Sudden End for Public Broadcasting: What Led to the Unexpected Shutdown?
Remember when you’d wake up Saturday morning, hair sticking up like a cartoon villain, cereal in hand, and a certain yellow bird was the only thing standing between you and total enlightenment? Well, shuffle over, nostalgia, because President Trump just signed away $1.1 billion in public broadcasting funding—and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is calling it curtains. Wild, right? You could almost hear the sound of tote bags everywhere letting out a collective gasp (or at least a resigned crinkle). Makes you wonder—is this the end of earnest puppets teaching the alphabet… or the dawn of Big Bird running rogue through Central Park, wreaking havoc with fuzzy vengeance?
Sure, public broadcasting might not have had a profit motive, but damn if it didn’t have an uncanny ability to extract $20 from us during pledge week. What now—do we put our trust in the same news sources that hawk mattresses? Skip the drama (and maybe stay out of Sesame Street for a while). For a satisfying dose of snark and a peek at what people are saying, LEARN MORE.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced it will begin shuttering operations in response to President Trump signing a law which clawed back $1.1 billion in funding for public broadcasting. What do you think?
“A pissed-off Big Bird with unlimited free time? This won’t end well.”
Randolph Phelps, Unemployed
“How could anyone trust a media institution without a profit motive?”
James Quinn, Microphone Adjuster
“What happened to that $20 donation I made in 2008?”
Lana McKinney, Butter Spreader
Post Comment