by: F.R. Duplantier

"Congress created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting under the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 to fill an apparent need for additional sources of high-quality informational, educational, and entertainment-oriented television and radio programming," recalls Adam Thierer of the Heritage Foundation. "Over the past three decades, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has funded a wide array of so-called noncommercial services and programs, including the Public Broadcasting Service [and] National Public Radio."

Thierer argues that the original mission of public broadcasting, legitimate or not, is "obsolete and redundant today. There now exists an endless variety of high-quality channels with entertainment, informational, and educational programs that do not rely on public funding to bring quality shows to home viewers and listeners," he asserts. "And the list of options providing essentially the same service . . . is growing rapidly."

C-Span I & II, A&E, and the History Channel are just a few of the programming providers that "offer options similar to taxpayer-subsidized programs." Thierer points out that "many alternative vendors of high-quality programming exist, including satellite television, video- and audiotapes, instructional computer programs, the Internet, and (in the very near future) high-definition digital television. In a world of proliferating options," he opines, "taxpayer funding . . . makes little sense."

Thierer insists that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting "is perfectly capable of standing on its own without federal funds. In fact," he warns, "public funding may crowd out additional private funding today. Despite boasting a non-commercial format," public broadcasters "increasingly engage in overtly commercial activities, such as a mail-order catalog business, the operation of retail chain stores, and the sale of popular television and radio programs on video- or audiotapes. . . ."

Thierer concludes that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has "proved successful enough to stand on its own as a high-quality programming service. Even if it once required federal funding to carry out its initial mission (which is debatable), taxpayer subsidies no longer are justified," he asserts. "Instead of automatically increasing the budget of an agency whose services no longer are necessary," Thierer advises, "legislators should give serious consideration to ending all federal subsidies for a service adequately provided by the free market."

Heavens to Betsy! What would we do without public television? No more Lawrence Welk Show. No more reruns of Aerobic Irish Clogging and Fat Latin Trio Sings Opera in Tails. No more Prissy Purple Dinosaur Cult. No more hectoring fund drives and auction marathons. Hey, the death of public broadcasting is starting to sound pretty good, isn't it? Maybe Americans can survive without their daily mix of hauteur and schmaltz. After all, the meager offerings of PBS and NPR are outclassed all over the airwaves. And you know what? There's another amazing invention that predates radio and television and is far more educational and entertaining than either. It's called the printed word. You'll find it in books, magazines, newspapers, and on the Internet. Public broadcasting was never necessary, and it surely isn't now.