What will we do when Sesame Street gets demolished?
As of early August, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has faced significant funding cuts. The source of these cuts was a longstanding battle between the Trump Administration and the CPB over the perceived bias in their content.
These cuts have resulted in the closure of the CPB, not the PBS. The CPB will be transitioning to closure over the next year. Currently, the stations they helped fund, including PBS and NPR, are safe from closure. Still, the loss of the CPB means the loss of federal funding for stations all across the US. The funds lost total $1.1 billion, which is no small loss.
The CPB supports public broadcasting stations like PBS. It is granted federal funding, which it then dishes out to stations all over the United States via Community Service Grants, allowing these public stations to reach everyone. According to cpb.org, the system in place serves 99% of the US population.
Despite the fact that they won’t be closing, this doesn’t mean they’re not affected. The PBS is well known for its educational content. It provides children’s television to many homes, including rural communities. These funding cuts affect it too, and it will likely see layoffs and loss of smaller stations.
How does all this affect us? Local public stations. Both PBS and NPR are public broadcasting stations.
Small, rural communities rely on their local public stations for educational shows when they otherwise can’t afford to teach their children. These stations offer additional services, including news broadcasts, media, and programs focused on art and theatre. They also provide crucial weather emergency alerts to small towns. Local stations will all suffer without the support of the CPB.
PBS channels provide invaluable resources, and not just for kids. While there’s something to be said about Sesame Street and other similar programming, there’s also plenty of other services. These include documentaries, a non-commercialized news program, and programs focused on the arts. Another public station, NPR, is also being hit by these changes. It provides quality news and culture-focused programming, among other things.
Without funding from the CPB, local public broadcasting stations cannot survive. Remember that these stations are supported, more now than ever, by viewers like you. Donating to your local public stations will help everyone.
