Catching more media dissembling on behalf of U.S. government torture policies, the Daily Beast‘s Scott Horton lets readers know (10/10/08) that
on Thursday evening WNET in New York will air an important new documentary by Emmy and Dupont Award winning producer Sherry Jones entitled Torturing Democracy. It appears on WNET and several other affiliates independently because PBS would not run the show–at least not until President Bush has left office.
This spring, PBS‘s distinguished Frontline series aired a mildly critical account of the lead-up to the Iraq War entitled Bush’s War. As the airing of the program was announced, the Bush administration proposed to slash public funding for PBS by roughly half for 2009, by 56 percent for 2010 and eliminating funding entirely for 2011.
Horton wonders: “Did PBS get the message? Perhaps.”
“Perhaps”?
Make that “No doubt.”
But PBS really doesn’t need to get the message to stay on message, do they?
Look at the state of public television today: cooking and travel shows, wealth management programs, Beltway punditry …
The only “public” served by that lineup are those wealthy enough to afford the products and services that sponsor it.
And to donate to PBS.
Just a happy coincidence?
Perhaps.