It's not a pledge break, but Jean Cherni's sending check to PBS

As you are all probably aware, there are fewer and fewer independently owned newspapers. Rupert Murdock, whose staff in England used bribery and spying to get “scoops,” is about to embark on a determined drive to add additional newspapers to his media empire.

While other countries have several independent TV news channels, America has only one, and that is PBS.

Unfortunately, the outstanding “PBS NewsHour” is forced to plan a significant round of layoffs, its first in nearly two decades.

MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, the show’s producer, must close the offices it has outside of Washington — in Denver and San Francisco — as well as lay off most of the employees it has there. Facing a shortfall of more than $7 million, the producers have no choice. As viewers, we have fewer and fewer sources of independent, on-the-spot news coverage delivered by impartial reporters who are also students of history.

What is particularly upsetting is that popular late-night and early-morning “news show” hosts, command salaries several times that shortfall amount. Sarah Palin, who has already proved herself to be neither an eloquent speaker or history buff, is about to sign a fat contract as a Fox news analyst.

In a world in which what happens in Istanbul affects us here in New York, America, if it is to remain a leader among freedom-loving nations, must have an informed and engaged citizenry. That is not possible without access to unbiased, in-depth reporting.

The closing of Denver and San Francisco offices is the final chapter for the “NewsHour,” which formerly had offices in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Although Linda Winslow, executive producer of the “NewsHour,” said, “Under no circumstances do we intend to abandon the minidocumentary reports that have become so critical to our broadcasts, and we remain committed to delivering the same kind of in-depth reporting our viewers expect.”

I, for one, am sending in an extra contribution to public television as well as writing to its corporate sponsors to encourage them to give more generously. Impartial and knowledgeable reporting, both written and spoken, are too important to see diminished without putting up a fight.

“Without debate, without criticism, no administration and no country can succeed, and no republic can survive. And that is why our press was protected by the First Amendment — the only business in America specifically protected by the Constitution — not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and sentimental, but to inform and arouse, to indicate our crises and choices, to lead, mold and educate. This means greater coverage and analysis of international news — for it is no longer far away and foreign, but close at hand.” — Excerpts from John F. Kennedy’s address before the American Newspaper Publishers Association. April 27, 1961.

Contact Jean Cherni, certified senior adviser for Senior Living Solutions and Pearce Plus, a helpful, full-service program for seniors contemplating a move, at jeancherni@sbcglobal.net or 49 Rose St. Apt. 510, Branford, 06405.

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