Criticism of Public TV Is Not Justified

Regarding the Counterpunch by Richard A. Perkins, secretary of Viewers for Public Television Accountability, that heaped endless criticism on KCET-TV (“The ‘Secret’ Life of Public TV,” Feb. 20): It’s amazing to me that an organization like his even exists in this Information Age.

Perkins disputes the KCET contention that it offers “free” TV and says nothing is free. But public TV is “free” to all who want to watch it . . . all you need is a television and an antenna--in some cases people can only afford to use a coat hanger for reception, but it will always be more accessible than cable. It’s free because we’ve all contributed through both donations and taxes, and it’s one of the few first-class returns for every tax dollar we’ll ever see. Perkins also gripes about “public TV and radio’s generally left-liberal slant.” When was the last time his organization ever tuned in William F. Buckley? Since when does the “Nightly Business Report” only report financial transactions of left-wingers?

And as for the lament about PBS providing “entertainment for a few,” PBS must be varied, multicultural and multi-responsible. If you want programming that will appeal to the lowest common denominator, then look to our commercial networks with their badly written sitcoms, complete with artificial laugh tracks. I’ll stick with “Nova,” thank you.

Finally, Perkins complains about people in publicly visible positions of society being board members of KCET. Has he ever looked inside a program before watching a show at the Music Center, a civic light opera, a museum, or just about any other nonprofit performing arts venue? If he had, he would have noticed the hundreds of people’s names who proudly support that particular arts cause. It’s our way of recognizing and saying, “Thank you!” for making a presentation, gallery or recital into reality. If Perkins and Viewers for Public Television Accountability really want to find out what public TV’s been doing for the last few decades, they should just ask any child about Bert and Ernie or our friend Elmo.

JERRY VENEGAS

Los Angeles