During this week's broadcast of Alabama Public Television's "Capitol Journal," host Todd Stacy interviewed APTV executive director Wayne Reid and network director of external affairs Jack Williams on the heels of a $9 billion rescission package passed by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump last week.
Earlier this month, Reid authored a message to APTV subscribers urging them to contact their U.S. Senators and "make your voice be heard" regarding the cuts.
Williams discussed his interactions with members of Alabama's congressional delegation, arguing that APTV was not akin to left-leaning PBS and NPR.
"Well, [I] reminded them — Wayne mentioned we're 15 years older than PBS," Williams said. "Alabama Public Television is the original public television network in the country. So, I let them know about the history, but I certainly sit down with our members of Congress and remind them that we're not PBS. We're not NPR. We're focused on the state program, our program, and things we do at Capitol Journal, our coverage of the state house. Those are things that go away if we go away — our high school football and basketball.
He continued, "And try and emphasize the value that we provide to their constituents. And by and large, I think our congressional delegation gets it. That was a, the rescission was basically a party line vote, but I think even some of our Republican members understand the value that we bring. And I'm looking forward to working with them to see ways that we can be helped in the future, maybe even as early as this next budget, whenever it's passed."
Later in the segment, "Capitol Journal" host Todd Stacy acknowledged his frustrations with PBS and NPR's left-leaning bias and APTV's perceived association with the two entities.
"I'm glad y'all both brought up the whole NPR or PBS thing, because that's been frustrating to me as this whole thing," Stacy said. "Well, look, we have not put an opinion out about this or anything, but it is frustrating for me, because we work hard here at ‘Capitol Journal,’ to be fair. I think everybody appreciates that. We try very hard to be right down the middle and just tell the truth. But it's watching PBS over the years, and especially NPR — I've listened to NPR for years, used to every morning, you know, 'Morning Edition,' 'All Things Considered.' There is no question that they have drifted pretty far to the left in recent, I'd say, the last several years. And so I understand some frustration from members of Congress saying, why in the world should we be funding that? And in some cases, the same is true with PBS, especially with like 'Washington Week' and certain programming. So that's frustrating for me, just from our news station perspective. It's got to be frustrating to y'all as you talk to members of Congress."
According to Reid and Williams, they have pushed back against NPR and PBS for biased content in their capacities as APTV executives.
"[I]'ve been here for two and a half years now, and ever since I came on and we would go to national meetings, one of the things we took to the leadership at NPR and at PBS at every meeting that we went to is we have biased issues and we have bias problems, Reid said. “And it's whether they're in their echo chamber up in New York or Washington, and they kind of listen to each other and say, no, we're not. But the problem is, there was a lot of states that would say there's problems that we need to get fixed. And we have pushed that from the state level of Alabama and a lot of other states for several years now, since I've been here. And Jack started that crusade even before I did.”
Williams added, "And Wayne's been very gracious to let me continue on that. But we've actually cobbled together at least eight, and I think it grew to 12 or 14 state networks that have expressed deep dissatisfaction with how NewsHour programming has been done in Washington Week. I brought this up directly to the CEO of PBS and CEO of NPR in a panel discussion in February, in Washington, D.C."
He continued, "I've had conversations with the chairman of the Board for NPR and the chairman of the board for PBS. And I've seen both CEOs this week say, there's no bias. And I think as long as they double down on that, it's going to make it more difficult for us to work with the federal government in the future.”
Jeff Poor is the editor-in-chief of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @jeff_poor.
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