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We again find ourselves in the unenviable position of
going to press with the WTVP Program Guide as events are still playing out that could have significant and deleterious effect
on the future of what you see and hear on public broadcasting.
As I write this, a Continuing Resolution is being introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives
that calls for total elimination of funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
“Not again,” I hear you say, “I thought we put that to rest a couple of years ago.”
But alas, yes, there is yet another effort underway in Congress to kill public broadcasting, and your help
is desperately needed. This latest effort is the most recent in a string of such actions that goes back to passage of the Public
Broadcasting Act in 1967. Through the years public broadcasting has been a favorite target in a political game of kick the can, we
being the “can.” That we have managed to survive and provide memorable programming at both the national and local level is a tribute
to you the members of your favorite public television and public radio stations. You have always stepped up to let your feelings be
known about the value you place on the programs and services you receive from public broadcasting, and we’re asking you to do it one
more time.
Please call your Congressman to educate him about your feelings, positive or negative, about public
broadcasting, and about continued federal support for your local stations. Letters and emails are nice, but nothing has the impact
of a phone call. Numbers for the Congressmen who serve in the WTVP viewing area are listed below.
Here are some points you may want to mention:
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Public broadcasting is America’s largest classroom—closing the achievement gap through innovative, standards-based
educational content and resources for parents, teachers and students. Eliminating funds for public broadcasting eliminates
the safe harbor of children’s educational programming.
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Public broadcasting serves as a trusted partner and agent of better citizenship in the world’s greatest democracy.
For the seventh year in a row, the latest Roper Poll has found the news programming of public broadcasting to be the most
trusted in America, across all ideological and partisan lines.
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Public broadcasting is not “a luxury we can’t afford” but an essential service regularly depended on and enjoyed by 170
million Americans in all 50 States.
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Cutting or eliminating federal funding for public broadcasting will have a severe negative impact on local services and
economies in all 50 states. Public broadcasting directly supports 21,000 jobs, and almost all of them are in local public
television and radio stations in hundreds of communities across America.
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Eliminating the $445 million investment in the Corporation for Public Broadcasting would only reduce the $1.5 trillion
federal budget deficit by less than 3 ten-thousandths of one percent, but it would have a devastating impact on local
communities nationwide.
With your help, Congress can be educated and informed on this issue and can then make intelligent
decisions based on facts. More information can be found on our website or on
www.170millionamericans.org.
I am always reluctant to post messages like this because I don’t want to be perceived as crying wolf
when the danger is not real. In this case, I’m afraid it is, and your call to educate your Congressman is very necessary. Thank
you for taking the time to reach out to him.
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Adam Kinzinger
(R) 11th District
(202) 225-3635
WEB SITE |
Aaron Schock
(R) 18th District
(202) 225-6201
WEB SITE |
Bobby Schilling
(D) 17th District
(202) 225-5905
WEB SITE |
Timothy V. Johnson
(R) 15th District
(202) 225-2371
WEB SITE |
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