Raleigh News & Observer Watch - 6/25/05

Today's N&O runs an AP story concerning a U.S. House vote involving funding for The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the agency responsible for allocating public funds to PBS and NPR.

The House voted to restore some CPB funding cuts but left a few others in place.

Any error and bias in the story? Read on.

We're told:

The corporation's chairman, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, a GOP appointee, has contended that public broadcasting is too liberal.(Bold added)

Tomlinson was appointed to the CPB's board of directors in 2000 by then President Clinton. You can check that at CPB's website here. He was elected chairman by his fellow board members. You can check that here.

The story runs with the CPB/PBS/NPR spin that any government funding cuts mean less Bert and Ernie and what some liberals call "informed broadcasting."

"(CPB) still might end up with less money than in its current budget. The legislation would eliminate $23 million for the Ready to Learn program, which subsidizes children's educational programming and distributes learning materials."

There's no mention of why public broadcasting executives say they'll need to cut Ready to Learn while they have enough funds to sponsor the America-bashing BBC's World News on both PBS and NPR.

Here's the story's closer:

Opponents of the cut say public broadcasting provides programming not available elsewhere.

"Do we want to live in a society where pop culture dictates all that is offered on the airwaves?" said Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y.

Pop culture's "all that is offered on the airwaves?"

How about C-SPAN, The History Channel, Arts & Entertainment, The Learning Channel, The Discovery Channel, and North Carolina based WCPE-FM, a 24/7 all classical music station available worldwide on the net?

But the story doesn't mention those stations or many others that broadcast similarly worthwhile programing.

Will we ever read a news story in the N&O that gets beyond a CPB "don't let them take Bert and Ernie away" promo and looks instead at why public broadcasting gives us the BBC and so much other leftist tilt?

The N&O's AP story is here.

For more on BBC bias, including anti-American go here and here.