| July 15, 2005 Jim Holm And Public Broadcasting by Deirdre Helfferich, Ester Republic “Unless we have control over what they print or publish, we can’t give tax dollars to it.” —Jim Holm, R-Fairbanks “It is the absolute right of the state to supervise the formation of public opinion.” “Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.” —Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda, Nazi Germany “Numerous politicians have seized absolute power and muzzled the press. Never in history has the press seized absolute power and muzzled the politicians.” —David Brinkley Jim Holm is right out there with his view of what the media is all about. He’s tried oh, so hard to eliminate public broadcasting, believing that all broadcasting should be handled by the private sector—evidently because he can’t control journalism and would rather have propaganda. The government already has public relations people. Privatization is not a panacea. Unfortunately, our society tends to look for that single, simple Big Answer to Everything, and the capitalist’s dream of Everything for Sale is now getting applied to the public domain, including the airwaves. This process has been steadily converting our public right to a commons that we all share and benefit by into a private right to accumulate—or to lose. And this is what Representative Holm doesn’t seem to grasp: that journalism should be independent, and that radio and TV belong to the public. Those stations and networks using the air do not own the broadcast medium, and they shouldn’t. It belongs to all of us. Public broadcasting is essential to democracy. In this age of mass media, swift and broad-reaching communications shape public knowledge and opinion, and neutral, public-spirited (rather than profit-driven) broadcasting is increasingly important to keeping people informed. Public stations cover all kinds of boring but informative and essential news: the borough assembly and school board meetings, and the legislative sessions are just a few examples. They do it without commercials, which have been detested by the public since radio first came on the air. The corporate media have been consolidating, with the government’s blessing, becoming huge media trusts and operating to benefit the stockholders, not the public, and thus limiting programming, basing their restrictions on the bottom line. Public broadcasting exists to benefit the public—and the public approves: PBS was ranked in a 2003 national poll as the most trusted national institution, and has shown overwhelming support locally. Jim Holm won the last election by only twenty-seven votes, and the next election is still a ways off. Still, people are already voting against him, in perhaps the only way he’ll understand. An informal boycott of his greenhouse business, Holm Town Nursery, seems to be underway. When the subject of Holm’s attitude toward public broadcasting comes up, people I talk with invariably say, “Him? I wouldn’t shop at his greenhouse if you paid me. I’m taking my business to Ann’s, or Fred’s, or I’ll do without.” People care about public broadcasting here, and want to see it fully funded. They don’t agree with Holm that its budget should be cut in a time when the state is rolling in dough, and they’re mad. Holm should consider very carefully the ramifications of what he’s done by successfully pushing for funding reductions for public broadcasting. He may find that his own budget is cut. Deirdre Helfferich is Editor of the Ester Republic, 2005 Alaska Press Club award winner. |
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| Copyright
2005
Insurgent Media. All Rights
Reserved. in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which revolts against the policies of its leadership. |
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