Public Broadcasters Prepare to Fight Federal Budget Cuts

PUBLIC BROADCASTERS PREPARE TO FIGHT FEDERAL BUDGET CUTS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Elizabeth Jensen]
It’s a familiar dance: for eight straight years, the Bush administration has proposed deep cuts in federal funds for public broadcasting, and seven times so far, Congress has restored them. But the magnitude of the proposed cuts put forth this week — Patricia Harrison, president of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, called them “draconian” — still sent public broadcasters scrambling. The proposed budget would cut in half the $400 million allocated in advance by Congress for fiscal year 2009 and cut $220 million from the $420 million already planned for 2010. In addition, President Bush proposed eliminating advance funds for 2011, along with any additional funds in 2009 for stations to convert to digital transmission, which is federally mandated. They are the deepest cuts yet proposed by the administration. Critics of public funds for public broadcasting have long held that educational and other public-interest programming is increasingly available elsewhere, including on cable.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/arts/06cuts.html?ref=todayspaper
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* CPB Responds to Administration's Proposed FY 2009 Budget
http://www.cpb.org/pressroom/release.php?prn=633