Any high quality public art? Or public access?
Well, PBS is undergoing quite the transformation these days. How do you like all them ads? I wonder if they have any effect on content? Do you think the effect is ‘public’ or democratic?
I think the kind of DUPLICITY we see running rampant in public media would be great material for a rant.
Say, has anyone missed the weekly presence of the Children’s Film Festival? What a breath of fresh air that was when I was growing up. It expanded my mind. Foreign and indy and classic flicks for kids. What a lovely contrast to cartoons (which weren’t too shabby either then).
Think of the poverty in the upbringing of kids ever since they cancelled such productions. Ah, the decline of modernism. What a shame to NARROW the scope of what kids are exposed to, culturally. I really miss that show. I’m going to have to create my own version of it from scratch for my kids, due to the poverty of our modern society.
Does anyone notice that most PBS feature film productions are baroque British items, whether set in the past or today? Where are the fulllength indy features, foreign and classic? Do they really think they can’t compete with the payperview cable channels? Golly, why write off your mission statement just because you know you’re only broadcasting to the poor or those who restrain their media consumption? Why does PBS have any programming if similar is available elsewhere?
Interesting that the production values of PBS are increasing. I wonder what is happening to local or diversity access? Let’s see, we have million-dollar folksy stuff like that music show (AustinCL, 54th Street, or something like that) or Prairie Home Companion. But what chance does any ACTUAL folk or HOME show stand of getting air time? The public tv/radio need to make budgets is more desparate than commercial channels, likely. But in the final analysis, public channels are public, not owned, no fee associated with them…except for the overhead. I wonder what has happened with that lately? Perhaps it has gone thru the roof so that only… commercially successful programs are allowed?
Well, if PBStv/radio have been co-opted (and they have) to where can the public turn? Public access I suppose is the public’s last resort. Is there public access radio? –Where DJ’s can get a reputation and spin records all day in whatever format works best for them? (Previous era mode for public radio.) I wonder what it costs to have a knowledgeable person simply play records for a couple hours, explaining them as he goes (free!)…as compared with running an episode of Prairie Home Companion? It seemed like our local public radio went from playing dusty ‘classics’ all day without much spark, to being sellouts. Leapfrogging democratic, creative programming altogether.
How interested are Indy Film people in getting their works aired? Can such movies be played on Public Access? I wonder if someone could make their own Children’s Film Festival and get permission to re-run some great old and new kids movies from around the world for cheap. Some movies that otherwise would get no airplay. Some music that no one would otherwise hear.
