Viewers Like You?

Rating:
Summary: Can public television ever be relevant to the masses?
Review: Laurie Ouellette has produced a scholarly work tracing the origins of public television. On the one hand, she points out that liberals complain that the PBS reliance on funding from private corporations compromises the networks ability to tackle controversial subjects that might be construed to be anti-business. Conservatives argue that PBS is nothing more than a programming service for the elite and that no government subsidies should be forthcoming. Ouellette makes the case that from the very beginning most PBS prime time programming was conceived by and directed at upper middle class and affluent white people. She also points out that in her opinion this remains the case today. I think she has a valid point. The author argues that as long as this attitude prevails public television will continue to be irrelevant to minorities and lower class whites. The author would prefer to see at least some prime time programming aimed at more general audiences. Whatever your opinion of the merits of publicly subsidized public television, this book is well worth your time. I must warn you however that this book is not an easy read and I deducted one star for that reason.

Rating:
Summary: Can public television ever be relevant to the masses?
Review: Laurie Ouellette has produced a scholarly work tracing the origins of public television. On the one hand, she points out that liberals complain that the PBS reliance on funding from private corporations compromises the networks ability to tackle controversial subjects that might be construed to be anti-business. Conservatives argue that PBS is nothing more than a programming service for the elite and that no government subsidies should be forthcoming. Ouellette makes the case that from the very beginning most PBS prime time programming was conceived by and directed at upper middle class and affluent white people. She also points out that in her opinion this remains the case today. I think she has a valid point. The author argues that as long as this attitude prevails public television will continue to be irrelevant to minorities and lower class whites. The author would prefer to see at least some prime time programming aimed at more general audiences. Whatever your opinion of the merits of publicly subsidized public television, this book is well worth your time. I must warn you however that this book is not an easy read and I deducted one star for that reason.

Rating:
Summary: How PBS came to be
Review: Meticulously researched and refreshingly accessible, Viewers Like You? takes us through the debates that surrounded the birth of public television in the US through to today's congressional funding battles. Ouellette deftly outlines how PBS was forged in the crucible of the turbulent 60s, and how the cultural politics of this institution have played out over the last 30 years. Ouellette is just as adept at fleshing out the origins of Sesame Street and those tedious fund-raising drives as she is weaving in a plethora of voices from the realm of cultural studies. If you're a fan of Masterpiece Theatre--or can't stand it--this book will help you sort out the why's and wherefore's of your own relationship with PBS and gives us a vision of what it could have been--and what it could be still.