ending the taxpayers' obligation to pay for it. The politics will be out of public broadcasting as soon as the government gets out of the business of paying for it.

Public broadcasting can pay its presidents half-million and million dollar salaries. Its children's programs are making hundreds of millions in sales. Liberal financiers are willing to write million-dollar checks to help these organizations. There's no reason taxpayers need to subsidize them anymore.

Mr. DeMint, a Republican, is a senator from South Carolina.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703559604576176663789...

[Willy]

I quit supporting PBS when they began to indoctrinate children by introducing Spanish into kids programs. These programs are aimed at English speaking children. They are trying to propagandize the  Mexican influence so that future generations will be more accepting of the illegals which are flooding into the U.S. 

[Sweater Cows!]

Well, i think it is a sad thing that our kids do not have a required second language in school my cousins in florida had it 30 years ago. Whether we like it or not globalization is happening, and unless the english speaking of this country start to breed more offspring we better learn to speak two, three or more languages.

[Lisa O'Brien]

I'm with you, I think our children should be required to be at least bi-lingual - it will only help them succeed in our Global society.

[Angela]

if our children are ever required to be bi-lingual - then everyone else who comes to this country shold LEARN ENGLISH!! its a two-way street!!!

[Willy]

Lando

Your cousin had it because half of FLorida does not speak English. They speak Spanish because of the Cubans who established a colony in Southern Florida after Castro came into power.

[Willy]

Angela - Good point.

Lando - Lisa

Do you want to decide which language your child learns or do you want the Government to decide? And which language should the Government indoctrinate your children with? Mandarin, Spanish, Arabic, Hindu, Russian, Japanese, what? Because there are over 6800 languages on the planet. This "global society" rhetoric is a gob of liberal - progressive B.S. It is being used to try and alter our way of thinking so we will change our society to meet their agenda, just like the "diversity" propaganda

[J.B]

The Question was why should our goverment fund PBS.    One of their programs makes enough profit to fund all their programs.   Why should we give them larger paychecks from our taxes.

[Dave]

Exactly! They can fund themselves quite easily. Between the marketing from the programming, they will continue to do the fund drives too so one way or another there will be plenty of money coming in. I've heard too that some of the PBS stations have nicer studios then the regular networks which again is clearly showing that they have to much money coming in.

[J.B]

Everyone on the far left needs your money to feel equal with the poor people

[Lisa O'Brien]

J.B,

To answer your question NO, I don't think we should be funding PBS.

RJE,

As far as Global Society being rhetoric - I completely disagree, more and more of our manufactured goods are from overseas. In my job on a daily basis I deal with people from all over this world, I wish I could speak their native tongue - because it would make my life much easier, but alas I fall into the category of you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

[Dave]

In your case Lisa, as far as speaking different languages go anyway, that it should be a 2 way street... you shouldn't have to learn their language simply because they don't know it. Maybe both ends should look to learn the others language... although from the way it sounds, your talking about multiple languages on your part that you would have to learn so that maybe learning enough of a few of the ones that you use the most might be the way to go down the road. With that said and maybe with a bit of American Pride, any business wanting to do business on a global scale should be doing so with English as the primary business language. Maybe i'm wrong but always been my impression that English speaking countries lead the business world and one would think to do business in such a world that the language should be a common one.

[Lisa O'Brien]

All of the people I do business with speak English as a second language - but there are some things that get lost in the translation.