June 18, 2005

House Committee Attacks Big Bird--NOT!

Bravo to the House Appropriations Committee. They slashed the federal subsidy to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting by 25%. That's a start, but I would have loved to see Rep. Ralph Regula's plan to completely eliminate the subsidy get through committee.

I can hear it already. "Sean, you must hate Big Bird. What about Sesame Street? What about the children?"

We now live in an age with more television choices than any human has time to watch. That wasn't the case 30+ years ago when public television came into existence. If an act of God wiped out all the PBS stations today some network would immediately air Sesame Street. That's because there is a market for that show.

This time of endless media choices (with more popping up all the time) federal television subsidies make no sense. (And that doesn't even get into the constitutionality of it.)

"US House Panel Cuts Funding for Public Television" [via La Shawn Barber]