Keep Funding Public Broadcasting
May 9, 2017
I start all of my morning commutes by tuning into 89.3 KPCC, and with each morning, the increase of donation advertisements for the station keep increasing and I wonder why.
But then they continue the ad saying that Trump’s proposed budget plan will cut funding for the arts, humanities, and public media. The cuts will be allocated towards defense and homeland security.
“Can we really continue to ask a coal miner in West Virginia or a single mom in Detroit to pay for these programs?” White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney asked. “The answer was no. We can ask them to pay for defense and we will, but we can’t ask them to continue to pay for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.”
But funding for these programs only costs $1.35 per citizen per year says the Corporation For Public Broadcasting CEO Patricia Harrison said in a statement.
Most CPB funds go directly to local radio and TV stations. NPR’s funding sources include the program fees those stations pay, and the network receives less than 2 percent of its budget directly from CPB.
Without the funding, local nonprofit journalism would cease to exist along with their critically acclaimed and popular podcasts such as Serial, S-Town, and This American Life and children would not be able to enjoy educational PBS shows such as Sesame Street and Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.
“NPR gives authentic ideas from actual people, and to defund it would be a disservice to the people who want to seek the actual truth and not what the mainstream media wants you to believe,” said sophomore Selah Kelly.
But it’s not only students who feel the backlash of these threats.
“I think public radio and broadcasting should not be interfered by the government. We need things like the arts and humanities. Its inconceivable to not have things like that,” said English teacher Mr. Lewis
If Trump’s budget plan goes through as planned, then many jobs and reliable sources of news and broadcasting will cease to exist all for the sake of national defense and non discretionary spending.
