Battle of 'Sesame Street': Political fight over PBS has long history

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The scuffle over Big Bird is only the latest in a long line of political fights over PBS. 

(Matt Sayles / Associated Press / August 30, 2009)

When Mitt Romney vowed to cut government funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting during Wednesday night’s presidential debate, PBS chief Paula Kerger says she “just about fell off the sofa” out of shock.

Romney’s remarks – and in particular his decision to single out the beloved Big Bird -- sparked an immediate uproar on social media. And on Thursday, PBS issued an unusually strongly worded statement in response to the attack. “Governor Romney does not understand the value the American people place on public broadcasting and the outstanding return on investment the system delivers to our nation,” it read.

But Kerger and Big Bird’s millions of fans shouldn’t have been that surprised by Romney’s pledge: The candidate is merely the latest in a long line of politicians and pundits who’ve turned the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributes money to both PBS and NPR, into a political punching bag. 

Since at least the mid-1990s, government sudsidization of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has been a perennial front in the culture wars, and PBS' programming, from "Teletubbies" to "NewsHour," has been criticized for its supposed liberal bias.