Rural PBS broadcast tower
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Of all the cuts proposed in President Trump’s new budget, the proposal to eliminate federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is perhaps most poorly understood.
Because the CPB is an umbrella agency involved with PBS and NPR, any time the government considers cuts to the agency, it’s usually interpreted as the government defunding Sesame Street (which airs in first run on HBO now, before being rerun on PBS) or some other PBS Kids production. But the majority of PBS programming is produced by outside entities — member stations, another country’s broadcasters, or independent production companies (like Sesame Workshop) — and those outside entities usually secure their funding via means other than the government.
It’s true that just over 23 percent of the CPB’s budget (nearly entirely derived from the federal government) goes toward the development and acquisition of television and radio programming. And, yes, losing that stipend will hurt PBS and NPR on some level — though the difference will probably be […]
The operative word here is “programming”.
I like what Chris Hedges has to say. Recently he spoke in Vancouver, BC and was well received there. This think piece from Chris is a very sobering assessment of what’s likely coming down the pike. Governing is all about the economy, of providing jobs, so that people can remain complacent and not grumble about their lot. Anything else governments do is secondary and quite peripheral. This is why governing parties traditionally ally themselves with business, since that’s the power centre of normal thought.
Canada is the US’s largest trading partner. Most Canucks know this. Few Americans do. The formulated trade agreements of yesteryear were all about harmonizing this ‘n that, so that business peace rules. Don’t think for one moment, that whatever party runs Ottawa will not acquiesce and toe the line that is fed us, on fear of punitive trade restrictions. The darkest hour comes before the glorious dawn. As Chris said in another talk, resistance is the highest form of spirituality.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/a_last_chance_for_resistance_20170319