Gongol.com Archives: July 2025
July 18, 2025
The Congressional decision to rescind $1.1 billion in funding for public broadcasting won't have any meaningful effect on the Federal budget (we're spending more than twice that much just on interest payments every day). It will almost certainly have a serious impact on at least some public media stations, particularly those without significant sources of other funding. ■ What the incident ought to do is cause the American public to take a serious look at what we really expect from the mass media. The US doesn't have a true "national" broadcaster in the spirit of the BBC, CBC, RTE, or other examples found in most similarly wealthy countries. To an extent, that shields us from the more contentious debates that might take place if we did. Public media outlets in the US have a lot of local choice about what to air. ■ But even in the absence of a national broadcaster, the US does have a need for public-interest media -- not necessarily NPR or PBS, but some sort of outlet that seeks to fulfill needs in the public interest, like offering emergency information, covering important content that may be commercially non-viable, and ensuring that news and subjects of public significance are covered thoughtfully and in a balanced manner. ■ Maybe that doesn't need to be performed by the outlets that have heretofore done the work. But the work needs to be done, preferably by people who know how to serve that public interest. Thoughtful, engaging debate on the matter is long overdue.
