|
Better late than never, wealthy institutional donors seem poised to take a larger role in funding TV and radio shows they like, rather than letting average taxpayers get stuck with the bill. The taxpayer savings will not be enormous given the gargantuan scale of federal spending. Yet it certainly counts as progress to see the un-American phenomenon of state-backed media give way to a healthier model of voluntary support and independent broadcasting. Scott Nover reports for the Washington Post: Major philanthropic organizations said Monday that they are committing nearly $37 million in emergency funding to keep public media stations afloat after Congress passed President Donald Trump’s rescissions bill, which eliminated $1.1 billion in federal funding from PBS and NPR stations over the next two years. The names are already ones you might hear on an underwriting announcement on your local public radio station: The Knight Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, plus the Schmidt Family Foundation (created by Google co-founder
Eric Schmidt) and the Melinda Gates-led group Pivotal Ventures. A consultancy, Public Media Company, said it launched a “bridge fund” Monday to aid the most at-risk public radio and TV stations across the country, “stabilize the system” in the aftermath of the federal funding loss and help public media become more sustainable in the long run… Tim Isgitt, Public Media Company’s CEO, said the fund aims to raise $100 million over two years — roughly equivalent to what the Corporation for Public Broadcasting would have provided to the most vulnerable stations. Even for those who believe in state-backed media, this does seem to raise questions about the overall
amount as well as the allocation of the $1.1 billion in funding. After its rescission, CPB support for the most vulnerable stations can be replaced for just $100 million? Perhaps there are similar bargains to be found elsewhere across the federal landscape if taxpayer subsidies are permitted to recede. Washington budgeteers should seek to identify other recipients of federal largesse capable of surviving and even thriving as independent entities.
|
