ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – The Public Broadcasting Service was founded in 1969 and has since served the community by providing educational programming, such as Bob Ross’s The Joy of Painting.
And after possible federal funding cuts, future generations are at risk of never seeing their favorite characters like Elmo on the big screen ever again.
“Some of your favorite Sesame Street, The News Hour, Nova Nature, The American Experience, which have already been cut down and diminished by PBS as of today.”
Congress approved a request from the White House to reduce funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
“The loss of funding leaves a hole that local stations may struggle to fill”, President and CEO of Blue Ridge PBS INC William Anderson said.
“Small rural stations that they talk about, which just happened to be your Blue Ridge PBS and PBS Appalachia,” he said.
“Those small rural stations are the ones that will be affected. And I think that we’re I think we’re looking at a hard road ahead of us.”
Not only will the federal funding impact what you see on the screen, but it will also impact everything behind the scenes.
“We’re here to serve and reflect and tell the stories of Southwest Virginia. That’s our job locally. That’s what we were tasked to do,” Anderson said.
“And it might be affected to the to a point where you won’t see you’ll see a change here on the local level of what we’re able to show here at Blue Ridge PBS.”
But Blue Ridge Public Broadcasting is far more than just Elmo.
Lives could be at stake, according to Anderson.
“You also lose that coverage of the early warning system that early, that E.A.S. system for tornadoes, hurricanes. Uh, and and here, most most especially here in Southwest Virginia, the flooding.”
Besides federal funding, public broadcasters get money from the state and local donors.
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