EDITORIAL – PBS needs more support, not just Elmo

Some public television executives consider running the Public Broadcasting Service a thankless… Some public television executives consider running the Public Broadcasting Service a thankless job. They say it is a daunting assignment to manage a far-flung network composed of independent fiefs around the country, blaming larger issues like the increased competition from the cable industry for public television’s problems.

Whatever the reasons, PBS went to Capitol Hill this week to lobby, and without many options, turned to Elmo — the popular “Sesame Street” character — for representation and support. After all, who can say “no” to a ticklish muppet?

In the face of Republicans who criticize PBS’s programming as elitist and liberal, the network has become increasingly dependent on Washington for funding, since corporate underwriters have been less willing to finance PBS programs.

Although Elmo’s trip to the nation’s capital might make for a great special on PBS, it will take much more than that to ensure PBS’s longevity. As Alberto Ibarguen, PBS chairman and publisher of the Miami Herald, admitted, “The biggest problem we’ve got is the structure we’ve got.”

The public network had better think of some other strategy than appealing to a crowd that complained about a recent children’s program featuring a rabbit named Buster visiting a pair of lesbian parents.

A current plan is for PBS to relieve some of the financial pressure by creating a huge endowment from the proceeds generated after it trades its current broadcast positions for new, high-definition stations later in the decade. But that will take persuading the same Congressional and administration officials who have objected to its programming.

Perhaps it’s time for public television to more effectively target the 18- to 35-year-old demographic with its programming. While “National Geographic,” is educational and entertaining children’s programming, and some British comedies, among other things, are just a slice of public televisions broad span of programming, the viewer-supported network does not appear to be doing much to tap into the age group that cable television has.

And the federal government should make up its mind about what it wants too. It doesn’t want children exposed to bare bodies and profanity, but it’s reluctant to fund public television — an integral part of educational children’s programming. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides federal money to the system, should have the funds it needs to keep PBS going.

PBS is viewer-supported. Those membership drives happen for a reason. Those who enjoy the “free” service should remember that nothing in life, or on TV, is free.