Save PBS

Click here to take action: http://pfaw.kintera.org/pbs Here's some information on Thursday's House vote to cut funding for PBS and NPR: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/06/17/house_panel_oks_cutting_100m_of_pbs_budget?mode=PFClick this link to take action now!!******************************************************************************
Here's a copy of their form letter, plus what I added to it.

I am writing to request that you oppose politically motivated attacks on public broadcasting. Attempts to abolish the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and kill public funding for PBS and NPR are unacceptable.
Public broadcasting represents quality journalism and an independent voice not available among private media. It is a public asset worth preserving and I expect you to ensure that funding for this valuable public institution continues.

I was born in the 1969, the year that Sesame Street debuted, and ever since then my favorite shows have always been on PBS. There shows are always educational and informative. Being from a family of modest means, growing up I did not have the opportunity to travel and experience the far off places first hand or to go to the symphony, ballet or opera, but through PBS I was exposed to American and world history, nature and science, balanced news and the arts through educational and dramatic shows that have always been of the utmost quality. This helped me to see that it is okay for people to view and experience things differently than I do, and I know that this is one of the main reasons that PBS’ funding is coming under attack.

Now that I have a family I have passed on my love of PBS to two young children, it is truly great to see them learning while being entertained, and to know that the creators of PBS Kids shows are more interested in the development of my children then selling them action figure versions of their shows’ characters.

PBS’ budget has been shrinking since the budget cuts of the 1980s, and I fear that it is nearing a point of no return so far as its quality and ability to inform and educate in an independent manner. My guess is that the majority of those in congress who are planning to vote to cut PBS’ funding can afford to expose their children first hand to the best in education, travel and the arts, so crippling PBS will have very little effect on their families. However, for the majority of the citizenry who either do not live near centers of education and the arts or do not have the means to expose their families to environments that to foster and stimulate enlightened thought, the lost of PBS’ current format is potentially devastating, because it would create an America where dreams are limited to only what a child can see in front of him, and an America where balanced discourse takes a back seat to the agenda of which ever party is in power at the time, and that is bad for people on all sides of the political spectrum.