Take That, Big Bird!

Gov. Bob McDonnell could make good this week on aims of the Republican-dominated House of Delegates to slash state funding for public television and radio.

To be sure, a number of revenue-starved states have cut funding to their public television radio stations by at least $23 million this fiscal year, according to the Association of Public Television Stations.

McDonnell’s plan would phase out $2.2 million for public broadcasting of the $8.2 million now planned in the proposed 2010-2012 budget.The ultimate goal would be to cut state funding altogether for public tv and radio. A final decision could come as early as Wednesday as the General Assembly gathers to consider final tweaks to a $77.7 billion budget over two years.

True, the conservative governor has made it plain that times are tough and lots of things face cuts that were heretofore considered off limits.

But when one considers McDonnell’s spawning ground of Regent University and his mentor televangelist Pat Robertson, the move seems a little too curious.

Public radio can provide excellent coverage unmatched by commercial networks. Their global stretch is impressive. The depth is real. One example is NPR’s coverage of the 9/11 events which I find still haunting to this day.

NPR, however, is thought by some on the right wing to have a “liberal” bent since it deals with issues often left alone by outlets such as “fair and balanced” Fox News. These include the problems of the poor and outcast, a tough look at the private sector, especially banking in the light of the 2008 crash, detailed probes of civilian deaths at the hands of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and issues relating to gas and lesbians whom many right-wing and/or “Christian”stations demonize.

For an example of the suspicion, look no further than the neo-Neanderthal editorial pages of the Richmond Times-Dispatch which slammed NPR for labeling as “anti-union”Massey Energy. The Richmond-based coal firm has been called to task repeatedly for safety and environmental concerns. A Massey mine was the scene of the worst mine fatalities in 40 years last week. However, if the RTD knew anything about West Virginia, where the disaster took place, it would know that union struggles are every bit a part of coal mining as methane gas. Among Massey’s notoriety is its efforts to quash union organizing, thus eliminating another layer of potential review that might have saved 29 lives April 5.

Naturally, canning Virginia funding for public broadcasting is going to be in the gun sights of the conservative House of Delegates, which also sees NPR as a dangerous threat to their version of the truth.

Cutting the funding wouldn’t kill public broadcasting in Virginia, but it would hurt. By some accounts if the House’s original version of the cuts happened, the Community Ideas Station based in Richmond which serves other markets in Charlottesville, the Southside and Northern Neck, would lose 17 percent of its budget. Public TV and radio execs say services would most definitely be affected. The DC area might be shielded since stations such as WETA and WAMU are bigger deals with greater access to money.

To be sure, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting would continue to fund the stations, which would also get money from their now-ongoing seasonal fund drives. Some members of the state Senate have said they’d try to push the effort back.

But at a time when Mainstream Media is cutting back dramatically on reporting and commercial radio dials are dotted with the dogmatic likes of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh and his ditto heads, thoughtful Virginians stand to lose with McDonnell and the House’s action.

Peter Galuszka