Did my tax money pay for this show through the NEA on PUBLIC TELEVISON? If not...good.

http://www.scouts-honor.com/index.html

If so can I have my money back?

Or better yet, Can I have some money so I can make a show with MY slanted and biased views?



[Edited by Giantrobo on 06-20-01 at 07:28 PM]

Since when is PBS supposed to churn out one homogenized viewpoint? PBS has tended to cater to traditional (read: Republican) viewers, so it's nice to see a little variety. Don't forget that this is part of the series POV, whose whole purpose is to stimulate thought, social action, dicussion, etc.

For anyone who hasn't seen Scout's Honor yet, it's an amazing documentary. And for anyone who complains about how biased it is, go complain to the leaders of the Boy Scouts. The director of Scout's Honor *repeatedly* contacted the Boy Scouts to allow them to give their side of the issue, but no one was willing to give an interview.

What's your point?

I've seen the "creative editing" that takes place when the "other side" DOES respond. I'm to believe this filmmaker would just let the "other side"(read: anyone who opposes the liberal view of the World) state their case WITHOUT being squelched? I know a small portion of tax money goes to PBS. I doubt you would be ok with shows pushing the "Republican Agenda" being supported by YOUR tax money? I doubt it. And yet anyone who doesn't support the liberal view is subjected to this garbage all the time.

You would be screaming from the mountain tops.

Yeah right...

Most of the PBS' shows are liberal anyway so I don't know where you get this Republican thing from.

Is this a conspiracy theory?

I do agree with you that the filmmaker has clearly chosen a side, and even if he had gotten interviews from Boy Scouts officials, the piece would still be biased. At least he gave them a *chance* (repeatedly) to say their piece, though.

With regard to PBS as a whole, consider this: Do you know what the highest rated PBS show is in my market? Reruns of Lawrence Welk, which are shown on Saturday evenings. Think about what kind of demographic that implies. With data like that, what kind of incentive do you think there is to make shows that appeal to younger, more diverse audiences? Not much. Remember, much of PBS's money comes from donations, not advertising, so there probably isn't that big of a desire to attract younger audiences.

For so long, PBS has catered to old (and is it fair to say Caucasian also?) audiences. And to this day they still do. That's why I welcome with open arms any attempts by PBS to attract a more diverse audience. I'm even glad to see shows like American High, even though I thought the show looked incredibly lame (but hey, that's just my opinion). Let's not forget that this is public television. It's supposed to be for all people, which it traditionally has not been. Just because you see something you don't like doesn't really give you the right to whine and demand a tax refund. There's plenty of stuff on PBS I don't like, but you don't see me "screaming from the mountain tops." (Which is odd, because people like to think that that's all we bleeding heart liberals do, right?)

I'm just curious, where is all your anger coming from? Besides POV, what other PBS shows are so liberal that have you all worked up?

And as an aside, I just think it's sad that I have to be considered "liberal" to support a show like Scout's Honor. You shouldn't have to be "liberal" to support treating people (all people) with a little basic human decency. And I'll just repeat, for anyone who hasn't seen this yet, it is an amazing documentary about a straight Boy Scout who has been fighting for years to get the ban on gays repealed. It is extremely well-shot and well-paced. What's unfortunate is that they had over 1000 hours of footage which had to be condensed into a measly 58 minutes.

No Anger here.

Just wondering why you made this statement:

"Since when is PBS supposed to churn out one homogenized viewpoint? PBS has tended to cater to traditional (read: Republican) viewers"

How should one take that? I mean it really comes off a certain way directed at those who hold conservative views.

But I suppose I just took it wrong right?

I disagree that PBS caters to conservative views. I've watched PBS for many years and the "liberally biased" shows with no other views just got to be too much for me. So I stopped watching as much.

All I want if balance on PBS. Not just one view.

Granted the "Filmmaker" tried to get the Scouts to participate, but what would happen if the Scouts tried to do a whole show on why they,as a private organization, won't allow gays to lead young boys?

PBS would most likely not air it.

No offense meant toward Republicans; some of my best friends are Republicans, and I don't think *that* much less of them for it.

I guess I said that a little crudely in my first post, and I tried to explain it a little more in my second post. Until the past few years, we saw virtually no effort on the part of PBS to attract a diverse audience. They were content with their older, homogenized audience and churned out homogenized programming. In my state at least, the older population is overwhelmingly conservative and Republican, and I fear it was too easy for PBS to slant that way in any of its news or political programming.

You do realize the fantastic irony of all this, right? The true test of any media outlet is not how many or few complaints it receives, because there will always be complaints. Rather, the true test is how balanced the complaints are. News agencies consider it a positive thing when they receive an angry letter from a diehard Democrat, only to read the next letter which is from an angry diehard Republican. I say PBS is too conservative, you say it's too liberal... by that measure they must be perfect! (well, maybe not)

Well maybe they are perfect

Nice posting with you!

Peace

PBS now receives very little from the government. Most of the programming is supported by donations.

If I could get a nickel for all the lousy programming on the big networks and cable stations, I'd be a rich man.

Yeah, I've heard the welfare money had been cut back.

I find the concept of this interesting. I thought the scouts were pretty united on it's stance against gay's. I had no idea that anyone in the organization wanted to change it. I'll have to try to catch this.