TV DAY AT REAL ART

A couple of articles about television, most definitely not like the kind you'll find in Entertainment Weekly.

First from the Nation, news on the right-wing assault against PBS:

Republican Broadcasting Corporation

For the first time in its 38-year history, the CPB ordered a comprehensive review of public TV and radio programming for "evidence of bias." All new PBS funding agreements are conditioned upon the network following "objectivity and balance" requirements for each of its programs.

Last January, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings denounced the cartoon rabbit Buster, of "Postcards from Buster" fame, for visiting a lesbian family in Vermont. The decision to slash in half the popular investigative show NOW after Bill Moyers' departure, and the addition of the Wall Street Journal editorial page and Tucker Carlson (who has since left for MSNBC) to the programming line-up proves just how far right PBS has moved in an attempt to appear fair and balanced. "This is the first time in my thirty-two years in public broadcasting that CPB has ordered up programs for ideological instead of journalistic reasons," Moyers told The New Yorker last year.

A majority of the CPB's eight-member board--chaired by Ken Tomlinson, a good friend of Karl Rove--are now Republican appointees.

Click here for the rest.

I guess PBS is now headed toward a sort of Fox News for the intellectually inclined. That's almost funny. Almost. Ha.

Next, from AlterNet, an meditation on the meaning of all those inspirational stories brought to us by Oprah:

The Oprah Society

It's inspiring to watch someone beat the odds. If you see the deck is stacked, their triumph is especially sweet. Day after day, in our made-for-TV society, that's what we're shown: inspiring exceptions--women and men who, by some miracle, overcome insurmountable barriers. They often weep as we do when we hear their tales of woe. Indeed, whether it's addiction or affliction, layoffs or payoffs, their stories are meant to convince us "Hey, they made it, why can't we?"

From yesterday's daytime gabfests to today's reality shows, somehow in America, the insurmountable became the inevitable. We went from counting on a family-sustaining job to expecting a pink slip. We've seen whole towns rust and millions lose decent jobs. We've seen still others trapped in jobs that fail to provide the basics of a decent life. Meanwhile, there aren't enough reality show makeovers to transform whole blocks--let alone entire towns--or get us all college diplomas or decent jobs.

Click here for the rest.

Really, despite her eternal cuteness, what Oprah often brings us are Horatio Alger stories for our neo-gilded age. Of course, it's quite true that some individuals do, indeed, embody the rags-to-riches American dream. But that's only a very few people when compared to the millions who deal with the Wal-Mart economy every day of their lives, with no real hope of doing better. The net effect of these inspiring TV stories is essentially to blame the unsuccessful for being unsuccessful: "if they can do it, you can, too; so, if you don't, it's because you didn't try hard enough." It's all a bunch of crap. Cute crap, where Oprah is concerned, but crap nonetheless.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$