PlayIsTheWork.com

A friend of mine was reading the blog recently and saw my post about the NPR/PBS funding issue. Being the activist she is, she’d already written our congressman about the issue and was excited to see we were also spreading the word on PlayIsTheWork. I thought it would be interesting to share the response she got back from congressman Jim McDermott of Washington State.

June 28, 2005

Dear Stacy:

Thank you for contacting me about attempts by the Bush
Administration and conservative Republicans in Congress to undermine
public television and radio. I appreciate hearing from you about this issue.

I am deeply troubled by the attempts of the Chairman of the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, and fellow
conservative Republicans to undermine the editorial independence of
public television. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and public
broadcasting officials are targets of the Bush Administration and the
conservative movement’s war on the objective and independent media of
our nation. The Bush Administration and the conservative movement
persistently accuse public television of a “liberal bias,” and they
are pursuing a disturbing and aggressive campaign to push its
programming in a more conservative direction, thwarting the editorial
independence of PBS. Objectivity and balance in our nation’s public
television and radio is critical to our democracy, and it must not be
trampled by this Administration for partisan political gain.

I also am disturbed by House Republicans’ proposed drastic
funding reductions for public television and radio. The funding cuts
proposed by the House Republicans included cutting the budget of
public television and radio nearly in half; they also included
reducing the financing of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the
organization that directs taxpayer dollars to public television and
radio, to $300 million from $400 million, and eliminating $39 million
that stations need to convert to digital programming, and eliminating
$50 million for upgrading the aging satellite technology that is the
backbone of the PBS network.
Additionally, House Republicans proposed eliminating a $23 million
federal program, Ready to Learn, which provides money for the
production of children’s shows on public television. I strongly oppose
these cuts to public television and radio, which are nothing more than
attempts by Republican lawmakers to punish pubic broadcasting for its
efforts to present wide-ranging viewpoints.

I am pleased to let you know that the attempts of House
Republican leaders to destroy public broadcasting by eliminating its
funding failed on the House floor earlier this week. By a strong
bipartisan vote, the House rejected the proposed cuts, and signaled
its desire to maintain a strong public broadcasting network throughout
the country. This vote reflects the determined effort of hundreds of
thousands of Americans to make clear to their lawmakers that public
broadcasting is a vital and much valued source of trustworthy news and
entertainment in their homes.

Unfortunately, although funds for public broadcasting appear
protected in the current budgetary cycle, I anticipate that the Bush
Administration will make subsequent efforts to dismantle the public
network. Accordingly, I will continue to monitor any attempts to
undermine public television and radio, and I will do all I can to
preserve public broadcast media and its independent programming.

I appreciate hearing from you, and hope you will continue to
contact me about matters of concern to you.

Sincerely,
Jim McDermott
Member of Congress

RIGHT ON, Jim!

Posted on June 29th, 2005 by Sam
Filed under: Daily Life, Read This!