Court reaffirms CPB's independence

[TheBigA]

Why do we need the government to fund programming in today's world?

The CPB didn't only fund programming. They made grants that helped pay for operations, emergency notifications, satellite distribution, music royalties, and staffing. The programs they funded were for specialized programming that are not being done by commercial broadcasting. Classical music, jazz, and AAA music that have audience but they tend to be too old for advertisers. The funding didn't cover all of the expense. The stations were required to achieve certain ratings, raise money locally, and CPB would provide matching funds. This was because republicans wanted the radio stations to work for their money, not simply receive free money.

Once again - why is the government funding any programming at this point?

Once again, the congress voted to zero out all funding. Why do you keep harping on something that no longer exists?

 

[TheBigA]

No reason to “guess” about anything. You turned off notifications because you decided you didn’t need them - your choice and your responsibility for your own safety. Doesn’t matter to me what you do - that is your deal

I turned them off because they were always about potential flooding, and I don't live in a flood area. After being awakened at 3AM, I shut them off.

I'm not the only one. Lots of other people do it. I'm just pointing out what phone notifications aren't 100% effective.

A new report finds rising ‘alert fatigue’ as smartphone users are bombarded with dozens of news notifications each day. Nearly 80% now avoid alerts altogether.

Please don't tell me why I do things. I'm not asking the government to rebuild my house. But it's something they still do. Ask people in Texas.

 

[ok walters]

I turned them off because they were always about potential flooding, and I don't live in a flood area. After being awakened at 3AM, I shut them off.

Please don't tell me why I do things. I'm not asking for the government to rebuild my house. But it's something they still do.

You made a choice based on being responsible for your own safety. I love how natural disasters are compared to personal choices as if there is any connection. Wildfires, once in a lifetime floods, earthquakes, and hurricanes are not the same as choosing to live in the wilderness and expecting help with day to day life.

 

[TheBigA]

You made a choice based on being responsible for your own safety. I love how natural disasters are compared to personal choices as if there is any connection. Wildfires, once in a lifetime floods, earthquakes, and hurricanes are not the same as choosing to live in the wilderness and expecting help with day to day life.

I'm not the one who brought it up. Why are you telling me?

I don't think people who live in the wilderness "expect help." However, when they get it, it's appreciated.

 

[ok walters]

The CPB didn't only fund programming. They made grants that helped pay for operations, emergency notifications, satellite distribution, music royalties, and staffing. The programs they funded were for specialized programming that are not being done by commercial broadcasting. Classical music, jazz, and AAA music that have audience but they tend to be too old for advertisers. The funding didn't cover all of the expense. The stations were required to achieve certain ratings, raise money locally, and CPB would provide matching funds. This was because republicans wanted the radio stations to work for their money, not simply receive free money.

The statement I responded to was about government funded programming but you want to talk about everything else and didn’t even answer the question. So once again - even though the question wasn’t aimed at you initially - in today’s world, why is the government funding any PROGRAMMING?

Once again, the congress voted to zero out all funding. Why do you keep harping on something that no longer exists?

The topic was the elimination of CPB funding and its effects on public radio. Kind of hard to discuss it all without talking about what was eliminated and why it happened and what the future looks like

 

[TheBigA]

The statement I responded to was about government funded programming but you want to talk about everything else and didn’t even answer the question. So once again - even though the question wasn’t aimed at you initially - in today’s world, why is the government funding any PROGRAMMING?

Because commercial broadcasting doesn't do it. Still. It's become even worse today than it was 60 years ago.

Locally owned and programmed broadcasting is becoming harder to find. This won't help.

The topic was the elimination of CPB funding and its effects on public radio. Kind of hard to discuss it all without talking about what was eliminated and why it happened and what the future looks like

You've become what we call a sore winner. You won and you're still angry.

 

[ok walters]

I'm not the one who brought it up. Why are you telling me?

You responded to DE’s post about cell phones being far more efficient by saying you don’t use the notifications. You DID bring it up in an attempt to downplay cell phones as an option. You then made repeated comments about not asking the government to rebuild your house and about disaster response, so yes you did bring it up

 

[TheBigA]

You responded to DE’s post about cell phones being far more efficient by saying you don’t use the notifications. You DID bring it up in an attempt to downplay cell phones as an option. You then made repeated comments about not asking the government to rebuild your house and about disaster response, so yes you did bring it up

If I responded to someone, I didn't bring it up. You're becoming argumentative.

 

[ok walters]

Because commercial broadcasting doesn't do it. Still. It's become even worse today than it was 60 years ago.

So isn’t commercially viable anymore so it is now the governments responsibility?

You've become what we call a sore winner. You won and you're still angry.

Not angry and not sure why you call me a “winner” as none of this affects me one bit. If being an advocate of personal responsibility and less government dependence makes me a winner then so be it.

 

[TheBigA]

So isn’t commercially viable anymore so it is now the governments responsibility?

Not necessarily. The congress voted to provide this service, and it existed for 60 years. So obviously somebody wanted it.

The defunding barely passed, and I'm hearing some repubs are looking for ways to revive it in a slightly different form.

 

[ok walters]

Not necessarily. The congress voted to provide this service, and it existed for 60 years. So obviously somebody wanted it.

Agreed - it was necessary in 1967 but that day has long passed. There are thousands of programming options now so it was time to pull the plug

 

[TheBigA]

Agreed - it was necessary in 1967 but that day has long passed. There are thousands of programming options now so it was time to pull the plug

They vote to renew it every year. This same congress voted to renew it in March. Just four months ago.

What was it Springsteen said about 57 channels and nothing's on? People want what they want. Millions love public broadcasting. They vote too.

 

[ok walters]

They vote to renew it every year. This same congress voted to renew it in March. Just four months ago.

What was it Springsteen said about 57 channels and nothing's on? People want what they want. Millions love public broadcasting. They vote too.

Annual appropriations are just that - annual. They can go away as fast as they appeared and sometimes do. Seems that many didn’t understand that part of it.

Personally, I would rather have internet access and those 57 channels as opposed to one radio station and no choices, but that is just me.

 

[TheBigA]

Annual appropriations are just that - annual. They can go away as fast as they appeared and sometimes do. Seems that many didn’t understand that part of it.

This funding, approved in March, was for 2026 and 27. The only reason it went away is because the president threatened members of congress. There's a legal question about if he can do that. If they had been allowed to vote their conscience, it would not have passed. That's why he threatened them.

As I said, a lot of repubs are looking for ways to revive this funding in a different form. Their states need the money.

 

[ok walters]

This funding, approved in March, was for 2026 and 27. The only reason it went away is because the president threatened members of congress. There's a legal question about if he can do that. If they had been allowed to vote their conscience, it would not have passed. That's why he threatened them.

As I said, a lot of repubs are looking for ways to revive this funding in a different form. Their states need the money.

The funding for rural radio may come back, but the NPR funding is history. They did that to themselves. There is support for local radio but not for some of the other CPB funding items. Funny thing is if the government had actually implemented the $42 billion program to expand rural internet, this rural radio funding would probably be far less important

 

[TheBigA]

The funding for rural radio may come back, but the NPR funding is history.

The NPR funding was cut by Ronald Reagan in 1983. He was the one who diverted it to the states.

The whole focus on NPR was misplaced. NPR doesn't own any stations, and the stations don't have to run any NPR programming.

 

[gr8oldies]

The commercial broadcaster with a right wing talk format, Fox News, Townhall, and the Godcaster relays are all privately funded entities providing a free service over the radio. If you want something that is not available for free over the air, who should pay for you to have it? You, right?

There used to be this "public interest, convenience and necessity thing" where the airwaves don't belong only to right-wing corporations but that's dreamland.

 

[ok walters]

There used to be this "public interest, convenience and necessity thing" where the airwaves don't belong only to right-wing corporations but that's dreamland.

There used to be a lot of things - payphones, pagers, and VCRs - but the world moves on. “Public interest convenience and necessity” was fine when there was limited radio bandwidth and no internet, but that has been replaced by every choice under the sun. Radio is just one option now. What you hear on air is what is commercially viable in your area - that is the only way it can be free.

 

[ok walters]

The NPR funding was cut by Ronald Reagan in 1983. He was the one who diverted it to the states.

The whole focus on NPR was misplaced. NPR doesn't own any stations, and the stations don't have to run any NPR programming.

But the “member stations” can and do run lots of NPR programming by choice, and they pay NPR for that programming, so there is that money going to them indirectly.

 

[TheBigA]

But the “member stations” can and do run lots of NPR programming by choice, and they pay NPR for that programming, so there is that money going to them indirectly.

They pay with their money.