TPMDC has obtained a letter from the leading players in American public broadcasting — National Public Radio (NPR), PBS Television, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), and the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) — to White House budget director Peter Orszag.
The letter (read it here) outlines the dire financial straits facing public media and seeks $307 million in additional government funding as part of the president’s 2010 budget. In stark terms, the CEOs of the four public broadcasting entities urge the Obama administration to help shield them from a rapid drop in support caused by the economic recession:
Every revenue source upon which our operations depend is under siege. State funding support is in a wholesale free-fall. Financial contributions from foundations and underwriters, at the local and national levels, have declined precipitously. Individual contributions, the bedrock of every public station’s annual operating budget, are dropping, reflecting the effects of rising unemployment and declining personal discretionary income.
Looking back to congressional Republicans’ failed attempt to cut off their budgets in 2005, the CEOs of the four public broadcasting entities add:
The raw fiscal impact of today’s crisis on public broadcasting is at least 50% greater than the cuts initially proposed in 2005.
Funding for public broadcasting is usually approved two years in advance, which made future aid a tempting target for Bush administration cuts as recently as last year. The $307 million being requested by the public media entities is in addition to already-approved 2010 funding, and a pending 2012 request for $542 million.
