I’m familiar with the notion of Manufactured Consent and to be clear I agree with much of what you say. Though I think it should be noted that neither NPR nor PBS are state-run. At least, nowhere near comparable to something like RT or even BBC or Al Jazeera.
A majority if their support comes from viewers. However, that being said, some of the larger donors and sponsors to both of these news outlets originate from a specific ethnicity, which I believe may put the reporters and columnists in a bind.
Ultimately it’s risky business to go against the pro-Israeli sympathetic sentiment right now. Journalists risk being shunned or worse, accused of being antisemitic or sympathetic to terrorists.
31% comes from government, which makes it nearly impossible for PBS to have substantive dissent against state department propaganda.
30% comes from businesses and think tanks. These type of organizations do not give out of the kindness of their hearts, so what exactly are they buying? It is no surprise that, for example, their coverage of the green new deal is so negative when fossil fuel companies are giving millions.
And 31% comes from “individuals”. Note that individuals is not the same as viewers, it is a black box that probably includes a few individual wealthy megadonors as well as many kindhearted viewers.
So yes, I stand by my assertion that PBS is state run media. If you think an uncoordinated bloc of individual donors is PBS’ main constituency then you are being duped.
(Also note: the ethnicity of the donors does not matter, it is their ideology that is the driving force)
To include local state and municipalities in that to suggest some big bad state has a say in what is being run, versus the direct control of true state media like RT, for me, requires a MASSIVE amount of ink to connect those dots and make such a false equivalence comparison. Despite my grievances with our government, we are not the Kremlin. We are not an authoritarian state that is dictating what PBS member stations run or informing their journalists. If you have any direct evidence of this whatsoever, then I’ll reconsider.
Moreover, PBS and NPR tend to have some of the most objectively accurate reporting and educated, critical listeners among literally any media outlet. Even if we entertain it being state-run, then overall I’d say it’s working as best as could be expected for any institution to run.
Being generous, that total isn’t even a plurality of total funding; in spite of foundations and corporate givings, those are ostensibly not government entities either. Often they’re non-profits like CPB.
As such I’ll generally remain where I was in saying that, yes, PBS is certainly considering its big donor sources in what it broadcasts; but to equate it to full-on state run or propaganda is a non-sequitur.
I’m familiar with the notion of Manufactured Consent and to be clear I agree with much of what you say. Though I think it should be noted that neither NPR nor PBS are state-run. At least, nowhere near comparable to something like RT or even BBC or Al Jazeera.
A majority if their support comes from viewers. However, that being said, some of the larger donors and sponsors to both of these news outlets originate from a specific ethnicity, which I believe may put the reporters and columnists in a bind.
Ultimately it’s risky business to go against the pro-Israeli sympathetic sentiment right now. Journalists risk being shunned or worse, accused of being antisemitic or sympathetic to terrorists.
Take a look at the breakdown of PBS funding for example.
31% comes from government, which makes it nearly impossible for PBS to have substantive dissent against state department propaganda.
30% comes from businesses and think tanks. These type of organizations do not give out of the kindness of their hearts, so what exactly are they buying? It is no surprise that, for example, their coverage of the green new deal is so negative when fossil fuel companies are giving millions.
And 31% comes from “individuals”. Note that individuals is not the same as viewers, it is a black box that probably includes a few individual wealthy megadonors as well as many kindhearted viewers.
So yes, I stand by my assertion that PBS is state run media. If you think an uncoordinated bloc of individual donors is PBS’ main constituency then you are being duped.
(Also note: the ethnicity of the donors does not matter, it is their ideology that is the driving force)
To include local state and municipalities in that to suggest some big bad state has a say in what is being run, versus the direct control of true state media like RT, for me, requires a MASSIVE amount of ink to connect those dots and make such a false equivalence comparison. Despite my grievances with our government, we are not the Kremlin. We are not an authoritarian state that is dictating what PBS member stations run or informing their journalists. If you have any direct evidence of this whatsoever, then I’ll reconsider.
Moreover, PBS and NPR tend to have some of the most objectively accurate reporting and educated, critical listeners among literally any media outlet. Even if we entertain it being state-run, then overall I’d say it’s working as best as could be expected for any institution to run.
Being generous, that total isn’t even a plurality of total funding; in spite of foundations and corporate givings, those are ostensibly not government entities either. Often they’re non-profits like CPB.
As such I’ll generally remain where I was in saying that, yes, PBS is certainly considering its big donor sources in what it broadcasts; but to equate it to full-on state run or propaganda is a non-sequitur.