PBS and Funding

I would hate to shatter my grandparent’s illusions of PBS and their promise to “serving the public interest.” In reality they are just serving the interests of corporations who provide millions of dollars to them. 

“Those donations of $25 or $50 mailed to PBS are just there to keep the lights on,” says Media Critic Jeff Cohen in an interview with The Real News. What really makes an impact on the editorial side of PBS is the millions corporations donate. For example, a series about pension policies that was supposed to be released was funded by a billionaire who is in favor of cutting pensions of local government employees. Our country which prides itself on the freedom of the press is in a way doing just the opposite. It is at the mercy of large donations to fund content which only expresses their interests.

Maybe they would not have taken donations such as this one if the United States placed a larger emphasis on public broadcasting. Only $3.75 goes towards it in the U.S. while in other countries it is much larger. For instance, the United Kingdom charges $90 per person to fund public broadcasting. If this was the case in the United States, then PBS could serve the public interest because it would be actually be funded by the public interest and not of a handful of individuals with deep pockets.


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