Why Public Broadcasting Is Important

“I urge you, I urge you to put the people's airwaves to the service of the people and the cause of freedom. You must help prepare a generation for great decisions. You must help a great nation fulfill its future.”

Newton Minow’s 1961 speech to broadcasters is best remembered for its description of television as a “vast wasteland,” and those who argue that PBS and NPR are no longer necessary do so on a few additional passages that call for more variety in programming and more channels of television. The speech predates the founding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS and NPR. At the time, there were only three networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC. Now we have many networks providing a wide variety of programming. Surely the plethora of television stations available to those with cable television render public television (and, by extension, radio) obsolete, critics say (George Will among them).

The main thrust of Minow’s speech, however, was not the lack of variety in programming, but the lack of a voice in television that served the public interest rather than corporate interest. The title of the speech is “Television and the Public Interest,” and while “vast wasteland” was used only once in the speech, “public interest” was used nearly a dozen times. Yes, there are many stations that provide a wide variety of programming, but they serve corporate interests.

And they serve only a handful of corporate interests.

In the 50 years since Minow’s speech, mergers and takeovers have allowed corporations to purchase themselves some echo chambers, but there remain only a few voices, and their primary focus is not “service of the people” but service of their corporate owners. (Note that George Will ignores the "public interest" argument altogether and that most of his argument is largely straw men.)

Federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is under attack. The CPB says that federal funding makes up only a tiny percentage of its budget, but local PBS stations that receive funds from the CPB would suffer a great deal if funds are cut.


PBS makes its own case for its survival here.

Interesting Lineup

Ron Barber, one of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords's staffers who survived the shooting on January 8, is organizing a benefit concert, scheduled for March 10, to raise money for the new Fund for Civility, Respect, and Understanding. Tickets are on sale at the Tucson Community Center.

So far, the concert has lined up Jackson Browne, Graham Nash and David Crosby, Keb' Mo', Dar Williams, Ozomatli, Nils Lofgren, Sam Moore, Calexico, Jerry Riopelle, and Alice Cooper.

I am not making this up.

Are You a Radical Feminist?

Until recently, I'd never considered myself a "radical feminist," because I didn't think the rights I wanted for myself or for other women are all that radical. At least, I don't think they'd be considered "radical" if we were talking about the rights of men, so why should they be "radical" for women? It's easy to forget sometimes that it's been less than a century since we won the right to vote.

What's happening in the GOP, with its attempts to redefine rape, call rape victims "accusers" instead of victims, defund Planned Parenthood, allow hospitals to refuse medical care for women if saving them means killing any fetuses they may be carrying, defunding Head Start programs because women should be staying home with the children, and any number of other measures (I was going to provide links for each of the listed assaults on the rights of women, but they're all found easily enough on a Google search on "GOP war on women"), has led to such a limited view of what rights the right wing thinks women should have that it's becoming more and more difficult not to be a radical feminist. In fact, I think it should probably be embarrassing not to be a radical feminist.

So, how do you tell if you are a radical feminist?

You might be a radical feminist if you believe that women don't cease to be valuable human beings in their own right the second they become pregnant.

You might be a radical feminist if you believe that rape victims should be treated the same as other victims of violent crimes.

You might be a radical feminist if you believe that women who have sex and enjoy it are not by definition sluts.

You might be a radical feminist if you believe that a hospital should not be allowed to deny life-saving medical treatment to women if it means sacrificing the life of a fetus, regardless of the odds of survival for the fetus.

You might be a radical feminist if you believe that medical doctors are better equipped than a clergyman (any religion, any rank) to decide if an abortion is medically necessary to save a woman's life.

You might be a radical feminist if you believe that women have more to offer society than the constant use of their reproductive organs for the purpose of reproduction.

You might be a radical feminist if you trust women to decide for themselves what constitutes acceptable risk to life and limb.

You might be a radical feminist if you notice the irony in "small-government" politicians insisting that government try to control the reproductive options of half of the population.

You might be a radical feminist if you notice the irony in "pro-life" people not batting an eye at the loss of a woman's life.

You might be a radical feminist if you believe that rapists alone should be held responsible for the rapes they commit.




Does anybody have anything else to add?

Women of Egypt

Last week in Cairo, CBS correspondent Lara Logan was attacked while doing her job. I will not allow this space to become yet another outlet for the ugly speech about the “responsibility” Logan bears for the violence committed against her. Blaming the victim is wrong, and I suspect that if there were not an element of sexual assault in the attack, it would not be an issue.

I prefer to focus on the fact that the attack was stopped by Egyptian women, with the help of some Egyptian soldiers. There are at least some women in Egypt who now believe that they can stand up for themselves and for other women. There are at least some women in Egypt who now believe that they don’t have to take harassment from men just because they dared to leave their homes. There are at least some women in Egypt who now believe that they can be a force for their own good and for the good of all women in their own country.

The women who stopped the attack are heroes. Let’s hope that part of the story wasn’t an isolated incident. Let’s hope that part of the revolution continues.