Public TV cuts would hurt

Congress is working to eliminate funding for public media, yet over 170 million Americans use it every day for news, education and cultural enrichment.

It doesn’t matter if you are a Democrat, Republican or an independent, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) provides everyone with shows like “NOVA,” “Masterpiece Theatre,” “Antiques Roadshow,” “NewsHour” or “Sesame Street.” There are no political strings attached.

People are asked to help support these programs, but only one in 10 does! The rest of the funding for these programs you trust and depend on comes from federal funding.

Defunding of public media would be like clear-cutting our national forests or closing our national parks. Americans trust PBS. The most recent Roper poll showed more Americans put their trust in PBS than any other service. PBS ranked two times higher than the criminal justice system, 2  1/2 times higher than network television and 7  1/2 times higher than Congress.

Public Media should take its share of funding cuts, but not be totally eliminated. Once we have taken away the voice of public media it will be lost forever. Is that what we want? I hope Congress will preserve this country’s source of thoughtful, balanced programming.

Roberta Brooke

President, Friends of KSPS board of directors

Spokane