In Defense of Public Broadcasting

The founding principles of public broadcasting urged that programming serve as “a forum for debate and controversy” and “provide a voice for groups that may otherwise be unheard.” Ever since its inception public broadcasting in the U.S. has been a lightening rod for political attack. A heat shield funding proposal to isolate PBS and NPR from the whims of Congress was defeated. The Nixon administration was the first to launch the canard that the system was biased in favor of liberals. Today once again this allegation is being bandied about. Bill Moyers has incurred the wrath of those who want to transform public broadcasting into something quite remote from its founding principles.