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Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009
When Bush's education secretary objected to a lesbian couple in a children's cartoon, PBS instantly caved in. Is the network becoming the White House's lap dog?
Feb 4, 2005 | On Wednesday afternoon this week, elementary school children and their parents in the Boston area who were watching public television got to see perhaps the only educational cartoon ever forced to fend off efforts to ban it. Given the Bush administration's success in keeping the show off the air -- except in Boston and a handful of other PBS markets -- it might not be the last time, as cultural conservatives and the Public Broadcasting System seem destined to continue to do battle over programming. And considering how quickly PBS conceded defeat this round, that battle may become increasingly lopsided.
The controversy surrounding the children's series "Postcards From Buster," featuring a cartoon bunny who, in one episode, visits Vermont to make maple syrup and meets children from two families headed by lesbian couples, generated headlines last week when incoming Education Secretary Margaret Spellings lambasted the episode as inappropriate. Many observers likely viewed the showdown as little more than another head-shaking episode in the ongoing culture war. (The "Buster" flap erupted the same week that Christian talk show host James Dobson warned parents that a classroom video on intolerance featuring SpongeBob SquarePants "could prompt [teachers] to teach kids that homosexuality is equivalent to heterosexuality.")
But for PBS insiders and longtime supporters, the skirmish, and the speed with which PBS backed down in the face of threats from the Bush administration, mark a new low point for the broadcasting institution and a dangerous development for the public. Low because the content of the "Buster" episode was so innocuous. And dangerous because it highlights the inside-the-Beltway environment in which PBS is forced to operate, where funding concerns often trump programming decisions, and the fear of upsetting conservatives has become a driving force.
"Political decisions now come to bear on public television, despite the fact its specific mission is not to be partisan," says one former PBS staffer. "The conservative right, slowly but surely, is chipping away at PBS. They have Republican lobbyists counseling them, 'Do the right thing or we can't help you on Capitol Hill.' It's a chilling effect. And every time PBS gives in to them, that gives [conservatives] more say over the programming."
According to a knowledgeable source, one outside lobbyist for PBS, Karen Nussle, the wife of Rep. Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, told executives at the network that if they went ahead and aired the disputed "Buster" episode, she would not be able to help them politically. "She's a good representative to the Republican Congress, and if they lost her that would set the relationship back and PBS would be left exposed on the Hill," says the source, who adds that PBS's main lobbyist, John Lawson, president of the Association of Public Television Stations, also warned the network against fighting the administration. "He told them, 'This threatens our relationship by making Margaret [Spellings] have to deal with this," says the source. Lawson, who is Spellings' brother-in-law and who attended her swearing-in ceremony this week, declined to comment for this article. Nussle did not return calls seeking comment.
Asked about what influence Nussle and Lawson might have had internally as PBS wrestled with its decision, John Wilson, PBS's senior vice president for programming, says he never spoke to them. "I don't seek out the advice of lobbyists."
Even before she was sworn into office as the new education secretary, Spellings, a former Bush White House advisor, condemned the TV bunny. She afterward warned PBS about its tenuous federal funding and demanded that PBS refund the Education Department for the grant money it had contributed to the show's production, approximately $125,000. It was an unprecedented attempt to micromanage -- and humiliate -- PBS.
"I don't think we've ever been contacted by a Cabinet secretary about anything, let alone a particular [children's] episode," Wilson says.
In the wake of all the pre-broadcast hype, those watching WGBH in Boston Wednesday may have been most surprised by what they didn't see in the "Buster" episode, titled "Sugartime!" "It was totally benign," says Peggy Charren, the children's programming advocate and public television pioneer who serves on the board of trustees of WGBH, the PBS station that produced the series. "I was expecting there to be a discussion about lesbian families. There was nothing. I watched the tape twice and then called over to 'GBH and said, 'Are you sure this is what all the fuss is about?' The amount of information about lesbian families in the program is zero. I learned more about cows -- that all cows are female -- than I did about lesbians."
Other PBS veterans agree that the Republican reaction was wildly overblown. "I viewed the episode and it's a lot of hullabaloo about very little," says Jeff Clarke, president and CEO of KQED, the San Francisco PBS outlet. "It's about kids milking cows and playing in hay. It's not about pushing any agenda." PBS president Pat Mitchell initially agreed, giving the episode a green light after reviewing it. But four days later, on Jan. 25, she reversed course and announced that PBS would not distribute the show nationwide. The same day, Spellings' office issued a blistering letter denouncing the program and demanding a refund of the government's grant. (PBS will not refund any money to the Education Department but, rather, ask WGBH to create a new, replacement episode so that the "Postcards From Buster" series can still broadcast the planned 40 episodes.)
A handful of stations other than WGBH, such as KQED, WNET in New York and KVIE in Sacramento, Calif., bucked PBS's decision and plan to broadcast the show at various times between now and March. "We decided there was no reason not to air the episode," Clarke says.
