“Government funding for public television amounts to just $1 per person per year”

Journal Gazette | 06/23/2005 | PBS is investment in education By Pat Mitchell

The Public Broadcasting Service and our stations are the single largest educational institution in America. As a result of 35 years of putting children and education first, PBS is now the top choice of American teachers for video in the classroom. We’re a leading source of online lesson plans for schools and for parents home-schooling their children. We’re top providers of distance learning offered by colleges and a critical resource for adults to learn to read, pass the GED, learn English and develop new skills for the workplace.

Because of our economy of scale and local infrastructure, we are one of the most efficient ways Congress can invest in education. Every dollar spent on a PBS children’s TV show impacts tens of millions of children who will learn literacy skills and educational concepts by watching “Sesame Street,” “Arthur”? and our 25 other non-violent educational programs that are unique in the marketplace in their quality and effectiveness.

Studies of the PBS Kids show “Between the Lions” found that kindergarten children who watched the program outperformed those who did not by nearly 4-to-1 on a variety of measurements. It is penny wise and pound foolish for Congress to underutilize the massive power of media to educate Americans at a time when the efficiency and impact of PBS and our member stations have never been more needed. …

Congress has considered cutting funding to public television before, and every time, Americans have rallied to tell their representatives that public broadcasting isn?t an expendable luxury but a vital service.

Government funding for public television amounts to just $1 per person per year. A Roper survey recently showed that 82 percent of American citizens consider those dollars ?well spent,? ranking PBS second only to military activities in value for their tax dollars for the second consecutive year. And most favor more federal support for it, not less.
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Pat Mitchell has been president and CEO of PBS since 2000. She wrote this for the Baltimore Sun.
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Free Press : Put the Public Back in Public Broadcasting

Our public broadcasting system is once again under attack from reactionary forces in Washington. They’ve launched a two-fisted campaign that aims to muzzle dissenting voices on PBS and NPR and eliminate federal funding for public broadcasting altogether.
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Free Press denounces Patricia Harrison?s appointment as president of CPB

Statement by Josh Silver, Free Press executive director

WASHINGTON ? Patricia S. Harrison, former co-chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, has been selected as president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. On Monday, Free Press delivered nearly 100,000 petitions to CPB, calling for Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson’s resignation.

Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, made the following statement:

“Patricia Harrison’s selection as president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is an outrage. Her complete lack of experience and close ties to the leadership of the Republican Party represent a new low in public broadcasting history.

“CPB was created to shield public broadcasting from political interference. But under the direction of Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson ? and now his GOP comrade, Patricia Harrison ? CPB has betrayed its original mission to protect the independence of public broadcasting.

“Millions of citizens have demanded an end to the partisan manipulation of public broadcasting. But, once again, those in power have ignored the voices of the vast majority of the American public to pursue their personal political crusade.”

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