During the lengthy budget process in the Pennsylvania legislature, public television stations were targeted for budget elimination. One of the primary reasons focused on the salary of WHYY's General Manager. Members of the legislarture found it to be excessive even for a normal economy.
The legislature eventual put in $1 million for all eight stations in PA. This "gift" was not close to the normal $12 million for the stations and a statewide interconnect. While most of the stations had huge holes in their budgets, WHYY said that it could easily recover from the loss of state funding. Really . . . how?
Now, WHYY is facing another problem. This one comes from the US Senate. U.S. Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.) says that the FCC should look closely at WHYY's license. The station is, as FCC records show, not licensed to the City of Brotherly Love. It is, in fact, lincensed to Wilmington DE.
During the budget "circus" in Harrisburg, WHYY closed its faci8lities in Wilmington and cut Delaware-based and focused programming to just 1 30 minute program each week. WHYY said that closing the facility across the river would increase Delaware programming on radio and online. Really? How do you do that with 16 fewer positions and no facility?
So, Senator Kaufman wants the FCC to again criticze and, perhaps, remove WHYY's license unless it serves its city and state of license.
Full article
No comments:
Post a Comment