Bulldozing Sesame Street: Or Pave Paradise, Put Up a Learning Block

We can add a few new entries to the endangered species list:

Big Bird
Elmo
Oscar the Grouch
Cookie Monster
Zoe
Bert
Count Dracula
Ernie
Grover
Kermit the Frog


These cheerful Muppets and their Sesame Street pals, both puppets and people, have been helping kids learn their alphabet, numbers, some primary reading skills, a bit of Spanish, and even some basic problem-solving skills and a bit of tolerance. Sesame Street is a mulitcultural neighborhood, with segments about the abilities of the people with disabilities, and lessons about coping with other differences. In short, Sesame Street is the American Dream in kid-friendly microcasm.

And if I'm a bit out of date with the character list above, it because the two Sesame Street alumi in my life, my nephews, and now teenagers.

Sesame Street has been an American preschool favorite for almost 40 years now. The show debuted when I was in elementary school, well past the age of the target audience. And while I derided the show as a child, and benignly toleranted it as a teenage babysitter; as an adult I can see its value and its quality.

Sesame Street rules. It teaches kids the basics they need for school, but it's not all cuddly and sweet. The segments are witty and relevant, even in the world of adults. I became a fan when
I was watching with my nephew and saw Monsterpiece Theater with "Alistair Cookie". I laughed out loud. Cookie Monster was sitting in a chair in a teasing little tribute to a mainstay of PBS' adult programming, and perfectly mimicing its well-known host at the time, Alistair Cooke. And I started watching with the young people in my life, instead of just hanging out in the same room.

Sesame Street, due to its popularity, is likely here to stay. But the lastest brouhaha regarding PBS and NPR funding in Congress could make it difficult for some local PBS stations to afford such important programming.

Congress may righteously tout that they need to make budget cuts or reduce the deficit, but the amount being cut from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is less than 100th of 1 percent of the proposed 2 trillion dollar budget, a federal budget version of spare change. But this cut means 45 percent less fundng for PBS and 25 percent less for local stations. The CPB is such a regretably small part of our federal budget as it, so why cut it even further.

The green button link article from the New York Times suggests a possible reason. A former White House official, working for the CPB was monitoring and rating PBS content on a liberal versus conservative scale, specifically the guest who appeared on NOW, then hosted by Bill Moyers.

A few years ago, I was channel-surfing and came across a conservative journal awards program on CSPAN. As I watched speaker after speaker, both commentator and award winner derided a Bill Moyer and the audience cheered and laughed at each venomous jibe.

A few months later, channel-surfing again on a Friday night, I came across NOW with Bill Moyers, was interested in the evening's topics and watched the whole program. I was hooked, and remain a NOW viewer even though I miss Bill Moyers, who has since retired, as well as the former hour-long format. The current host David Brancaccio has kept the show's format and integrity; but now at its new half-hour length it merely whets my appetite for more. Fortunately our local affiliate has a new program Foreign Exchange, which talks about global issues that affect American issues and vice versa; and gives me a whole new menu of issues to ponder.

NOW is a program that examines current news and politic topics, with views from both sides of any issue. In doing so, they often discuss views and expose details detrimental to the Conservative agenda.

NOW, Frontline, and NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered are among other excellent PBS and NPR news shows are the real fair and unbalanced news sources in our country. Without the shareholder, profit spreadsheet, and commericial interests of the corporate networks, they are more objective and complete in their reporting. And they are more likely to cover a story in greater detail, with several points of view.

But of course, the Conservatives don't believe in several points of view. And that's what it's really about, cutting funds for the network that runs these wonderful news resources. We should all be concerned about the proposed cuts to the CPB's budget. It appears to be a step toward media censorship, and away from the First Amendment.

And these networks also run arts shows like Masterpiece Theater, science programs like Nature and Nova, as well as shows like Sesame Street for adults and children. For many Americans with limited resources, PBS and NPR offer rare educational and cultural learning opportunities. And some PBS shows like This Old House and The Antique Roadshow, have inspired commercial television programs, or even entire cable networks; creating new business interests and industries.

We cannot afford not to fund Public Broadcasting. Perhaps we should even all a few hundreds of 1 percent to the federal budget, and invest more in this national treasure trove of knowledge and ideas.

Instead, it seems we have an Administration and Congress with a vendetta against freethought. We need to contact our representatives today and tell them to restore the 100th of 1 percent to the CPB's funding.

For without this bit of federal spare change; Sesame Street may be safe, but other educational programs will disappear from our nation's TV screens. And America's children will be left behind, again.

Long live Big Bird!