03-26-25: Is Anyone Else Seething With Rage

I had half a blog entry about being an artist on the internet written but I had to post this first because I feel like I'm going to explode. I'm watching the Congress / DOGE hearing for PBS and NPR and it's just so unbelievably wicked to go after these organisations that my head is spinning.

It seems like the Republican strategy in these hearings is to spew as much bullshit as loudly and as quickly as possible, ignoring any instance of fact checking or genuine, earnest attempts to respond to the accusations. It's like, fuck, maybe if we scream enough times everyone will just go ahead and believe us. The amount of just false things they're saying over and over is heinous. They are ugly people who say ugly things. There is little to no validity in most of the points they're making. I am terrified of the possibility of them cutting funding for public broadcasting- not for me or my job, as I know that the (VERY RIGHT WING) community that my station is in would still rally for us and give us the support we need to continue. No- what's scary is the impact that these decisions will have on rural communities.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting does fund PBS and NPR with taxpayer dollars- but the truth is, most big name PBS stations are self sufficient via donors and memberships. New York, Boston, Seattle, Austin- none of those PBS Stations are reliant on federal funding. If Republicans were to shut down PBS funding, those stations would continue to function. Even my station, in a very far right area, would receive enough support from the community to keep operating. Do you know who would feel that hit? The rural stations serving remote areas with less people- and these stations are sometimes the only broadcast channel that these areas even have access to.

One of the big arguments against Public Broadcasting is the way that communications have changed over the past 50 years. It's true that Americans have a lot more options for entertainment today than they did in the 1960s and 1970s. Plenty of Republicans are pointing towards the existence of children's cable channels and YouTube Kids as viable alternatives for PBS- and that's just not actually feasible. Anyone who has spent even 5 minutes looking through the content pushed to children on YouTube know that it's fucking slop- most of it has no educational value, and plenty of it contains gore and fetish material that is absolutely not suitable for children. It almost doesn't even matter if you hunt down a nice educational YouTube channel for your kids to watch, as over time the autoplay algorithm will just push them towards the same slop. Slop upon slop upon fucking slop. Children's TV channels at least have an argument to be made for them- I am honestly a huge fan of shows like Little Einsteins, Bluey, and Dragon Tales- shows that have something to say, something to teach, and are made with care. But the fact is that for-profit television stations are always, always trying to sell you something. If not through the show itself, then through the onlaught of ads every 5 minutes. Is that what children deserve to see? Corporate slop? It's all fucking slop!

There are alternatives for caring and attentive parents. You can buy a Disney+ subscription right now (note: you probably shouldn't) and stream episodes of Bluey and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and whatever else with absolutely no ads or distractions. But what about the family that can't afford a Disney+ membership, or cable, or a smartphone, or any of it? What about the impoverished families that only have PBS? Do they deserve slop?

Hmmm. If only there was a trusted source of children's programming without any ulterior motives or money-focused agendas. Oh my god wait! There is! For now.

At the station I work at, we have a number of TVs around the building that are set to our two channels- one for regular PBS programming, and another that shows kids content 24/7. These TVs are a cute way to decorate the station and promote our content, as well as a good way for someone to instantly catch it if we go off air for any reason. At least once a week I hear the Emergency Alert System go off throughout the station- that low alarm blaring through every TV in the building, and every PBS-tuned TV that our signal reaches in portions of two different states. It's just a test, of course- we don't have disasters that often- but in the event that there is a local emergency, the EAS will let everybody know. PBS and NPR are key participants in the EAS network, and for those rural communities without other media, hearing those warnings can mean life or death. Isn't it stupid to dismantle such a huge portion of the Emergency Alert System?

What gets me is that these rural communities that would suffer the most from the lack of government funding are the same masses of land that these wretched far-right conservatives are claiming to be acting in the best interests of. It makes me sick, it really fucking does.

PBS stations chronicle American Culture. So many stations produce original content for their community- my station has done several documentaries on the small towns in our area, digging into their histories and telling stories that might otherwise be forgotten. PBS stations also give back to their communities. My station hosts several free community events every year. We play free kids movies in the park throughout the summer. We have a Back-To-School festival in which we give out free school supplies and haircuts. We host concerts that are open to the public- our Christmas show even gives local artists a chance to perform for the whole community. We have a play area in the local airport that lets kids take a free book for their flight. We provide free advertising opportunities for other nonprofit organizations in the area. We broadcast local debates and town halls- programming about the community that is relevant to our viewers.

Americans, take some time today and donate to your local PBS or NPR if you can spare the money. If you're in a big city that has a well-funded station, consider researching a rural PBS and tossing a few dollars their way instead. As Paula Kerger said, this is a really existential time for them. It's gonna be a bumpy road ahead.