Public Broadcasting’s Problematic Lobbying

Public radio stations are rallying their listeners to lobby Congress not to pass deep funding cuts to public broadcasting. But “jarring juxtaposition of news programming and self-interested promotion exemplifies the fine line that public broadcasters are walking as they mobilize to combat threats to their financing. It is always a delicate task for a news organization to cover itself. But when the organization in question is financed in part by the government, when the news centers on the prospects for that money and when a station floods its airwaves with spots urging viewers or listeners to contact their Congressional representatives, the undertaking becomes much more challenging.”