Ever notice how impressions linger long after they have been overtaken — nay, gobbled up — by new realities?
Take television. (Please.)
Back when most Americans had few TV choices beyond the three major networks, it might have been reasonable to contend that public broadcasting was a lifeline to educational and informational programming. Without it, one could have argued, with some justification, certain nature programs, literacy-oriented children’s shows and worthwhile material in a similar vein might not have been produced at all.
Now fast forward to 2012 and look at how television has changed. Oh sure, there are no cable or satellite programs today that are geared toward, say, history or arts and entertainment or classic films or science or practical home improvement projects or debate of important issues or … .
Hey, wait a second! You can get all that and a lot more on cable, via satellite and sometimes even on ABC, CBS and NBC. Roughly 103 million of America’s 114 million households have some form of pay television, Forbes reported recently. And The Heritage Foundation has noted that even a big majority of Americans below the poverty line have cable or satellite TV. So today, no one can rationally claim that vast swaths of the population are being denied the opportunity to view a range of educational and informational programming. It simply isn’t plausible to suggest that educational television would melt away like ice cream on a hot “Sesame Street” sidewalk were it not for those who labor away in public broadcasting.