Another threat to our Public Sphere

According to Jurgen Habermas (1962), it is crucial for society to enshrine free communications, a prerequisite to social justice. Mass media is the chief institution of publications. Media institutions are concerned with organization, financing, legal frameworks of media ownership, control, licensing, access, communication discourse such as the BBC, CBC, and PBS. Right now there is a threat to some of them:

Reject Bush’s Cuts to Public Broadcasting

“This past week, the New York Times reported that the Bush administration has once again proposed deep cuts in federal funding for public broadcasting. Unfortunately the cuts proposed this year are even more severe than in past …

For 8 straight years, the President’s budget requests have attempted to cut or entirely eliminate funding for public broadcasting. For seven of those years, Congress has responded to massive public pressure and restored the funding. This year’s proposed cuts are the deepest ever proposed by the administration. Even Patricia Harrison, a former co-chairwoman of the Republican National Committee who currently serves as the President of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), has called these cuts “draconian.” In addition to slashing current and future funding, this year’s proposal even tries to go back and withdraw funding already approved in previous years.

Practically every day we hear a new story about media consolidation. More and more, the free press that is so essential to our democracy is owned and controlled by a smaller and smaller number of mega-corporations. Never has it been more essential to have a publicly funded, noncommercial media outlet that provides thoughtful rather than partisan news and doesn’t waste our time covering Britney Spears and the baseball steroids scandal.

In his last year in office, don’t let Bush pull the plug on Bill Moyers, the News Hour, Big Bird, and the Cookie Monster.”

Petition: “We ask that all members of Congress join us in supporting full funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in fiscal year 2009, as well as rejecting the President’s proposed rescissions of funding already approved in prior fiscal years.

This administration’s proposed cuts to the CPB budget are short-sighted and unnecessary. Overwhelmingly, polls show that the American people — of all political persuasions — enjoy the publicly-funded, noncommercial programming offered by CPB and PBS.

Many families do not have access to cable and depend upon PBS for kid-friendly programming that is not offered by the major networks, especially in the prime time hours. Cuts to public broadcasting would threaten such programming. To end this debate once and for all, Congress should guarantee permanent funding for CPB and full independence from any partisan meddling.”

Sign the petition here: http://act.credomobile.com/campaign/save_pbs/8wekssn918dexim?