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Former Alabama PBS Executive Director Sues

DToTheJ

DToTheJ

Alabama Public Television dismissed Allan Pizzato last month, possibly due to his "reluctance to air programming with a deeply Christian bent," though that was shot down by a member of the state's educational television commission. Anyway, it appears he's suing for wrongful termination. Incidentally, "staff morale is the lowest" since his departure from APT.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/bl..._Destructive_Spiral_After_Curious_Firings.php
 
Wait one second why should PBS be required to air Christian programming. Doesn't TBN, and CBN does this on cable or OTA in some markets. This got to be the outright hypocracy management is selling.
 
recto101 said:
Wait one second why should PBS be required to air Christian programming.
Click to expand...

Ahhh! I can see that you have not been full immersed in "Southerness". ;D

We can assume that the religious broadcasters you have mentioned do not provide Alabama with the proper "Southern Religious Ingredients".

Maybe we can organize a webinar next week to bring you up to speed. After all, we can't have our people grazing in the pastures of Yankee religion.
 
Yeah, I have been following this situation closely and it could lead to a formerly top-notch public television organization to crash and burn. The politics of some Alabamians is completely toxic to objectivity of media and it has been very apparent to many viewers and fundraisers. I don't care what region of the US you are, you cannot broadcast demagoguery and think there won't be serious consequences with PBS. This situation could put their PBS license to broadcast the network's programming in jeopardy as well...

This all the more reason why I think Birmingham should have mirrored Atlanta and gotten its own PBS affiliate (via the University of Alabama at Birmingham) back in the 1970s to allow objectivity to air regardless of Alabama's overly demagogically destructive nature.
 
kilamanjero said:
Yeah, I have been following this situation closely and it could lead to a formerly top-notch public television organization to crash and burn. The politics of some Alabamians is completely toxic to objectivity of media and it has been very apparent to many viewers and fundraisers. I don't care what region of the US you are, you cannot broadcast demagoguery and think there won't be serious consequences with PBS. This situation could put their PBS license to broadcast the network's programming in jeopardy as well...
Click to expand...

This was not the first time they got in trouble -- back in the 1960s and 1970s, they refused to run programs that emphhasised racial harmony and civil rights, including Sesame Street, and almost lost their licenses.
 
It'll be a very sad day if this ultimately results in no OTA PBS programming for Alabama. However, there's one thing that the 1960s and 1970s didn't have and that's a more accessible, evolved internet. So, at least some of the content could still be available to Alabamians if they really want it.
 
recto101 said:
Wait one second why should PBS be required to air Christian programming. Doesn't TBN, and CBN does this on cable or OTA in some markets. This got to be the outright hypocracy management is selling.
Click to expand...

some PBS stations in the bible belt air gospel music shows (minus the preaching and proselytizing)
 
If Alabama Public Television were to stop functioning, many folks in southwest Alabama would still have access to PBS programs through WSRE-TV in Pensacola, Florida. The folks at Comcast Cablevision of Mobile may want to consider adding programming from WSRE-TV to their cable TV system if Alabama Public Television were to stop functioning.
 
Mario-500 said:
If Alabama Public Television were to stop functioning, many folks in southwest Alabama would still have access to PBS programs through WSRE-TV in Pensacola, Florida. The folks at Comcast Cablevision of Mobile may want to consider adding programming from WSRE-TV to their cable TV system if Alabama Public Television were to stop functioning.
Click to expand...

The same could be said about the people in East Alabama near Columbus, Georgia and LaGrange, Georgia because they are within the coverage area of 2 PBS member stations within the GPB network.
 
Mario-500 said:
If Alabama Public Television were to stop functioning, many folks in southwest Alabama would still have access to PBS programs through WSRE-TV in Pensacola, Florida. The folks at Comcast Cablevision of Mobile may want to consider adding programming from WSRE-TV to their cable TV system if Alabama Public Television were to stop functioning.
Click to expand...

If PBS yanked their affiliation, what would they replace it with, more David Barton documentaries?
 
Wait Didn't KOCE the PBS station in LA at one point supposed to have a religious affiliation until the religious group backed away and decided to be on a subchannel of KOCE.
 
By portraying himself as the victim of Eeeeeeeevil Right-Wing Bible Belt Christians,
this guy is hoping to gain the sympathy of some public broadcasting executive in a Progressive city
(and, no doubt, a job offer).

This ploy has secured tenured positions on many, many college campuses over the past 30 years.
 
DToTheJ said:
In a related story:
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/bl...-_Bama_Broadcast_Battle_But_Not_About_PBS.php
Click to expand...

Thanks to RSA/Raycom, Birmingham has become one of the most whack and "most country" TV markets in the top 40 largest markets. I would have rather had Local TV LLC kept WBRC then they wouldn't be dealing this "backwoods operation" known as Raycom. I thank my lucky stars to have escaped the place to Atlanta because WBRC has under Raycom ownership (like all the other stations except WIAT) has de-emphasis the importance of Birmingham, the only true major city in the market and in Alabama, in lieu of airing fluff like the festivals in nowhere-ville in the market as actual news. Raycom is a joke of an broadcasting operation...
 
Would you have opted for "the FOX way" of news (WBRC was a FOX O&O from 1994-2008)?
 
DToTheJ said:
Would you have opted for "the FOX way" of news (WBRC was a FOX O&O from 1994-2008)?
Click to expand...

No, I would have opted they did the Local TV way of doing news like KDVR, KTVI, and WJW, where it doesn't remind you of them being a small shop operation when in reality they are not...
 
kilamanjero said:
DToTheJ said:
Would you have opted for "the FOX way" of news (WBRC was a FOX O&O from 1994-2008)?
Click to expand...

No, I would have opted they did the Local TV way of doing news like KDVR, KTVI, and WJW, where it doesn't remind you of them being a small shop operation when in reality they are not...
Click to expand...

Local TV's WDAF was the last in the market to go HD
 
Raycom is actually the BEST thing to happen to TV stations in a long time, in Montgomery they have made flasgship station WSFA to be a political powerhouse and able to show the story from both sides of the an issue.

The biggest problem with Alabama Publci television is that they closed their Montogmery Office and WAIQ, all APT programming is aired Via Satellite from B'ham or Mobile.

APT's Montgomery Station was a huge player in coverage of state politics and had great programming, but the now ex-director decided that wasn't needed.
 
What APTV programming originates from Mobile/WEIQ?

On a side note, I've recently noticed Georgia public tv programming on APTV and APTV programming on WSRE in Pensacola, FL. It's about time these stations started working together.
 
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