The following is an opinion piece by Amanda Hirsch; an earlier version of this post appeared on her blog.
Every time someone threatens to cut PBS funding (as Mitt Romney recently did), its supporters play the Big Bird card. “Surely, Mr. Grinch, you won’t rob the children of their Big Bird?”
I’d like to call bull on that tactic. Using Big Bird as a symbol of PBS’s value is disingenuous and obscures the legitimate questions of (a) whether PBS is essential and (b) whether it should be federally funded.
So, I’m in the pro-public-media camp.
But Big Bird is a red herring. He’s not an apt symbol of PBS, a network that is also home to Downton Abbey and the NewsHour, This Old House and, yes, doo-wop shows at pledge time (not to mention the infomercials for wrinkle cream that some stations air). PBS is a variety show and Big Bird only represents only one act.
The real questions
We may need Big Bird, but do we need PBS? Do we need the variety show?
Ken Burns says yes. In a recent op-ed published in USA Today, titled Romney’s war on public TV is a loss for USA, he wrote:
https://twitter.com/neiltyson/status/253680452240547840
Cutting PBS is not a smart or meaningful way to improve the economic outlook of this country. But that doesn’t mean the government should necessarily fund PBS. Just because something is affordable doesn’t mean it’s necessary.
What do you think? Is PBS essential — so much so that it warrants federal funding? More generally, do you think it makes sense for government to fund media in an age when anyone can be a media maker, by writing a blog, for example, or creating a YouTube video on their phone?
Amanda Hirsch is a writer, performer and social media consultant; she is also the editor of Collaboration Central. The former editorial director of PBS.org, lives in Brooklyn, NY and blogs at amandahirsch.com. Amanda spends way too much time on Twitter.