Free Press: Million-Plus Sign SaveCPB Petition

More than a million people have signed a petition opposing defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
That is according to Free Press, which along with MoveOn.org and others were collecting the online signatures.

Republicans are proposing cutting out the funding as a cost-savings measure, and have made zeroing out CPB funding part of their proposed continuing resolution to keep funding the government through September.

"Poll after poll shows that NPR and PBS are the most trusted sources for news and information," said Free Press Campaign Director Timothy Carr in a statement. "Parents trust programs like Sesame Street to help their kids learn. And in some parts of the country, public media are the only source for local news....Republicans in Congress would do themselves and their constituents a service if they'd focus on solving the economic mess instead of posturing about public TV and radio," he said.

Republicans argue that zeroing out CPB funding is part of a $100 billion in cuts directed toward helping the economy by reducing unnecessary government spending.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.