Steves: Trump’s cuts to public broadcasting will weaken U.S. democracy
If a society wants to toughen the fabric of its democracy it s essential that it nurture a citizenry that can think critically and consume information with a sustained attention span Conversely the last thing someone intent on derailing a democracy wants is a thoughtful electorate Our Founding Fathers saw the free press as key to the strength and stability of our democracy That s why it s considered the Fourth Estate of our governing body And as our president sets his sights on defunding PBS and NPR I m reminded why for more than years I ve shared thoughtful programs produced on my own dime with society television and radio stations fully free of charge and why as a proud and certain might say annoyingly persistent champion of residents broadcasting I ve spent well over days volunteering at local stations across the country to encourage viewers like you to pitch in Facility not charity As I like to say during those pledge drives Residents broadcasting isn t a charity it s a arrangement If you re consuming it and can t afford to help out that s OK because it s masses it s for everyone But if you can afford to help out it s only right to do so In an increasingly complex world and with so much of our content created without a mission to educate I believe a thoughtful oasis in our media landscape is more central than ever And I fear that the same swaths of our country that struggle to find nutrition in food deserts will also find themselves in media deserts if federal funding cuts make it impossible for stations to bring quality activities to rural and less affluent areas At a rate of about per person a year federal tax dollars supplement the private and corporate giving that funds this provision in our country While stations in wealthy cities are likely strong enough to survive without federal funds it s the Corporation for General Broadcasting that brings the sights and sounds of our world to the disadvantaged and rural corners of our country for free It s one of the the greater part beautiful things about America To stay viable in an aggressively commercial society you have to be big big retail chains big publishers Big Tech big media And in big media that means more initiatives from the top national and less from the society local I learned this myself decades ago as the host of a short-lived weekly advance show on Seattle s KIRO-FM when a group of us local hosts each with a different expertise who shared the p m weekday slot were all cut in one fell swoop in favor of a single national talk show Programs in remote towns and rural areas often falls victim to a similar dynamic when local and organic diversity of thought is lost in favor of more profitable national initiatives produced for mass consumption These communities deserve a voice and inhabitants broadcasting provides that voice even when it can t be done with conventional profitability Calm and thoughtful Whether left- or right-leaning news on commercial networks has to double as entertainment in order to maximize eyeballs and turn a profit through ads If it bleeds it leads and viewers are nothing more than numbers on a ratings chart Residents broadcasters on the other hand see viewers as neighbors and fellow citizens deserving of long-form news even if it isn t good for ratings Their mission is to educate not to titillate While we can all appreciate the abundant commercial media we have access to it is a blessing for our society to have a little oasis of calm and thoughtfulness that is noncommercial and publicly-owned Related Articles Letters State must seize chance to change coyote management Letters Without restructuring Santa Clara County grants look like favors China criticizes US ban on Harvard s international students Trump s unit is divided on how to tackle the president s vow to ease sanctions on Syria Donald Trump s little obstacle with Tim Cook is a big one for Apple From Austria to Australia governments across the developed world consider national population broadcasting a good expenditure While British households pay a TV license fee of US a year to fund the BBC and Norwegians pay as much as US in yearly income taxes for the NRK the feisty community-supported mission-driven humble society radio and TV stations across our own land are asking each of us to invest merely a year in a smarter citizenry And year after year as Americans across the political spectrum raise their voices in endorsement of this small but productive taxpayer financing Republicans threaten to take it away At the end of each of my residents television tour shows I use the -second spot normally allocated to underwriters to share the following message General television brings the world to us in a way that educates engages and inspires Like excursion itself it can enrich our lives with the best viable souvenir a broader perspective I hope you will join me in supporting PBS NPR and all their member stations as they work even in the face of intimidation and threats from our president to serve communities throughout this country with quality independent programs Rick Steves is the host of Rick Steves Europe on residents television The Seattle Times Distributed by Tribune Content Agency
