As a continuing member and supporter of PBS, I am extremely disappointed and concerned with the overall direction of PBS in the past few years.

According to the 1967 Public Broadcasting Act, public broadcasting should have "instructional, educational and cultural purposes" and should address "the needs of unserved and underserved audiences, particularly children and minorities." PBS should strive to broaden our understanding of, and access to, the world. This includes understanding of different cultures, lifestyles, and ideologies. This also includes the airing of different political and social perspectives that are not often heard in commercial media, and asking the bold questions necessary to live in our interconnected, globalized world. PBS should be challenging corporate and political power, not appeasing it. Unfortunately, PBS is increasingly failing to live up to its mission.

Over the last few years, PBS has bowed to conservative demands to “balance” programming by adding business, corporate, and conservative programs to the lineup and eliminate so-called “liberal” biases. Commercial and cable television are dominated by these business and conservative voices; hence PBS should be a reprieve from them. For example, Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson and The Journal Editorial Report, featuring writers and editors from the arch-conservative Wall Street Journal editorial page, were programs added to PBS to pander to the right by “balancing” programming. Meanwhile, Bill Moyers retired and his program, NOW with Bill Moyers, was cut from one hour to 30 minutes, and the Friday broadcast is no longer replayed on Sundays. Why? This is particularly disturbing to me personally, as NOW is/was one of the last and best bastions of true investigative journalism on television. Cutting NOW’s time to 30 minutes and adding multiple right-wing voices to the PBS lineup is not “balance,” it is a dangerous pattern.

PBS president Mitchell defended the recent programming decisions, telling a meeting of TV reporters (Miami Herald, 7/10/04): ''I suppose that we're being accused on the one side of being too liberal and on the other of being too conservative probably means we're getting it mostly right." Given that PBS is responding to conservative complaints by adding more conservative shows, and is not responding in any substantive way to progressive complaints, one can only conclude that if the network had been "getting it mostly right," it'll now just be getting mostly right-wing.

Next, PBS pulled an episode of the children's show Postcards From Buster that includes children with lesbian mothers, essentially censoring the show. The episode was pulled the same day that PBS received a letter from new Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings condemning the episode. In the episode, Buster, an animated rabbit, visits Vermont, where he learns how maple sugar is made and visits the home of real-life children who invite him in for dinner and introduce him to their "mom and Gillian." Please allow me to remind you that public television's mandate, as set forth in the 1967 Carnegie Commission Report, is to "provide a voice for groups in the community that may otherwise be unheard," to serve as "a forum for controversy and debate," and to broadcast programs that "help us see America whole, in all its diversity." Moreover, the Education Department grant to PBS requires funded programs to: “…appeal to all of America's children by providing them with content and characters with which they can identify. Diversity will be incorporated into the fabric of the series to help children understand and respect differences and learn to live in a multicultural society. The series will avoid stereotypical images of all kinds and show modern multi-ethnic/lingual/cultural families and children.” Indeed, it is difficult to imagine a better example of PBS utterly failing to live up to its mandate or the funding terms of its grant than this.

These examples fit a disturbing pattern of PBS bowing to conservative and Republican demands to change their programming in order to promote their ideology. The continual appeasement of the political right is disappointing, discouraging, and dangerous. PBS is losing its autonomy and its way.

I am also very upset with the sharp increase in self-help programming on PBS. It seems that every other time I tune in to PBS, I am subjected to the likes of Dr. Wayne Dyer’s “The Power of Intention.” Truly, how many times must we watch the same program? How many other more educational, interesting, and entertaining programs must be cut to make room for this? Next, the month of March’s most promoted program is “Suze Orman: For the Young, Fabulous, and Broke,” for which she also graces the cover of our local affiliate KAET magazine. Frankly, the title alone is simply ridiculous and insulting. More important, however, is the fact that PBS would broadcast a program of a self-promoting hypocrite who preaches financial prudence one day and then does paid commercials pitching a financing deal for auto giant GM the next day. Ms. Orman has stated that “a new car is the worst possible investment.” Clearly, she has lost all credibility to offer sound financial advice--accepting fees from a company to promote its products is a conflict of interest. PBS should not be jumping on the bandwagon, promoting the Suze Orman product. Dr. Wayne Dyer and Suze Orman are but 2 examples of the increasing amount of self-help programming on PBS. In conclusion, I must ask, when did PBS turn into a self-help station?

Though PBS continues to provide a plethora of invaluable programming, its direction has been steadily changing for the worse. Political appeasement, censorship, and unwise additions to programming are 3 serious problems affecting the future of public broadcasting. This has not been a sudden occurrence, but a gradual chipping away of the autonomy of PBS. If PBS continues on this course, it risks alienating me and countless viewers alike. Our support is neither automatic nor guaranteed, hence I strongly encourage PBS to protect and promote freedom of speech, expression, diversity, and understanding, and to not bow to the intolerant demands of conservative critics.

David Kennedy (dkanomaly@yahoo.com) lives in Phoenix, Arizona.

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