Civic Pride

Please do not be dismissive of my story. I have been a loyal contributor to the “Public Broadcasting System” since its creation by congress. How did we get to where we are? As a child, I can remember waiting with excitement to watch the next installment of “The Adams Chronicles” with my FATHER. It was something that helped instill in me a strong sense of Civic Pride. I remember seeing my father's eyes fill with tears from time to time during the course of the series. He was proud to be an inheritor of this country. He was the first generation born in “The United States of America.” He ended his life by saying, “I guess I didn't do so bad. I put 2 boys through college.” I have seen the progression from early public broadcasting in the NY metropolitan area through to Northern California, Southern California and now in Tucson, Arizona. The local AZPM has become nothing more than an advertising company. They proudly solicit, on air, their ability to put a company on their broadcasting service. I will not divert into programming questions. What has motivated this correspondence is the deterioration of the nightly news broadcast. How could we have sunk this low. I do not blame the selection of the 2 people hosting the broadcast. I do not know how material is selected and who slants the material, but it is not “The MacNeil, Lehrer News Hour” any longer. Do they not have the ability to show anything but victims of the Hamas war with on Israel? The war must be reported on, but it is a war. It is not something to keep score on like a ball game. I will not watch one more tearful victim on either side. There was hope this kind of programming could have been avoided when Gwen was alive, but Judy alone was not a capable Journalist, to say nothing of her overt sexism. How she stayed on for as long as she did I will never know. I only occasionally watch the news hour any longer, but when I do, I end up turning it off quickly and turn to internet sources for my news. This is not just a PBS issue, but I had to take a moment to let you know how far down you have gone. I no longer pledge my support to PBS.