Elizabeth Jensen has a preview (New York Times, 1/8/12) of the new Bill Moyers program coming to public television stations later this month–a show that is not being distributed by PBS. Why not? She reports:
Mr. Moyers said he was unsure why PBS, where he has spent most of his career since 1971, declined the show for its main schedule. Some public television executives, who would not publicly comment on a sensitive issue, said they believed that PBS did not want to realign itself with Mr. Moyers, a longtime target of some conservatives, as it was fighting to keep its federal financing.
Perhaps PBS might consider a new, more accurate slogan: Not Offending Conservatives When We’re Fighting for Funding, Which Is Always.
In the piece, Moyers seems happy with the situation, saying that “we don’t have to worry about somebody at PBS losing sleep over the fact that David Stockman says the Republicans have lost their minds on taxes.”
And Jensen adds:
His return comes as public television executives are debating their path: More Downton Abbey, or local and national news? So far, public affairs programming is losing. PBS canceled Now when Bill Moyers Journal ended; the replacement show Need to Know was recently trimmed from one hour to 30 minutes.
Yet, Mr. Moyers noted, PBS announced an additional version of Antiques Roadshow just a few weeks after the Census Bureau released figures showing the number of people living in poverty had risen to more than 46 million.
“I love Antiques Roadshow,” he added. “But it is just symbolic of how we’re not connected viscerally to the state of the American people right now.”
We shouldn’t put Moyers – or anyone else, for that matter – on a pedestal, but regardless, “PBS” can only stand for one thing today:
Pablum
Before
Substance
Please: end all government funding for PBS. Maybe then they will get a backbone.
whenever I ask a right winger to give me an example of “Liberal Bias” at PBS
they can only give fake examples from Newsbusters
I happen to have been one of those young persons who has always enjoyed PBS educational/informative programs. I have always loved Mr. Moyers programs for years. We need people like him to continue to be able to air important views on the tube unlike the daily nonsense of many so called reality shows. There are too much buffoonery and insanity to downright evil programs invading the airwaves and it is sickening to hear. However, there is a major problem within this country. Right wing demagogues have hijacked this nation period and has infiltrated the entire world. Both political parties and many major networks cater to the evil.
I have been watching Public Television since my cousin gave us a television with a 9″ screen and magnifier to enlarge it. When I became a mom I watched the children’s programs with them, learned German on “Guten Tag”, and much, much, much, more. Always quality viewing never less.
However, their not showing the new Bill Moyers program is unconsconable. It is supposed to be “public” television. Are they, too, trying to “dumb down America”?
I will certainly get on PBS’ website and send an e-mail, perhaps telephone them …
My PBS station, KPBS has Mr. Moyers’ program on its schedule for tonight at 10PM. I am hopeful. If it is run, I will send the support check I have been holding onto.
Bill Moyers show will air in NYC at 6pm on Sunday nights.
I just looked it up.
And there’s a website for Bill Moyers, can’t remember it right now.
I am so happy he is returning to CH. 13.
Julie Finch
My husband & I used to make sure we were home on Friday nights to watch Bill Moyers interviewing his wonderful guests. We miss him and hope that our PBS station will realize what a mistake they have made in not having him as part of intelligent programming.
We have been supporters of PBS for many years and hope that Bill Moyers will be reinstated.
Respectfully, Helen & Paul Canin
Ralph Nader’s take on PBS in general and Moyers in particular:
â┚¬Ã…“The real tragedy is that citizens’ movements should not have to rely on the commercial media; and public television and radio are disgraceful â┚¬“ if anything, they are worse. In thirty-some years, [Bill] Moyers has had me on only twice.â┚¬Ã‚Â
Do not confuse PBS with local PBS stations. PBS decided not to include Moyers in their national schedule, but another public television distributor that supplies PBS stations with programming, American Public Television, is providing the program and it is being broadcast in 93 percent of all markets throughout the country. I would be surprised if this isn’t about the same level of distribution Moyers original program had when PBS distributed it.
Advocating defunding PBS because someone besides PBS national is distributing this show to your local station makes no sense at all. If your local station is airing it, you can watch it; if they’re not, call them and tell them you want to see it in their schedule. Decisions on what to broadcast are made at the local level, based on viewer feedback, not by PBS.
Is Moyers a lightning rod for the Right? Yes. But did PBS do him any harm by letting someone else distribute his show? Not really. If there were no other outlet, I’m pretty sure PBS wouldn’t leave Moyers out in the cold. They just chose to sidestep this opportunity to draw fire. If this is all it takes for people to call for defunding PBS, well that explains why they’re running a little scared, doesn’t it?
I too will miss Bill Moyers. It is a sad commentary on the once ground breaking NPR programming.
Here in S California, we have two public tv stations broadcasting from the La area.
KCET is one that broke away from the Corp. in Jan. 2011 and now shows mostly reruns from old PBS tv shows. Tonight they are actually airing Moyers at 8:00 PM!
The other PBS station, KOCE had decided at first not to show Moyers but came to their senses and will air him on Sundays @ 6:00PM.
Maybe they received enough emails to air his show. Looking forward to watching tonight.
To be fair, FAIR should have mentioned in its story that most local Public Television stations will be carrying Moyers’ new program; it is being distributed by American Public Television. In St. louis Channel 9 is showing it at noon on Sundays. Check your local station for the program for it will vary, and write APT and tell them thank you for distributing it!
PBS has been a God send since I was a kid. C-SPAN is not too bad either.
I thank Ken Reilly for his post. He is exactly right. Why ask the one light out there to be extinguished because it is dimming? Of course, we should push PBS to improve the quality of its offerings, but surely we we don’t do that by simply closing it down. And we should press them to support people like Bill Moyers. But PBS has had some high quality programming lately. The Downton Abbey programs have been of good quality, but I consider the recent 3-part Kate Atkinson series, Case Histories, the best thing I have seen on television since Lonesome Dove. I replay them over and over.
why doesn’t moyers come clean about his knowledge and cover-up of the jfk assassination–before he’s dead meat?
Thank goodness that KCET and KOCE will air Bill Moyers. He’s a hero and a role model for lots of us. I personally have given up on KCET, since their sad re-runs have taken over, but am more than grateful that Bill is back. Hooray.
I agree with Scott Williams – Get ALL Government funding out of PBS until they get a backbone and also get ALL corporate funding out of PBS. These funds are co-opting the programming decisions and editorial policies. There is a great deal of fluff that COULD be trimmed, but there is also a good deal of essential material that should NEVER be trimmed. Bill Moyers’ programs is in that later category. His is a voice which everyone needs to hear.
There really IS more $ in PBS than is healthy – Let’s remember WHY it is there, in the first place and let’s work to contribute directly to the effort to bring about REAL, Challenging, and thought-provoking programming. Get the special interests out and concern ourselves with presenting an honest picture of the kleptocracy’s attempted control over virtually everything.
I am an American presently residing in Canada. I receive KCTS Seattle. Bill Moyers and journalists like him are the only voices of sanity and fact regarding current events. I truly hope the local public stations keep him and others. The major so called cable news networks are pure mind control to dumb down America. It will be done without a public wimper unless NPR and PBS executives and public supporters fight back by voice, action and funding.
I’ve watched PBS since its inception. I’ve even worked at a PBS flagship station. Talk about a humorless, frightened, conventional bunch apparently bent on mollification of the wealthier crowd. Canceling Moyers was the last straw, no checks to these folks, radio or TV. The word “tranquilizer” comes to mind, not the word “news”.
Mr. Claydon is very confused. PBS never “cancelled” Moyers. Moyers retired, saying he “had other things he wanted to do” that doing a weekly show precluded. Now he wants to come back, and he’ll be on your local PBS station in most of the country. If he’s not on in your city, it’s not PBS’s fault, because your local station might not have put him on even if PBS did distribute the show. That’s not how the system works.
What goes on is decided locally. If you happen to live in an area where the station got more Moyers hate mail than appreciation, that station isn’t going to put him on. Your station may ALSO decide not to put him on if he’s on the OTHER PBS station in your market (if there are two). If you want him on, call and email your local station. If you REALLY want Moyers on to stay, make a donation to your local station and tell them that it’s because they air Moyers. For better or worse, THAT’S how the system works.
I’m confident that Mr. Claydon & Mr. Frye have done this, since they feel so strongly that public TV should have no taxpayer funds at all.
I guess I am one of the lucky ones, because WGBY, the PBS station in Springfield, MA, which I am able to get through my cable network, IS carrying Bill Moyers’s show, and I can’t wait to see it. Bill is part of a dialogue that is necessary to get the word out about what is going down. It’s out there but it has to be brought to people’s attention and they need to be iinspired. Bill is a rare inspiration.
Bill Moyers new show is on KCTS in Seattle this Sunday.
The rationale for PBS is market failure: commercial stations fail to reflect a broad spectrum of opinion that exists in our society. Any time a conservative (or moderate or liberal) suggests that PBS schedule to match political demands or the demands of the market, they are demanding that PBS be captured as a corrupt enterprise in contravention of its public-service mission.
Turn off PBS and turn on FSTV and Worldlink TV
Those of us paying attention knew he was being pressured by management who threatened to pull his show–until Mutual of Omaha threatened to pull all their underwriting from PBS if Mr. Moyers show was not aired. It bought him another spate of time after which Mr. Moyers announced his retirement.
David Brancacchio’s program was good, but not Moyers Journal. Then he was dumped, another aggravation! Next up was NEED TO KNOW –disappointing and not very informative nor amusing; it was lame and an embarrassing substitute thrown to the audience. It failed because it was not up to snuff. The writing was on the wall: PBS also was morphing into a political tool for the right wing along with the rest of cable stenographers.
Previously, my Friday Nights were devoted to PBS line up: NOW, followed by BILL MOYERS JOURNAL, then to Bill Mahar on HBO. Mahar has too many rightwingers who are more of an aggrivating to hear than the show is worth, at times.
The Friday night line up I looked forward to all week was gone. David Brancaccio’s program was good then he was gone. Recently heard him on NPR which is also compromised by Right-wing assaults for mind control. Diane Reham is cosseted with what she’s allowed to say now – 10 years ago, I learned so much from her program.
It is SO OBVIOUS PBS / Rightwing control freaks are TRUTH CHALLENGED AND FEAR BILL MOYERS MESSAGES – a reason we are further devoted to his presentations of REAL ISSUES IN REAL TIME presented pro and con on an intelligent level. The truth and educated opinions evolved – all were grateful for airing both sides of many issues, or, the other side of an issue that was smothered in tar or completely ignored by the lamestream media. Currently, we suffer in an Orwellian world of Newspeak. It is repulsive to MOST CITIZENS – we are sick of it on both sides!!!
No, despite persistent assaults on truth, disinformation and attempts to ‘DUMB DOWN’ our country, it is not working – just the opposite – all people are being compromised, taxed, fired, bank charges, insurance hikes, and Pharmed to nausea and we are all repulsed. Even die heard Republicans have disengaged from blind-step ideology and now realize they have been had – they have been fleeced by massive deregulations, especially Glass-Steigal and suffer irreversible economic consequences. Shooting yourself in the foot repeatedly eventually causes a bleed out. Bill Moyers pointed out these issues concisely, as a genuine, investigative journalist who presented verifiable FACTS with the grace of a gentleman.
I am deeply grateful for all the stations that will air his program – surely more folks will watch the voice of reason standing out from the sycophantic cacophony of mental constipation clogging our airwaves. BTW, the AIRWAVES ARE THE COMMONS!
Pastor Bill Moyers transitioned from being LBJ’s hatchet man to being the darling of the liberal PBS set – but as PBS became more corporatized, his 60’s style sermonizing became less in favor with the PBS bureaucrats.
The left has died in america, but it cannot be resurrected by venerating “heroes” and other ponderous lecturers with hypocrisies that spill out of the door and into the hallway. FAIR knows that it too suffers from this creeping corporatism emanating from its corporate funding and its spectral presence in the culture wars, but what about our collective good intentions?
The last thing we need is more sit-down “interviews.”
Putting Moyers on a pedestal is certainly better than elevating any of the smarmy people currently running for president of this country to some rarefied status. At least Moyers has devoted his life to being a sincere citizen who is an example of civility (something Republicans can’t seem to find the required thoughtfulness and discipline for BTW). Yes he is successful. By his very success he shows that millions of people find his ideas uplifting and necessary to their lives.
Pusillanimous Broadcasting System, National Pusillanimous Radio. Its all in the P.
If Americans are increasingly getting cooking shows and auctions(roadshow) than those responsible should be “baked or bid on “, America needs an informed public to stay strong otherwise our tiny friend in the middle east will be standing over us as the marines were in their debut on youtube last week !
For your news and news analysis, turn off PBS & go to the Real News Network at http://therealnews.com/t2/, or CounterPunch at http://www.counterpunch.com, or Robert Parry’s Consortium News at http://consortiumnews.com/ or one of the Pacifica Radio stations.
The biggest joke on PBS is Washington Week in Review where the so-called journalistic Divines from the corporate media get together to impart their poisoned, snarky wisdom to us mere mortals. And don’t you just love the non-commercial commercials between programs?
People should understand that PBS (the network) is not DISTRIBUTING Moyers’ program. Moyers is making his own deals with PBS STATIONS (individually) to run the program. So it will be airing on a number of PBS stations – I don’t know which or how many – including WNET New York. Several programs and specials have gone this route when PBS (the network) got weak kneed about a given topic or program, which of course, isn’t uncommon. We are so lucky to have him back.
“Some executives(not named) said”?Reminds me of the Star.Un- named sources report.
Fortunately for me, Bill Moyers is scheduled by my local station but sadly probably because most of the locals have tuned in Fox “News” and are unaware of Bill Moyers. Americans get what they vote for. Millions vote for Fox “News” when they tune in to Fox “News” in preference to PBS and Bill Moyers. No one is twisting their arm. Unfortunately, this is what democracy looks like in our corporatocracy.
@Martin, the Left ain’t dead. The liberal political establishment that urges us to vote Democratic is dead, or has been absorbed into the Borg. The radical Left is alive and well: I know this because it’s hard to get them to agree on anything. OWS has reinvigorated the debate, and they did this without any national TV coverage, save for snarky mockery which has engendered a lot of blowback. @everybody else, Moyers is very much part of the older, left-oriented liberalism, and in my opinion is more of a journalist than any of the corporate media can field. His “preaching” is representative of a part of Southern Christianity that still tries to speak for the poor and dispossessed, admittedly a minority. I take it with a grain of salt, but it is more good than not. He started with the Peace Corps before working for LBJ, and that also was pretty far left for its time. Please view current trends through the lens of history. I’m a Wobbly, and as such no fan of any church, but I recognize those with a religious point of view who do objectively good work for the underclass and for peace: Catholic Worker, Tikkun, Ground Zero/Plowshares, and Sojourners come to mind. I share the belief that State-funded enterprises must kowtow to their corporate masters, as the State is an instrument of capital, so I call NPR Nazi Petroleum Radio. They still have better programming than any of the corporate media, although we must sift through the dross to find the kernels. I have no use for political parties in general, as it has been shown that movements toward the liberation of urban and agrarian workers end up compromised and sold out by them: American populism in 1896, and the Spanish Republic in 1936 come immediately to mind. I’m not disrespectful of any of the views expressed above, and I support Link TV and FSTV (both carry DemocracyNow!), but I think the time for relying on politicians and wealthy people of good will is long past. The juggernaut of totalitarianism is well-advanced, and we will not be able to reform our way out of that. Support whichever media productions that gravitate toward education, culture, and the relief of oppression, and avoid all others that support the status quo ante. Forget about electoral politics: Direct Action Gets the Goods.
After all the complaining from the conservatives, PBS has finally turned it’s programming away from the public interest. Letting go of Mr. Moyer was just the beginning.
And maybe if the execs at PBS have lost their nerve….perhaps the membership will lose its desire to support pandering to conservatives….
If conscience is an uncomfortable matter for PBS executives they only prove what Chris Hedges outlined in his bromide “The Death of Liberalism”. Being subservient to the profound cultural charade the right continues to promulgate against the American people is cravenness to the highest degree.
So what about it PBS executives – time to join the 99% so they will support you or go with the money and lose your soul….
I think Moyers may have put his finger on it with “Antiques Roadshow”.
Among other things, the show is about the vicarious thrill of watching regular people becoming much wealthier by sheer luck. It’s a fun show, but it’s also the exact sort of distraction the Republicans would prefer people to experience. Moyers, on the other hand, points damning fingers at the cause of Americans’ loss of wealth.
Governments – of left and right – hate independent media. Such media do what they are supposed to do – “Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable” – and political and corporate America very much favors an ignorant, ill-educated and ill-informed public who will not challenge what they are told.
Has anyone besides me noticed the new MAJOR sponsor of NOVA, the prestigious long time science program on PBS??!!! NOVA…. brought to you by…. David H. Koch !! I stopped breathing and just stared at the screen the first time I saw that name some time last year.
Maybe it was last March (?) a yr ago when all hell broke hell in Wisconsin incl the story of the guy pretending to be Koch who called Scott Walker’s office and was passed right through to “The Governor”. NOW, I noticed last week there is a title or reference under “David H. Koch” that says something about a supporter of science programs.
Moyers, NOW, the addition of Krauthammer, and the usual mainstream media personalities. I swore NEVER to contribute to PBS again (as much as I love Downtown Abbey). And I’m a 69 yr old single woman who just retired and moved back to my native state of Maine.
Yes, PBS gets the “anti-conservative” reputation, because Moyers asks the hard questions about their conservatives policies and perspectives as to where they want this country to go. There are now no other news programs or channels that will challenge a politician, or a corporation to any extent, because they will lose their funding, government or commercial (look up Fox News Florida rBGH), though Steve Kroft made a go of it looking into un-prosecuted mortgage company executives and our Congress enriching themselves with lucrative insider trading deals. Life is grand when you own a too-big corporation or are a member of congress!
Well, I feel that it is time to take our government back- corporations want stupid and ignorant consumers so that as we happily collect our service-industry job (serving the wealthy), we can go out and eagerly buy the next new and highly touted electronic junk without a thought. This will be life in these, the United Corporations of America (est. January 2010).
Do we want our government to represent our interests, or those of mega-billion corporations? IF you prefer the former, ask / demand that your representative co-sponsor H.J. Res. 88, which is a constitutional amendment to eliminate personhood, thereby returning our government to us. Campaign election money would have to come from elsewhere (another topic). Firstly, if we want to Bill Moyers back on PBS, we need to secure our tax funding to PBS, by eliminating corporate influence in our government.
David. H. Koch supporting PBS…… . well no one will be questioning his “Governor Koch” in Wisconsin….. A corporatocracy will be the end of this country.
I’m glad Ken Reilly has added a dose of sanity to this thread. PBS may not be perfect, but it is so much better than anything else on TV, that it’s hard to know what people want — 24/7 Rachel Maddow? Downton Abbey and Masterpiece Mystery are perfectly fine entertainment, as were Upstairs/Downstairs and Prime Suspect. More important, Frontline, American Experience, Point of View, and Nova are the best documentary series anywhere. Nothing else comparable exists (take a look at the schlock on Discovery and History channels). Children’s programming is better than most other things available out there, and no commercials. We should all be contributing and fighting for increased funding for PBS, even as we criticize it when it needs it.
I am very saddened by PBS’ view on Bill Moyers new program. Please reconsider the decision you have made and add the program to the nationwide schedule. Please show that you care about “the public view”.
PBS lost my trust when they joined the cheerleading for the war in Iraq, week after week, on the News Hour, just like all the other corporate media stations. However, they still had some luster, in programs like Moyers’. I also liked NOW.
PBS should absolutely reconsider, if they want to appear a cut above the typical corporate fare in news shows. Is Meecham still doing Need to Know (which I dont watch)? He is really an unfortunate choice. Saw him chuckle on Morning Joe last week, as Joe Scarborough made jokes and laughed following news of the murder by bomb of the Iranian scientist (by Israel/et al?). He is really a very unfortunate addition, indeed.
Bring back Moyers to PBS because he is a voice of reason… and then I’ll have a reason to come back too.
I may have missed it, but no one has mentioned that PBS and NPR began their slide into mediocrity and conservative pandering, as they LOST public funding. They now receive around 10% of total funding from taxes. The rest comes from individuals and mostly from corporate grants. It is those corporations which call the shots. Newshour stopped investigating agribusiness when their major donor became Archer Daniels Midland, other examples abound. Programs like Frontline have lost their teeth, and of course journalists like Moyers are shunted to American Public TV. Fortunately the local stations realize what a jewel his program is. The solution is to restore funding so that the bulk of their money comes from taxes. However with politics as it now is conducted, that is a pipe dream. Countries which fund media (The UK, Canada, France) have more objective news coverage. It would be nice to see us grow up a bit.
Check out The Real News Network. Entirely funded by viewer donations. I’ve been contributing 5.00/mo for a long time. They have reporters all over the globe and do some excellent work. With a large enough base they might eventually be on cable and satellite instead of internet only.
Like every other news organization, they have a point of view. Call it bias if you want. Never take ANYTHING from any single source as “truth”. It’s a good source for information that’s not often seen elsewhere.
I also want to plug The Real News Network with Paul Jay. I was a supporter of public broadcasting in my youth, but since the corporations were given airtime for their propaganda statements, I stopped watching. Jay interviews people in academia who have no reason to lie, and no interest in corporate affiliation. He is courageous and the reporters go on the scene in dangerous situations to report what is happening.
Gregory academia has its own agenda.Obama and his power faction that moved into the white house spring up from this soup.Their affiliations are far from the free market place, and any understanding of economics- capitalist style.I would not hold that up as a gold standard.
Hasn’t anyone noticed David Koch’s name popping up on the screen on PBS? or Exxon mobile,etc. along with other catastrophes.
these are the same guys who –esp. Koch– who are shredding our democracy before our very eyes. what does PUBLIC television mean, then?? whoever is running PUBLIC TV ( and i don’t mean RT) is spineless and beholden to The Powers. If they can’t handle the thoroughly adult discussions on Bill Moyers, they are pathetic idiots. it’s like being in high school again and wanting to be IN with the popular crowd—-except far more dangerous in their omissions to the at-large public.
Every year, without fail, i grapple with giving PBS any money at all….damn them. Downton Abbey is fine theatre, but trying to numb our senses so that they can STEAL THE STORE is not an option.
I confess I like Downton Abbey.
But I believe in Bill Moyers and the important discussion that he brings to the USA starved for intelligence in its national discourse.
I am changing my will and will NOT be leaving any money I have to PBS. Shame on them.
BZ
Gordon, I’m happy you wrote some good words, though I disagree with you about the thesis.
OWS did have its moments of 60s style tub-thumping in the park, but there was precisely no effect on the politics, no candidate, no demands, a lot of arrests/hefty fines of protestors and overtime for steroidal head-bashers. What is radical about that? What is radical about the continued hegemony of bankers and weapons salesmen? Talk, and viewpoints, and “opposition” cannot be said to exist but in the befouled air if they cannot demonstrate a single effect in our social reality.
“Religious” folk do not get an exemption for being “for” the poor – they are part of a common impulse to believe in nonsense, and choose to align themselves with baseless and pernicious insitutions that foster racism, sexism, irrationalism, classism, wastes of gargantuan amounts of money and time. I understand the sacrifices the hero Wobblies went through, the deaths and the oppression – did the Popes come to their aid?
Thanks for listening – as I said, FAIR is corporate-foundation funded, and is chasing its own tail at the moment.
Bill Moyers, like Walter Cronkite, has been a guiding light in television journalism for many years.
If he’s to be scorned then I’m happy he’s wearing it as a badge of honor. As a former television journalist myself I know I would.
It isn’t when you’re getting offers from every network news agency that you should be worried these days.
It’s when you’re so controversial because you’re the only journalist out there who’s willing to put their neck out and tell the truth and risk getting fired over it that you should be satisfied.
It means you have integrity and that really is a rare commodity in journalism these days.
My income has increased and I had decided to begin supporting PBS again; however, upon learning of your decision not to carry Bill Moyers, I have determined that I cannot support your station. I will be advisng my friends and aquaintences of your decision.
Regards,
Francene Blanchard
Until I was a canadian living in america, i would never have understood what john piety meant in his comment above. but it is absolutely true. I never saw much accurate or conclusive indepth reporting on world or (canadian) news until I returned home to Canada. All I could conclude was the same as John, the programming was just propaganda to dumb down America … and it has worked. Outrageously biased, untruthful and twisted for their own purposes …. so proud to be Canadian …