Why Tucker Carlson is on PBS: "Right Wing attack on Public Broadcasting."

[madfloridian]

I called to complain today about the fact that Tucker Carlson is now on PBS. The woman I talked to was careful, but she was nervous sounding....she apparently is getting calls. This article has no date, and it is quite long.

http://www.publiceye.org/eyes/medi_pow.html

SNIP..."The Right-Wing Attack on Public Broadcasting
David Barsamian

The assault on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and its associated entities, PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, and NPR, National Public Radio, is part of a broad range attack to dismantle and roll back a number of programs, some of them dating to the New Deal. The debate is not just about money but it's about a vision of 21st-century America and the communications needs of a democratic society. The contractors on America tell us that the nation can no longer afford the luxury of taxpayer-supported TV and radio programs. Newt Gingrich wants to "zero out" funding for CPB. The Corporation receives $285 million from Congress. The Speaker of the House says that PBS and NPR users are "a bunch of rich, upper-class people who want their toy to play with it." Public broadcasting, the Georgia Republican says, is "a sandbox for the elite." Before examining the present situation, it is important to give some background.

The CPB was created in 1967. From its origins, the mission of public TV and radio has been to provide an alternative to commercial stations. The Carnegie Commission Report, which led Congress to pass the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, argued that public TV and radio programming "can help us see America whole, in all its diversity," serve as "a forum for controversy and debate," and "provide a voice for groups in the community that may otherwise be unheard." The legislation was introduced and passed within nine months, such was the general support in both houses of Congress."

SNIP..." The concerted campaign of vilification and intimidation has had an impact. PBS has gotten the message. Here are just a few examples. It has refused to air The Panama Deception, winner of the 1993 Academy Award. Deadly Deception, another Academy Award winner, was also turned down. As of this writing, it has refused to broadcast nationally the internationally acclaimed Manufacturing Consent. PBS has refused a series on human rights hosted by Charlayne Hunter-Gault. A "Frontline" documentary on Rush Limbaugh that did air in February 1995 was a much-diluted fluff piece.

The intellectual author of much of the right-wing attack is David Horowitz. He was the former editor of Ramparts and a New Left figure in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Today, Horowitz espouses extreme right-wing ideas. He is the President of the Center for the Study of Popular Culture in Los Angeles and he publishes Comint, a newsletter dedicated to ferreting out the Marxist/Leninists that control public radio and TV...."

Do a search on Corporation for Public Broadcasting or CPB, and related articles.

[evil genius]

1. doesn't he make you want to slap that smug sneer around to the backside of

his head? What voice went unheard so that we can have this twit?

[madfloridian]

2. PBS Panders to the Right. with New Programming...article from FAIR

http://www.fair.org/activism/pbs-goes-right.html

SNIP..."September 17, 2004

A new public television program called The Journal Editorial Report, featuring writers and editors from the arch-conservative Wall Street Journal editorial page, will debut tonight on public television stations around the country. The show joins Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered, hosted by conservative CNN pundit Tucker Carlson, and a planned program featuring conservative commentator Michael Medved as part of what many see as politically motivated decisions to bring more right-wing voices to public television.

According to reports in the public broadcasting newspaper Current (1/19/04, 6/7/04) and in the New Yorker (6/7/04), conservative complaints about the alleged liberal bias of the program Now with Bill Moyers contributed to the momentum to "balance" the PBS lineup. The new programs seem to be the result of that pressure. In fact, NOW will soon see its role on public television diminish, as the program is cut from one hour to 30 minutes when Moyers voluntarily leaves the program later this year. He will be replaced by co-anchor David Brancaccio, formerly of the public radio business show Marketplace, who expresses no obvious ideology. If Carlson, Medved and the staff of the Wall Street Journal editorial page are all necessary to balance the liberal Moyers, by 2005 there will be no one on PBS to balance them.

At the center of this controversy is the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which provides significant federal funding for public broadcasting projects. Two Bush appointees to the board last year, Cheryl Halpern and Gay Hart Gaines, are big donors to the Republican Party, and do not hide their political agenda. As Common Cause noted in December 2003, Gaines raised money for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga), and chaired his political action committee, GOPAC: "At the same time that Gaines was raising money for Gingrich's GOPAC, Gingrich was pushing Congress to cut all federal funds to public TV."

[madfloridian]

13. "The Commercialization of Children's Television" FAIR

I have not watched childrens' shows in ages. I used to do so when I was teaching, to keep up with trends...at least to watch a smattering. I have no idea how they are going, but this article was from 2000.

http://www.fair.org/extra/0005/pbs-ads.html

SNIP.."At the end of Sesame Street, the show traditionally announces that the episode has been brought to you by, say, "the letter Z and the number 2"--a daily reminder of the show's commitment to non-commercial educational programming. But these days, the tradition has been co-opted for profit: Today after the show, you might hear an announcement that "Pfizer brings parents the letter Z--as in Zithromax."

Zithromax is the antibiotic promoted by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer for treating ear infections and other ailments. "More information about Zithromax is just a click away," the spot promises, accompanied by images of a zebra and children playing with a giant toy block.

As illustrated by the Pfizer spot, the 15-second announcements that bracket PBS kids' shows are growing increasingly commercial. These "enhanced underwriter acknowledgments"-- the FCC's and PBS's euphemism for commercials--are public broadcasters' solution to funding problems in the wake of reduced government support. But are they legal? Many underwriter advertisements seem to contradict communications law, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations and even PBS's own guidelines...."

[Solly Mack]

3. I remember well when Newt started his campaign against CPB

[madfloridian]

4. While we watched Moyers tonight, I realized the right wing would not.

They would not even be watching, and or perhaps if they did they would not believe it anyway. I think the propaganda has worked very well, and I am not sure now that it can be overcome for decades.

I just felt sad, though I was thankful Moyers ended with such a great show.

[Solly Mack]

5. Agree. The propaganda has so indoctrinated people

that it would take years to undo the damage.

As the right wing has not fully achieved their vision of America, we are in far more outrages.

They pick a target and they dedicate themselves to destroying that target no matter how many years it takes. Along the way they continue their assault on a broad spectrum of institutions.

Sudden change alarms people...chipping away slowly, as the right wing has done, makes it seem to some people that "America has always been this way"...so those who know better look like they are attacking "the American way of life"...which is just what the right wing wants..

I know people think it's moved fast because of Shrub...but it's been a long time in the making.

Shrub has quickened the process in many ways....but it's only because of the all the groundwork that's been laid by the right wing for years.

I despair. I honestly do.

[madfloridian]

6. Trouble is, our side has not really been trying that hard.

I think some were, but looks are most are being pretty circumspect now. Maybe sudden change alarms, but there comes a time when truth must be told...sudden or not. That is what worries me. We have to jump on the opportunities and be honest about what they have done to this country.

[Solly Mack]

7. Oh, we need sudden change...the right wing just used the

other method.

We no longer have the luxury of time.

In the short term we need a heavy dose of truth..and we need to hit Americans squarely in the face with it...they need to be shaken awake. But the truth has to be shattering and with concrete proof...with people that have been lulled for years, it takes something drastic to snap them out of the fog.

in the long term, though, we will have to slowly but surely undo the damage with those truths

[madfloridian]

8. But here is the part that bothers me.

One of the ones who was letting the truth out in every appearance on TV was Howard Dean. Now even he is rather muffled and compliant. It is because he is trying to please the DNC people who will vote, yet he never will.

We are losing his voice now in a lot of ways, Kerry is not speaking out at all, Kucinich is silent. Some speak out now and then, but they are not really saying what needs to be said....they CAN'T. Most of them have a horse in that race.

I think watching Moyers tonight brought the first true despair, but I realized we are not hearing from our Democrats in clear voices.

[Solly Mack]

12. You said it yourself: "Most of them have a horse in that race"

What they have at stake isn't necessarily what "we, the people" have at stake. The people are losing big time.

What a lot of politicans call compromise I call selling out the people. There is no compromise with our civil rights. There are no deals that can be made that will ever erase election fraud.
There is no going along to get along with those who are tearing down America.

I don't believe in some grand design or great plan that someone pulls out of their butt at the last minute...

What I believe is the people will have to retake this country and change the power paradigm...

We can't go looking for heros. We can't wait for a voice from among the annointed...they all sing the same song...just with a different tune.

Frederick Douglass was right:


"Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may be both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never has and it never will"

[madfloridian]

14. That is why we like DFA so much.

Many of the local groups are already holding rallies about voting and starting their own activism on it. I guess that is what we will have to do now. At least we have an organization to provide a background of support. It is a from the bottom up group instead of top down, which is hard to remember sometimes; but a lot of us are getting the hang of it.

Kind of sad our own DNC quit doing that.

[genieroze]

9. Tucker Carlson?

:puke:

[madfloridian]

11. It is called Unfiltered. Also Medved is coming as well.

The woman I talked to at our PBS station today sounded very funny, like she knew exactly why I was complaining. She urged me to leave a voice mail for the manager....she said he "needed" to hear these things.

I asked her if she were aware they were going to be monitored very closely...she sort of got confused and was not sure how to answer.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

10. BINGO...the heritage foundation and media research center have planned

for 20 years for this day...infiltrate and take over liberaL PUBLIC PROGRAMING

[madfloridian]

15. Here is more about Heritage and their impact.

http://www.fair.org/extra/9607/heritage.html

July/Aug 1996
The Media's Favorite Think Tank

How the Heritage Foundation Turns Money into Media
By Norman Solomon

Based in a spacious brick building a few blocks from the Capitol, the Heritage Foundation is running the most effective media operation in American politics. Heritage has succeeded with a savvy strategy: Raise a lot of money from rich people with a right-wing agenda. Hire writers, commentators and out-of-office politicians who share that agenda, and call them "fellows," "policy analysts" and "distinguished scholars." And, always, back them up with a public-relations juggernaut that's second to none.

The big money came easy. Back in 1973, beer baron Joseph Coors contributed a quarter-million dollars to get the project rolling. Since then, some very conservative foundations and wealthy families have been key benefactors for a soaring budget. Today, Joseph Coors is an honorary trustee, and the board of trustees includes such bluebloods as former Treasury Secretary William E. Simon, Richard M. Scaife, Grover Coors, Jeb Bush and Amway Corp. co-founder Jay Van Andel.

The Heritage Foundation boasts of enormous clout on Capitol Hill--yet insists that it doesn't "lobby," a necessary denial to retain tax-exempt status with the IRS. News outlets of all sizes don't seem to notice the contradiction....."

SNIP.."If you have any doubt that the Heritage Foundation is engaged in systematic lobbying, consider the words of Heritage vice presidents Stuart Butler and Kim Holmes, published in the 1995 Annual Report issued in spring 1996:

Butler: Heritage now works very closely with the congressional leadership.... Heritage has been involved in crafting almost every piece of major legislation to move through Congress.

Holmes: Without exaggeration, I think we've in effect become Congress's unofficial research arm.... We truly have become an extension of the congressional staff, but on our own terms and according to our own agenda.

Butler: That's right. As Kim knows, things have been happening so fast on Capitol Hill we've had to sharpen our management skills to take full advantage of the opportunities. There has also been an unprecedented demand on us to "crunch the numbers" for the new congressional leadership...."END SNIP

And this was in 1996, can you imagine what they are doing now?

[catzies]

16. Who did you call, your local station or PBS nat'l? I'll call Monday.

n/t

[madfloridian]

17. I called WEDU in Tampa, local for me.

I have thought about calling or contacting national as well. Looks like they are caught in an influence bind with donors. I would keep an open mind on some things, but they are going hard right with Medved and Carlson.