There are few American institutions as widely beloved as public broadcasting.
A sprawling affiliation of more than 1,500 local radio and TV stations across the country and national organizations like NPR and PBS, it has over nearly six decades entertained and educated adults and children, with highlights including more than 4,500 episodes of “Sesame Street,” prime-time series like “Masterpiece,” “American Experience” and “Downton Abbey” and radio news shows like “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered.”
But the future of American public media is now in jeopardy after President Donald Trump signed a package in July that canceled about $1.1 billion in funds earmarked for public broadcasting. The president has said that public broadcasting is politically biased and that the public should not be required to finance it.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which was created in 1967 to distribute allocated federal dollars throughout the system, announced plans to shut down next year as a result.
The organization was given the Television Academy’s Governors Award last weekend at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony. The award honors those who have “made a profound, transformational and long-lasting contribution to the arts and/or science of television.”
Patricia Harrison, the organization’s president and chief executive, received a standing ovation when she walked onstage to accept the award.
“The small stations, the remote stations, that amount of money that they get from the federal government is all the difference in the world to them, so they can connect with their audiences,” Harrison told reporters after receiving the honor. “When you eliminate C.P.B. and that funding mechanism, it’s sort of like Jenga. You pull that little piece of wood out, things start shaking, and then things start going apart.”
The loss of funding is expected to have a particularly significant impact on public radio and TV stations in small and rural communities. PBS also announced this month that it would cut 100 positions, or roughly 15 percent of its staff, as a result of the cuts.
Sarah Bahr writes about culture and style for The Times.
The post The Corporation for Public Broadcasting Received a Special, and Bittersweet, Award appeared first on New York Times.
