Wednesday, November 9, 2016

A TIME OF RECKONING


Wednesday, November 9, 2016
11:30am

I’ve been having difficulty concentrating on my work given the shock of the results of Tuesday's election. I want to get how I feel off my chest so I am posting my Thursday (11/10) column early.

I have avoided political commentary on my blog but today the situation is different. 

I strongly dislike Donald Trump.  Even worse than The Donald are his associates. Combined with the Republican majorities in the House and Senate, political agendas will be played out soon. I fear there will be another attempt to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).


The new administration has made no secret of its dislike of Planned Parenthood and a long list of other “targets.” Funding the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and even climate science are at risk. Prepare now because I sense a flood on the horizon.

Public media successfully defended CPB in the 1990s and early 2000s, but things have changed since then. In earlier challenges to CPB funding there were "moderate" Republicans that stood up for public radio and TV. No more.

In 2011, as part of a larger “compromise” package, the House defunded the National Telecommunications & Information Administration’s (NTIA) Public Telecom Facilities Program (PTFP). PTFP provided grants to many public broadcasters for the equipment and facility upgrades that made their public service possible.

While it is true that some public radio stations have the money to continue operations independent of CPB funding, many stations need CPB assistance to continue their work. Stations in rural areas and smaller cities are the most likely to get hurt. This could compromise public radio’s national presence and perhaps NPR itself.

My advice is to starting preparing now.

Ken Mills.

2 comments:

  1. Over the years, attempts to defund public broadcasting have come more frequent, and I agree that we are going into an environment where all the pieces may be in place to finally make it happen. It's hard to have a rallying cry of, "Don't kill Big Bird," when he's nesting at HBO. Small, rural, and minority stations will be disproportionately impacted if CPB funding disappears. Now is the time to begin proactively activating public media supporters to tell their stories and build your base of vocal advocates. We pitch all the time that we have supporters from all walks of life and across the political spectrum. Let's prove it.

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  2. On Agugust 20, 2016, Las Vegag Public Radio KIOF-LP 97.9 FM (www.lasvegaspublicradio.org) a new start up 501C3 local community charitable organization and veterans voice, reached out to the Office of Inspector General at the Corporation of Public Broadcasting for help in determining funding for fiscal year 2016. We requested a waiver of the NFFS and Audience Voice Criteria (AVC) based upon pure facts, that the CPB has impermissibly erected a barrier to the Community Service Grant (CSG). To date we have not received a reply or even a status update. So much for transparency. This is not indicative of the mission or goals of the Inspector General's office and casts a shadow of doubt on the validity of the office of IGCPB. Since, silence is golden and indecision is a decision, we have no other choice than to reach out to hopefully The new U.S. Attorney (Maybe Jeff Sessions) and the DOJ to distinguish your corrupt system of discriminatory, confiscatory and exclusionary practices and policies, which are despicable. The OIG has created an image of a protective shadow organization exhibiting false promises to aspiring new Low Power FM (LPFM) radio station operators. The OIG and staff continue to milk the U.S. Taxpayers via fraud, abuse and concealment of information regarding the very funds they were to distribute to others. Apparently, their violation and trust doesn't man anything to them..It is apparent that millions of dollars meant to help new public radio stations were squandered by the CPB on excessive salaries, rent and othe luxuries, which any federal audit will reveal. The CPB has used the program as a "cash cow" for every expense imaginable , while all but stopping admitting new stations. That is the textbook definition of waste and abuse. The need for funds by large CSG grantees (who's sustainable liquid cash assets has increased substantially) should have plummeted from 2010 to 2016. Still the CPB "continues to spend millions" in administration expenses to shore up nothing,other than crawl back marketable securities and investment opportunities using taxpayer funds to pay the freight.
    Since, ethics and rules of Professional Responsibility at the CPB are deplorable, the CPB and OIG are reminded that the OIG is not supposed to be the show horse, but show plenty of results to help those in need of it the most.
    Instead of standing for the Freedom and Prosperity that our Veterans and their families fought to defend, the Office of Inspector General has abdicated to large pubic radio stations and their special interest groups and lobbyists to bolster their financial holdings, when there is no apparent need to do so.

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