AnchorMommy

Up on my soapbox: DON’T CUT IDAHO PUBLIC TELEVISION

January 22, 2010 by Shannon

University of Idaho students using new studio cameras at KUID, 2008 (Photo courtesy Glenn Mosley)

I normally don’t spout off much about politics here on AnchorMommy, but right now, I feel I have no choice. Something very disturbing is happening in my beautiful home state of Idaho: funding for Idaho Public Television could soon be phased out — for good.

Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter (yes, out of state readers, the image you’re picturing is probably accurate — he does go by the name of Butch, and he’s a cowboy boot devotee) is hoping to plug a massive state deficit by cutting many things, including education funding (you know it’s bad here when they start talking about education cuts) and funding for IPTV. I know the money has to come from somewhere. And I am by no means advocating that the education budget is the place to look for more savings if IPTV is spared. But here’s the thing — to start solving this budget problem, Gov. Otter needs about $175 million from reserves and $100 million in budget cuts. The proposed cuts to IPTV would only save about $1.6 million a year. (The grand plan is to cut about $4 million in IPTV funding over the next four years.) Seems to me the savings of cutting IPTV’s funding is just a drop in the bucket when it comes to fixing Idaho’s budget problems.

And if lawmakers approve the plan, the costs would be great. There are many, many aspects of Gov. Otter’s proposal that disturb me, but the following are what I see as the most upsetting losses:

1. Public television service to Idaho’s rural communities. This doesn’t affect me a great deal personally, since I live in the Treasure Valley, and I will continue to pick up national public television programs my household can’t live without, such as SuperWhy?, Clifford the Big Red Dog and the all-important Sesame Street. (However, we will lose the IdahoPTV Kids Channel which I find invaluable, because I can turn it on at practically any hour of the day that I need to keep Kellan occupied for a few minutes, and feel confident that he is watching quality programming.) But without its current level of funding, IPTV most likely will not be able to continue broadcasting outside the Treasure Valley. Imagine — Moscow, the town that is home to the state’s only land-grant university, will get no public television signal. Service to Twin Falls, which is practically next door to the Treasure Valley, would likely go black.
2. The television studio at KUID — the place where I got my feet wet in the world of broadcast media — would most likely be closed. I have to be honest. This is the one that makes me most upset, obviously because I have a personal connection to that studio. But first, a little background.

University of Idaho Broadcast news students producing a show in the KUID studio, Spring 2009 (Photo courtesy Glenn Mosley)

When I majored in Broadcast Journalism at the University of Idaho (the program was then called Visual Communication) I trained on equipment that was as much as 50 years old. The switcher was a behemoth, and looked like it was straight out of a Star Trek film. And the studio lights? Let’s just say I said a little prayer before flipping any of those switches because that light board was probably born the same year as my parents. Now? KUID has a brand new, state-of-the-art production facility — one I would have killed to train in as a student. If KUID is closed, which it most likely will be, what will happen to that equipment? It doesn’t sound like anyone is really sure about that at this point. It is entirely possible that students will simply have to wave goodbye to that professional-grade studio and the guarantee of hands-on, practical training in their chosen field. This, friends, is a travesty. As Pat Hart, the Acting Director of the School of Journalism and Mass Media puts it, “A working TV studio is crucial to our recruiting efforts. It’s become a must-stop on the campus tour for prospective JAMM students and their families, and has added greatly to the “Wow!” factor — particularly for students who first visit WSU and don’t even get near their studio.”

What sets the University of Idaho’s Broadcast Journalism program apart is the hands-on, personal training students get from their instructors. I still know many of the professors there, and I have no doubt that their personal attention to each student will not disappear. But it breaks my heart to think of the possibility that those students will be reduced to station tours of television stations in Spokane and Boise to get anywhere near a working TV studio. What kind of training is that for the next generation of broadcast journalists? In a world where story length and depth is replaced by brevity and shocking soundbites, why would we give up-and-coming communicators LESS opportunity instead of MORE???

As I mentioned earlier, these are just a couple of the serious problems I see with Governor Otter’s plan. I believe his proposal is short-sighted, and quite honestly, makes a much-needed public service nothing more than a political pawn. (It is said that a documentary on gay parents upset Idaho conservatives 10 years ago, and since ever since then, there has been talk of making IPTV a market-based operation.) If Idaho Public Television has to retool its mission and focus solely on providing service to the Treasure Valley, then it ceases to become Idaho Public Television. It then becomes Boise Privately Funded Television.

What now? Well, those who care about this issue — or even those who are slightly peeved by the idea — need to speak out. Luckily, that’s pretty easy to do, if you can spare 10 or 15 minutes to send an email to one of the decision makers at Idaho’s Statehouse. You can contact your local legislator here. Or perhaps more importantly, you should contact the Joint Finance Committee Co-Chair, Representative Maxine Bell, through this email form. Here is the contact form for Senator Dean Cameron, the other JFAC Co-Chair. The JFAC committee has the final say on where Idaho’s tax dollars go, and those two are the big cheeses in charge of that committee. The Facebook group Save Idaho Public Television also has a great list of resources for submitting editorials to your local newspaper. Please — do what you can to make your voice heard on this issue.

Idaho Public Television is very good at taking care of much of its own needs. It raises about 2/3 of its budget from private donations every year. But according to IPTV General Manager Peter Morrill in an email sent to concerned UI alumni and supporters such as myself, IPTV would have a difficult time making up for what it could potentially lose in state funding. “It is highly unlikely that we could raise an additional $1.6 million each year on top of what we currently raise privately,” says Morrill. “It is even more unlikely that it could be sustained over many years. If you have opinions on this matter, now is the time to let policy makers know.”