Congress's Responsibility to Fund Public Radio and TV

Congress has a responsibility to insure public radio and television are funded. Why? Because, by permitting the global media giants to swallow up the rest of the market between them through mergers and acquisitions, Congress has had a direct hand in eliminating competition and diversity in media.

Does anyone else remember when Bravo broadcast creative, original programming? Now it's all about rich, self-absorbed, spoiled, shallow housewives of various geographic locations - perhaps the most misogynistic programming on television today. A&E used to be innovative; TLC, Discovery and Nat Geo used to be educational. Now much of their programming is pseudo educational pap sporting cheap production values and questionable science, with a few quality programs providing weak lip service to their original missions.

The excuse that public funding is inappropriate does not hold water. The for-profit media have repeatedly been given advantages of bandwidth and permitted to spread their tentacles across local markets in direct violation of anti-trust laws. Independent for-profits are rapidly disappearing as they are consumed by the media oligarchy, resulting in homogenized, mediocre fare.

Public radio and television consistently provide quality programming. Their news coverage tends to be more comprehensive and more impartial than the for-profit media, despite what their detractors claim. They frequently provide the only source for solid local and regional news coverage. Programs like "The American Experience" and "The National Parks" are excellent examples of American history made interesting as well as educational. The loss of these resources would further the dumbing down of the American public.

Hey, I have a great idea. Instead of funding public radio and public television out of the general fund, why not levy a specific tax on for-profit media conglomerates to fund them? I can hear the squeals of protest already. But why shouldn't those media monopolies pay a bit back for the tremendous corporate advantages they have received?

The playing field is not level. There is no true competition in the for-profit media. Let's not pretend there is.