What could the statewide impact be for Public Broadcasting in Montana?
The statewide impact of a potential 40% reduction in CPB funds, to all public broadcasters in Montana receiving CPB grants, is approximately $550,000. CPB reported in 2003 giving grants totaling $1,419,359 to Montana public broadcasters. Why is Congress recommending such deep cuts to CPB funding? The House Appropriations Committee has two billion dollars less to work with this year than last year. There are 47 agencies for which the House panel has recommended zero funding. House members have indicated that there are no anti-public broadcasting politics involved, and they are doing their best to make sense of the budget in light of the nations enormous deficit. However, a June 17th New York Times article said, Executives at some stations and at National Public Radio said this week that they feared that a campaign by Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, to assure what he calls greater political balance in programming might actually be undermining ef
