CPB Funding for Public Broadcasting
September 19, 2016 2:47 PM
A 2016 Congressional Research Service report says CPB received $445 million from Congress to fund public broadcasting in most recent two year appropriation. Later in the report, it says "While federal funding for CPB primarily comes from the Departments of Labor, Health & Human Service and Education, it may receive other sources of funding from the federal government."
Does that mean that CPB does not have its own pot of money but its funding is, instead, a collection of dedication line item amounts in the budgets of each of those other departments that combine to make a pot Congress then allocates to CPB?
If that was the case, could a hard-liner could argue that if public broadcasting is going to get federal money, public broadcasting should not report on any topic concerning an agency from which it receives no funding, i.e. Defense, Interior, Justice, Commerce etc. because these aren't exclusively "art" or "education" topics as spelled out in the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967?
Does that mean that CPB does not have its own pot of money but its funding is, instead, a collection of dedication line item amounts in the budgets of each of those other departments that combine to make a pot Congress then allocates to CPB?
If that was the case, could a hard-liner could argue that if public broadcasting is going to get federal money, public broadcasting should not report on any topic concerning an agency from which it receives no funding, i.e. Defense, Interior, Justice, Commerce etc. because these aren't exclusively "art" or "education" topics as spelled out in the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967?
The CRS document actually says "federal funding for CPB primarily comes from the Departments of Labor-Health and Human Services-Education appropriations bill as a separate entry under the “Related Agencies” section of that bill". That does not mean the funding is passed through any one of those departments. It just happens to be in the same appropriations act.
posted by grouse at 5:06 PM on September 19, 2016
posted by grouse at 5:06 PM on September 19, 2016
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I'm not sure where you are getting that narrow read on art and education? My read on the act is that educating in this context is like informing people and most of the time in the act it's talking about "Educational and cultural" stuff which is even broader. Keep in mind that CPB funds other broadcasters, it doesn't broadcast itself. Here's their business plan.
So, hardliners can say what they want, but I actually think the way the appropriations are spread around means that CPB is a lot LESS vulnerable because people can't go after one line of funding. Your read of a vulnerability makes no sense to me. Here are their stated goals and objectives.
posted by jessamyn at 3:06 PM on September 19, 2016