Minnesotans Organize Rally for Public Broadcasting

Last Saturday morning, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution eliminating all Federal funding for local public television and radio stations by a vote of 235-189.  On February 28th, the continuing resolution will be taken up by the Senate.  This funding is critical for public broadcasters.

There is a community rally for public broadcasting this Thursday (Feb. 24th) starting at 11am at the Cray Plaza in St. Paul including special guest Congresswoman McCollum. 

"We urge the Senate to reject this House action, and we hope the final decision on this matter will recognize the enduring value of public broadcasting as America’s largest classroom, its greatest stage, and its most trusted and comprehensive source of information for the citizens of the world’s greatest democracy" - Public Media Association president Patrick Butler

Get more information on this issue at 170millionamericans.org.

Who Are They Kidding???

There is much hand-wringing among public broadcasters these days. Public TV and radio have been hanging their hats on the 170 Million Americans website, hoping that loyal listeners and viewers will help tell our story to legislators. We’re all very busy talking positively about what our organizations do in the community and talking about the big, at-least-trying-not-to-be-biased journalistic hole NPR is filling.

But here are some of the things we’re hearing back: "If 170 million Americans rely on your service, why do you need money from the Federal government?"  "Perhaps you haven't been quite as efficient and effective in your own fundraising efforts as you could be." "This business model you’ve been using--asking for voluntary contributions--maybe it just doesn't work and it's time to find a new business model. Maybe you should just sell commercials.”  And even: “If it isn’t working, turn the public radio spectrum over to commercial broadcasters who definitely can make money there. Public broadcasters should just go online.”

In short, legislators are having none of it and we’re still squarely on the chopping block.

But…Who are these people kidding???

Public broadcasting and the National Endowments for the Humanities and Arts, and other quality of life programs that are being targeted have absolutely no bearing on the national debt. In our country they are funded at embarrassingly low levels when compared to other developed countries. And if these programs are terminated they won’t be rebuilt any time soon.

But a year’s funding for public broadcasting doesn’t amount to even one day’s expenditure for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the grand scheme of things, we public broadcasters are peanuts.

The real work of Congress is to take on the hard issues—like tax reform, defense spending for programs the military doesn’t even want, stabilizing and reviewing Medicare and Medicaid, and making sure Social Security remains funded. Unfortunately, these are the things few politicians have the guts to do. They’d rather set another, less arduous agenda.

The legislators who want to defund public broadcasting are shirking that responsibility, hiding behind a smoke screen, trying to fool the public into thinking they are doing something real.

Well, they aren’t. They just want to show that they’re cutting something—anything—without having to take the time and risk of delving into the substantive, hard issues.

It’s time for all of us—public broadcasters, artists, humanitarians and the general public—to hold our legislators accountable. Stop this nonsense and get to work on the things that matter.

Maggie Montgomery, General Manager
Northern Community Radio

Please Join 170 Million Americans for Public Broadcasting

If you love 91.7 KAXE and Northern Community Radio, keep reading!

Public broadcasting is the subject of a critical debate in Washington. The question under consideration is whether to keep funding public television and radio to ensure quality news and cultural programming for our communities–or not! 170 Million Americans listen to public radio stations like KAXE, or watch public TV, or use other kinds of public media every month.  If you are reading this blog, you’re one of that 170 million, and we’re asking you to add your voice to this debate. To do that, go to 170MillionAmericans.org and sign up for the 170 Million Americans campaign. When you register you will receive email updates about the status of this situation, and an occasional request to take action.

• More than half of all Americans use some form of public media every month.
  170 million Americans connect through 368 public television stations, 934 public radio stations, hundreds of online services, and in-person events and activities.
• Public broadcasting is one of the most effective public/private partnerships in America.
  Annual federal funding amounts to only $1.35 per American and is leveraged by local stations to raise six times that amount from other sources.
• Public broadcasting supports lifelong learning for all Americans.
  Investments in children’s educational, cultural, public affairs and news programming, digital classroom resources, teacher training, and distance learning have made public broadcasting a leader in lifelong learning.
• Public broadcasting strengthens our democracy. The free flow of ideas and debate helps us participate in the political process as informed citizens.
  

KAXE is proud to participate in the 170 Million Americans campaign. It’s an unprecedented collaboration of public radio and television stations, public broadcasting organizations, and listeners and viewers throughout the country, all in favor of strong public media in the United States. KAXE receives more than 1/4 of its $700,000 total budget through the combined investment of many citizens at the federal and state levels. KAXE relies more on federal and state support than most public broadcasting organizations do because we are a rural station. For any one person, this investment is very small, but when it's all put together it does a lot. Taking the "public" out of public broadcasting is a serious issue with many potential consequences. To help ensure the continued health of small stations like KAXE, and of large news and cultural organizations like NPR and PBS, go to 170MillionAmericans.org now and join the campaign. Thank you very much!

Math, Public Broadcasting and KAXE

Recently we’ve heard a lot of talk about cutting or even “zeroing out” public broadcasting. I remember when this happened in the mid ‘90s. At the time, Newt Gingrich led congressional leaders in calling for a “glidepath to zero” for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). That plan was ultimately scrapped due to a huge outpouring of grassroots support from the listening and viewing public.

This time, the fires seem to have been fanned by NPR’s (National Public Radio) firing of Juan Williams. Yesterday we also learned that cuts to CPB were part of the proposed $200 billion in spending cuts identified by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility.

So I did some math, based on the most recent public broadcasting appropriations. (This is not “per-taxpayer” ciphering—the numbers are based on “total population” and include everyone, even our kids). What I found is that even in these fiscally challenging times, public broadcasting is still a heckuva good deal.

If you are a typical taxpayer, you probably pay less for public broadcasting than you realize! On average, each Minnesotan invests just $1.76 per year—total—both federal and state—to help support our national and state public broadcasting systems.

Here are the nuts and bolts of how public support for public broadcasting breaks down for us in Minnesota:

On the federal level:

The total CPB appropriation for FY11 is $430,000,000

The CPB subtracts its own operating costs (about 11%) and then distributes what’s left (89%) to stations and program producers.

• 75% of what’s left goes to TV.
• 25% goes to radio (by that formula, $95,675,000 will go to public radio stations and programs in FY11).

The population of the US (estimated as of 11/11/10) is 310,681,000 people.

This means each American invests $1.38 to help support the public broadcasting system in its largest sense, of which 22¢ per year is for public radio.

In Minnesota:

In the State of Minnesota, the entire public broadcasting budget for 2011 is $2,015,000.

More than half of that is for public TV ($1,378,000). MPR receives $250,000/year and 11 AMPERS stations receive $387,000/year (equipment and operating combined, or $35,181/station—one AMPERS station is too small to qualify for state funding).

The population of MN (2009 estimate) is 5,266,214

Doing the math, the average citizen in Minnesota invests just 38¢ to support public broadcasting statewide.

Of that amount, 26¢ supports public TV.

For radio (AMPERS and MPR combined), it’s 12¢/person.

For AMPERS stations only (like KAXE), that investment is 7.3¢ per person per year.

Here’s what we get for our investment: The money that goes to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is used to help fund 1,214 independent, nonprofit TV and radio stations like KAXE across the US. The stations use their federal dollars to leverage six times that amount in programming and services, creating 17,000 jobs in the American economy.

We also get educational and entertaining programs created by trusted news and production organizations like NPR, PRI and PBS, including Car Talk, Sesame Street, Nova, Morning Edition and All Things Considered. In a Harris poll conducted in 2005, NPR and PBS were named the most trusted news sources in the United States by the general public. NPR and PBS receive most of their funding from stations. Only a tiny part of their budgets come from government sources.

In Minnesota, our long-time investment in public broadcasting helps keep stations relevant and vital. It helps Minnesota Public Radio buy critical new equipment. It supports public television stations in the Twin Cities, Appleton, Austin, Bemidji, Brainerd, Duluth and Hibbing. For AMPERS stations like KAXE, it is used for operations and infrastructure, which underpin our ability to create meaningful programming for our local communities. State funds help us employ local people, and form a basis for pulling in additional matching funds.

I hope you agree that we squeeze a lot out of your investment. Public broadcasting is a treasure that is available to everyone. Please keep this in mind as the federal and state budget year unfolds!

Maggie Montgomery, General Manager
Northern Community Radio