On Tuesday, the Alabama Educational Television Commission could vote on disassociating with PBS. Although I do not think the commission will vote on the PBS matter on Tuesday, I wanted to give my thoughts about where Alabama Public Television is at now. And to sum things up, Alabama Public Television is not in good shape.
Alabama Public Television is the nation’s first educational television network. It’s been around since the 1950s, and it has done amazing things for people here in Alabama. But, in today’s culture war chaos, you have several people on the right wanting to cut ties with PBS for good.
My first question about Alabama Public Television, is where is the original programming? APT has cut back on the amount of original programs throughout the years. And recently APT has laid off staff that help make original programming. If you look at the schedule for Alabama Public Television, you will see there is barely anything original about Alabama.
I would expect Alabama Public Television would create programming talking about Alabama. There are numerous stories you can tell about people in Alabama. The last few original shows including Journey Proud, Monograph, and Subcarrier have been cancelled. And there is nothing new coming down the pipeline.
How about how-to shows on APT featuring people in Alabama? I know there are many chefs that would love to be featured! Or people who do cool hobbies like artwork, birdwatching, woodworking, etc. Instead of relying on the public TV database for shows, how about creating your own shows featuring Alabamians?
Some on the Alabama Educational Television Commission are also complaining about the news programming coming from PBS like the PBS Newshour, Washington Week, and Frontline. Bless your heart, freak out about factual and reliable news! The news from PBS is award-winning and has great coverage. Some just want their “own” version of the news instead. You know, the lying, made-up, right-wing news you see on Fox.
And if you cut ties with PBS, where are you going to get kids programming? As I see it now, groups like American Public Television barely have any kids programs APT can use if they cut ties from PBS Kids. PBS Kids is award-winning and has many great, original programs to help children learn and grow. Taking this service away from children in Alabama would be a huge mistake that can cost children their futures. Would you want that Alabama Public Television?
Governor Kay Ivey put out a letter today asking the Alabama Educational Television Commission to run a public survey and prepare a plan for public review. Alabama Public Television can still provide a public service for people here in Alabama.
APT needs to develop new programs featuring Alabamains, for Alabamians. APT needs to ramp-up their social media presence with new posts and videos. APT needs to ramp-up their news coverage, the softball Capital Journal is not enough. APT needs to develop new podcasts and online features. APT needs to ramp-up local high school sports coverage. I could go on and on.
It feels like Alabama Public Television is just limping along and looking for any way possible to shut down forever. People in Alabama should demand that this never happens!
Categories: Politics Talk Stuff
