Statement by Patrick Butler, President and CEO of the Association of Public Television Stations, and President of the Public Media Association
WASHINGTON — March 9, 2011 — Since assuming the presidency of NPR two years ago, Vivian Schiller has led her organization to new heights of news coverage, audience growth and financial strength, and her friends and admirers in public broadcasting wish her well in the next chapter of her remarkable career.
The comments of former NPR executive Ron Schiller are indefensible and reprehensible, and in no way do they reflect the philosophy of the thousands of people in public broadcasting who are committed to providing a civil forum for in-depth, objective reporting and discussions of public issues at the local, national and international levels.
Public opinion research consistently finds enthusiastic support for public broadcasting across the ideological and political spectrum, and the most recent survey finds 69 percent of Americans favoring continued or increased federal funding for public broadcasting. One hundred seventy million Americans regularly turn to their local public broadcasting station for the most trusted news and public affairs, educational and cultural programming in America.
We are confident that the millions of viewers and listeners, students and citizens who depend on public television and radio continue to believe, as we do, that public broadcasting provides an essential service to a self-governing society and that this service richly deserves continued public support.
About APTS
The Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) is a nonprofit membership organization established in 1979. The mission of APTS is to conduct – in concert with member stations – advocacy, planning, research and communications activities in order to achieve strong and financially sound noncommercial television and advanced digital services for the American people. APTS provides consistent leadership and information that helps our members better accomplish their own missions and goals. APTS promotes the legislative and regulatory interests of noncommercial television stations at the national level through direct advocacy, and grasstops and grassroots campaigns designed to garner congressional support. For more information, visit www.apts.org.
About PMA
The Public Media Association (PMA) is joint initiative between APTS and NPR to respond to the current federal funding crisis on behalf of local public radio and television stations.
###
