June 15, 2005

NPR, PBS DOA? A [United States] House subcommittee voted yesterday to sharply reduce the federal government's financial support for public broadcasting, including eliminating taxpayer funds that help underwrite such popular children's educational programs as "Sesame Street," . . . In addition, the subcommittee acted to eliminate within two years all federal money for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

It's a subcommittee vote, but still - sheesh.

posted by petebest 18 years ago
  • I not looking forward to the pledge drives interupting Boobah and Teletubbies. Well, atleast the kids won't be too happy. me thinks the writing is on the wall... or maybe they could move the whole shabang to canada :)
  • would someone PLEASE post something that I can point to and say "Yep, this is MY country and I'm proud of it!!!"
  • Don't worry about Sesame Street. They are making buckets of cash. You might remember a little doll called "Tickle Me Elmo" and its ilk. You might feel bad for the upper-level executives, who have to take all of that money from CTW so that Sesame Street doesn't become "for profit". NPR might be in trouble, plus PBS in general.
  • My initial reaction was, "c'mon, this is a re-occurrence of that 'save NPR!' email" from a few years back that was bogus. My instinct is that Americans would not stand for such drastic cutbacks to public broadcasting, but then again, look who's been elected twice in a row (potentially three?). HB: If you find something, please do post. I've about given up...
  • Bloody heathens. Hell, they put Tucker on the air -- what more did they want?
  • Fire up the Pledge Enforcement Van, Lehrer, and put on your flak jacket -- we're going LIVE ON LOCATION! *chk-CHK!*
  • and remember, it's a small portion of their funding that's from the government. most of it is private. i think this issue pops up every so often, there's a big uproar, funding may be cut a tad, it dies back down.
  • C'mon, this is a subcommittee vote! Everytime someone on a subcommittee cuts a loud fart, we run in peg our fear-and-loathing meters. Plus, no way would any government of mine cut funding for the delectable Mandalit del Barco.
  • or maybe they could move the whole shabang to canada I wish they would, I miss NPR.
  • I'm more of a Mary Ann McGuire man, myself. Those hard "r"s get me randy. Some days I find myself praying for IRA unrest.
  • Good call. I still have to go with Mandalita and her throaty Latin lilt, though. I'd listen to her read excerpts from her grocery list, if they'd air 'em.
  • I've been looking for a new love since Mishal Hussein disappeared. Sure, she's married and has a kid, but that's only because she hasn't met me yet. And that's OK. I'll forgive her anything.
  • only because she hasn't met me yet. I feel exactly the same way about Linda Fiorentino, except I think she's divorced now. I got a bit of a, ah, weak spot for brunettes with great voices and dark eyes.
  • I dunno that this necessarily means the end of Public Broadcasting. My local NPR/Public Radio Station seems to make a point about the gubment providing 10% of their total funding. That said, I signed the petition, but it still sounds like a tempest in a teapot.
  • would someone PLEASE post something that I can point to and say "Yep, this is MY country and I'm proud of it!!!" .
  • Del Barco? McGuire? People, people -- Silvia Poggioli! Wouldn't you miss her throaty voice and sophisticated pronunciation? Doesn't anyone else imagine her having a whiskey and a cigarette after she shuts off the mike, world-weary, sadder and wiser? I, for one, welcome non-mid-Atlantic accents in the media. Take a minute and sign the petition. Call or e-mail your Congresspeople. Do it for Silvia!
  • drjimmy11, geez, is that the best they could come up with? They've been doing the library/bookstore thing forever. It's nothing. It means nothing, it changes nothing. So their giving an inch to gain a mile. Wow.
  • Well, I like Poggioli. I especially like the sing-song delivery of her name at the end of each of her reports. But she's no Lakshmi Singh. That nasal Asian has won my heart. If Ms. McGuire should ever spurn my love, she's my backup. Seriously, Maxim should do a spread: The International Ladies of Public Radio.
  • Middleclasstool, I'd settle for the bad boys of public radio. Just think of Tom and Ray in one of those, um, automotive calendars! And as a special bonus, there could be a CD of Garrison Keillor's heavy breathing!
  • Man, if you want to learn how to breathe DIRECTLY into a microphone, enough to put Darth Vader to shame, then Keillor's your man. And Click & Clack pinups? There ain't enough bleach in the world to cleanse my eyes.
  • I have a crush on Sarah Vowell. There, I said it. In the event that I ever get arrested for stalking her I'd appreciate it if someone here would post bail for me or something.
  • I'm partial to the now-departed Chitra Ragavan. I can't help it, listening to her report on all things Congressional came at a time when I was stuck in an otherwise uninteresting Midwestern experience. Congress' goings-on were far more interesting than listening to college cohorts yammer about their sporting conquests, especially when read with her precision pronunciation and delightful Indian lilt.
  • Snigdha Prakash. I can't help but repeat it after she says it (especially since the first name sounds like "snikta").
  • True Sidey, but pulling all funding (if the story is correct and the vote passes) is just sad. The richest most powerful nation wants to completely destroy it's attempt at public media. Sad.
  • PBS invented reality television. Not a lot of people know that.
  • People! What about the singsongy voice of Nina Totenberg? I can listen to her for hours, while she delivers a roller-coaster of expressions, her voice modulating with every verb as she recites painful Renquist soliloquies.
  • You know, Baxter Black looks exactly as I imagined he would. EXACTLY.
  • You know, camilo, her name means "Death Mountain." Not for nothing, I bet.
  • PBS invented reality television. ?? So it wasn't mtv or that crazy netherlander?
  • You evidently missed the original Road Rules with McNeil and Lehrer, Flagpole.
  • kenneth tomlinson please FOAD. TIA. also, what's w/ all the commericials on PBS lately? is C-SPAN the new PBS?