Arkansas Becoming 1st State To Sever Ties With PBS, Effective July 1 (apnews.com)
- Reference: 0180372077
- News link: https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/25/12/12/2040247/arkansas-becoming-1st-state-to-sever-ties-with-pbs-effective-july-1
- Source link: https://apnews.com/article/arkansas-public-television-sever-ties-56ec111ffcc4de431d6fd06ba0df8e40
> Arkansas is becoming the first state to [2]officially end its public television affiliation with PBS . The Arkansas Educational Television Commission, whose members are all appointed by the governor, voted to disaffiliate from PBS effective July 1, 2026, citing the $2.5 million annual membership dues as "not feasible." The decision was also driven by the loss of a similar amount in federal funding after the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) was defunded by Congress.
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> PBS Arkansas is rebranding itself as Arkansas TV and will provide more local content, the agency's Executive Director and CEO Carlton Wing said in a statement. Wing, a former Republican state representative, took the helm of the agency in September. "Public television in Arkansas is not going away," Wing said. "In fact, we invite you to join our vision for an increased focus on local programming, continuing to safeguard Arkansans in times of emergency and supporting our K-12 educators and students."
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> "The commission's decision to drop PBS membership is a blow to Arkansans who will lose free, over the air access to quality PBS programming they know and love," a PBS spokesperson wrote in an email to The Associated Press. The demise of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, is a direct result of President Donald Trump's targeting of public media, which he has repeatedly said is spreading political and cultural views antithetical to those the United States should be espousing. Trump denied taking a big should on television viewers.
[1] https://slashdot.org/~joshuark
[2] https://apnews.com/article/arkansas-public-television-sever-ties-56ec111ffcc4de431d6fd06ba0df8e40
What is this supposed to mean? (Score:4, Insightful)
At the tail end of the summary:
"Trump denied taking a big should on television viewers."
What in the What now?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
"Trump denied taking a big shit on television viewers."
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, that would be my guess as well. I'd imagine that the editors started their Friday evening drinking a bit early, but I'm hoping that it was supposed to be something slightly more intelligent sounding than that?
Re: (Score:1)
I was just joking, I'm curious about it too. If the summary was written by AI though, anything's possible...
Dumbing down (Score:5, Interesting)
$2.5 million doesn't even register on the state budget. PBS is incredible value for the money. I watched PBS frequently as a child and not just for the childrens shows. I learned to cook with Julia Child and Yan Can Cook. I learned home improvement from watching Bob Vila. I learned carpentry from Norm and his massive shop and also how it was done by hand with the Woodrights Shop. Not to mention all the science and documentary shows. But I guess all that stuff is woke and gay now for not kissing a certain orange individuals ring.
Re:Dumbing down (Score:5, Informative)
MAGA with mod points are already butthurt. The Arkansas budget is $ 6.49 billion. [1]https://arkansasadvocate.com/2... [arkansasadvocate.com]
We're looking at what, 0.04% of the budget for PBS?
[1] https://arkansasadvocate.com/2025/04/17/arkansas-lawmakers-approve-182-5-million-state-budget-increase/
Re: (Score:1)
Well... maybe in Arkansas. It's not the most wealthy of states, after all. It's not a big surprise to me they're the first to fold. They would have been one of my top three guesses.
Re:Dumbing down (Score:4, Interesting)
Most of those shows that you mentioned were popular in the 1990's. You forgot to mention The Computer Chronicles, which probably helped me get interested in technology back then.
I'd imagine that conservatives probably think that PBS lost it's way in the 2010-2020's and became the "social justice network" instead. It really seemed to put a lot of it's focus on systemic racism around that time, and made some powerful enemies in the process.
Re: (Score:2)
If you haven't seriously checked out anything on PBS since the 90's you're missing out. They've still been delivering excellent new educational content for adults and children up to the present, and their entertainment content is surprisingly good too. Back during the stupid actor's guild strike when nothing was on TV I took the time to give PBS a chance again for the first time since childhood and found it to be exemplary. Sure, maybe youtube howto videos might cover a lot of the fundamentals of this, but
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
I watched all the stuff the GPP mentioned when I was young, and I actually watch a lot of PBS now; but not nearly as much and less and less all the time. Why because i am replacing it with youtube'ers who genuinely are better.
As great as Roy Underhill's or Norm Abrams' shows ever were, I learned more applicable wood working from Acorn to Arabella and Sampson Boat Co, or at least understood them finally. Same things with cooking, ATK is still amazing, and Julia and Pépin shaped me in the kitchen;
Re: (Score:2)
First off that's talking about guests, guests aren't typically paid for appearances you silly goose.
Also how many liberals are guests on Fox, Newsmax, OANN, etc? Also they don't mentioned if the I'm sure reputable journalists at... let's check, fucking Newsbusters (says a lot about your media diet) did their journalistic due diligence and asked PBS why that was the case. Maybe they ask a bunch of conservatives and they get turned down because so many of them prefer to go to their multitiude of safe spaces
Re:Dumbing down (Score:4, Insightful)
> Certainly in the era before ubiquitous highspeed internet access and pick your self-publishing video platform, those things were great.
Who needs school when we have TikTok?
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As nice as YouTube science content can be, shows like PBS Nova are still better because they had the budget to do better and the incentive to get it right.
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A lot of their programs are Discovery-style drivel where half the show is devoted to disproven nonsense "some people believe," and even the parts that are accurate don't try to teach anything useful, but instead go through only the parts of the discussion that have wow-words.
Sometimes it is good, but there is generally better (and also worse) content on YT made without the big budget.
If PBS stopped making that content, perhaps local public broadcasters could make higher quality content on the same subjects
Re: (Score:2)
> If PBS stopped making that content, perhaps local public broadcasters could make higher quality content on the same subjects with a lower budget.
Welcome to making science content for the masses and all ages, you do have to simplify things a bit.
I don't think it was PBS that was stopping local broadcasters from doing that up to this point, PBS exists because most places do not in fact produce such content given their own initiatives. Video production is more accessible today than anytime in history, nothing was stopping this.
Re: Dumbing down (Score:2)
Some of PBSes YouTube channels are quite good. Spacetime comes to mind.
Re:Dumbing down (Score:4, Insightful)
Sounds like some good learnin', but Republicans, "Conservatives" and MAGA don't really want a well-rounded, well-educated electorate who can think for themselves, especially if it would disadvantage those in charge.
Re: (Score:1)
How sad. Someone programmed the NPC to espouse the virtues of thinking for yourself and to call itself well rounded.
If I pull the string again, do I get a different line?
Re: Dumbing down (Score:3)
The LA public television station also balked at the price of PBS affiliation a few years ago. So it could be that they will opt to produce their own programming, or buy shows directly from the producers/distributers and continue to broadcast educational programming. But it's Arkansas, so maybe it will be The Walmart Product Information Hour--brought to you by The Noah's Ark Experience.
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How much do you want to bet the "local programming" ends up costing more than $2.5 million, and half of it disappears into some Maggat's crypto account?
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This is the second time parody metal band Psychostick has foretold the future of US politics, first with [1]"Political bum" [youtube.com] and then [2]"Numbers" [youtube.com] - complete with muppets!
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNZj2RrrkfI
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8ccGjar4Es
PragerU Funding Incoming (Score:4, Interesting)
Now that they've gotten rid of this woke DEI nonsense, they can spend 10x as much on some more wholesome and less-indoctrinating educational materials! /s
Re: (Score:3)
Prager is an orthodox Jew. He's probably not popular in Arkansas, either.
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I disagree the goals of the idiots pushing these changes, but local content is the part of public broadcasting that I find interesting. Keep in mind that a lot of the employees at public broadcasters, even in a red state, have the same values as public broadcasting employees in liberal states. It is quite possible that they will indeed have an increase in wholesome local content.
The big thing they're losing is wholesome children's content. Local art, history, and cultural programs can be made on a budget, b
Re: (Score:2)
If you didn't have bottom-third literacy you'd have just read the data in the chart. Since Arkansas starts with an A and the list is alphabetical you'd have found it very easily.
However, since you can barely read you resorted to looking at the pictures. And your geography knowledge is also bottom-third, so you failed to correctly identify Arkansas on the map.
They're a middle-third State, and the highest-ranked in the Deep South region.
Not the end of the world (Score:1)
I am sure Arkansas residents can still get access to PBS content via Apps on their digital platform of choice. This is actually an interesting move because it could be the start of another competitive option. Or it fails and they bring the content back.
Re: (Score:2)
There's nothing stopping the State of Arkansas from licensing individual programs from PBS and/or the associated production companies, either. They can pick and choose what they want, including older stuff that no longer airs.
A little irony for ya (Score:2)
[1]https://www.myarkansaspbs.org/... [myarkansaspbs.org]
> Arkansas PBS is excited to announce that former State Rep. Carlton Wing has been selected as the agency’s new executive director and chief executive officer. Wing brings more than three decades of leadership experience in broadcasting, media and public service to the state’s only public media network. The Arkansas PBS commission and staff are looking forward to his first day in the office, on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
Maybe they should have been a little more nervous.
[1] https://www.myarkansaspbs.org/blog/arkansas-pbs-welcomes-carlton-wing-executive-director-and-ceo
Filled with morons (Score:2)
Arkansas doesn't know the first thing about education. Nor does the child predator known as Carlton Wing - who has a degree in radio broadcasting. He knows nothing of politics, education, or running a business.
Arkansas Ranked:
33/50 for Pre-K - 12.
35/50 for higher education
47/50 for quality of education
45/50 for public schools
49/50 for rate of 4yr degrees earned
41/50 for reading proficiency
43/50 overall education
Sorry Big Bird (Score:5, Insightful)
Turns out you were a woke DEI hire all along.
Also let's not beat around the bush, when Trump says anithetical to the United States he means himself. Antithetical to him. Not allowed!
Re: (Score:2)
Congrats on provoking so much vacuous ire?
Not disagreeing with you on the substance, but seems increasingly pointless to me to worry about it. Not just out of my pay grade, but these days all of the crucial decisions are being made by selfish a-holes for stupid and shortsighted reasons. Can't even imagine why they are so concerned about dying with the most toys, but...
Re: (Score:2)
Even HBO wants nothing to do with Big Bird anymore:
[1]https://www.npr.org/2024/12/17... [npr.org]
[1] https://www.npr.org/2024/12/17/nx-s1-5231822/hbo-ends-partnership-with-sesame-street
Re: (Score:2)
If you want to use David Zaslav as the arbiter of quality children's programming you go right ahead.