| MUMBAI:
Public broadcasting is finding greater support from the Obama administration than
it did under former President George Bush. PBS
chief Paula Kerger said the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's $430 million
budget for this year has been left untouched by President Barack Obama, an approach
contradictory to Bush administration’s repeated bids to reduce or eliminate
the federal subsidy. PBS hopes to receive a further increase to $450 million next
year. PBS
has been hit hard by the economic downturn and recently downsized by 10 per cent
“We are trying to be quite realistic about the resources we have available,”
Kerger said, adding that the network wants to pay for and offer only “extraordinary
content.”
Clearly,
Kerger finds Obama more inclined to public broadcasting than
Bush. “I guess the best way to answer that question is
that coming out of the administration, we received full funding
for public broadcasting, which is the first time in eight
years,” Kerger said. “So I think that says something.”
According to the annual Roper poll, Americans rank public
broadcasting as the second most important use of funds after
defence.
PBS is planning three religious documentaries for next year.
This includes God in America, The Buddha and The
Calling.
“For many Americans, exploring religion and faith is
one of life’s biggest and most central questions, and
PBS offers some of the most compelling, wide-ranging programming
on this subject anywhere on television,” said PBS chief
programming executive John Wilson.
God
in America is a six-hour series for fall that examines
500 years of American religious history from the voyage of
Christopher Columbus to the 2008 presidential election.
The
Buddha, a two-hour documentary from Emmy winner David
Grubin slated for spring, tells the story of the enlightened
Indian sage and tracks his biography aided by paintings and
sculptures.
The
Calling, from independent producer Danny Alpert, is a
four-hour documentary following eight people on their journey
into the clergy of different faiths — Islam, Catholicism,
Evangelical Christianity and Judaism.
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