Reader comments
KBYU may lose its PBS affiliation
154 comments | Read story
"This Old House" is pretty neutral, but have you watched any of the other standard PBS shows? The libs are at the helm of most media outlets.
Please. DO drop KBYU. I don't want a dime of my tax money supporting them.
After all, the First Amendment DOES say "regarding the establishment of religion..." and Utah's already got an established religion in place. Quit taxpayer-supporting it.
Perhaps KBYU should band together with other stations and develop their own programming. And ensure that PBS never benefits from any of this programming...
I can get what I want from BYUTV and KUED respectfully, LDS content on one, PBS on the other. Great system.
KSL has been showing material for years that has made me uncomfortable being aired by an LDS Church owned station. I am a Mormon and it's not that I want those shows off the air, it just seems out of place on a Church owned station.
Let the Church concentrate on BYUTV and dump the other two. There was a time when they were needed but that time is gone.
Just as the government cannot prohibit religious expression on PRIVATE channels or in traditional public fora, it also cannot FUND expressions of any certain religion. If taxpayer dollars go towards a station that broadcasts the views of one religion without also opening that station up to all others, then it looks like the government is helping or endorsing that religion. That a violation of the Establishment Clause (see above).
Refusing to fund religious expression is not the same as banning it, and is thus not a violation of the free expression guarantees in the First Amendment. BYU is still fully allowed to broadcast religious programming on its own; the people on this board that are claiming that religious expression would be silenced by this action are incorrect.
All of this is pretty well established by 200 years of Supreme Court cases clarifying the law.
Broadcast TV is becoming less relevant all the time. The church has other forms of communication with the saints world-wide.
No big deal.
You need to broaden your horizons. KBYU is not the only station that will be effected by these rulings. Utah is not the only place where religious programing exists in the media, and actually has far less of it than some places. All across the country there are PBS and NPR affiliates that have included religious programing of one sort or another, and are now being hurt be a new and envigorated war that is being waged by certain people against religion in the public sphere.
Also, contrary to what the 6:28 commentator implies, religios programing of other faiths would not have helped KBYU's position. He fails to understand either what it means to be "non-sectarian" or the fact that PBS's new campaign on the matter goes against the traditional understanding of the term.
"Just as the government cannot prohibit religious expression on PRIVATE channels or in traditional public fora, it also cannot FUND expressions of any certain religion. If taxpayer dollars go towards a station that broadcasts the views of one religion without also opening that station up to all others, then it looks like the government is helping or endorsing that religion."
And if government allows every form of programming on the air of government funded stations except for religious programming it is a violation of the 1st amendment which states that "Congress shall pass no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
"Refusing to fund religious expression is not the same as banning it, and is thus not a violation of the free expression guarantees in the First Amendment. BYU is still fully allowed to broadcast religious programming on its own; the people on this board that are claiming that religious expression would be silenced by this action are incorrect."
Yes it is the same thing because our taxes go to fund your programs while you deny us the same opportunity because of one thing. It is religious and therefore singled out for exclusion.
re: Zadruga Guy | 8:13 p.m. May 18, 2009
//I have seen no evidence that KBYU receives any taxpayer funding.//
If they receive any $ from the grants for the National Endowment of the Arts or National Endowment of the Humanities, then a case could be made KBYU receives 'public money'
"Tax payer money is money that we are forced to give up. For the government to then use this money to support a formum where religion is excluded is a violation of the first admendment. This is not about tax payer money supporting religion, but goernment institutions excluding religious expression from the public sphere. It is an issue of free speech, not of establishment of religion."
You are right. It does violate the first amendment because it singles out a certain group for specific exclusion while allowing all others. Any religious programming is denied the same access to the public broadcasting system that both the religious and non-religious pay to support.
It forces KBYU to choose between airing religious programming and receiving public funding for its non-profit efforts to provide public broadcasting in Utah. This decision to single religion out for exclusion is a violation of the 1st amendment. Those who choose to conform will continue to receive tax monies while those who don't will be denied the same opportunity as those who don't share their views.
That is a fundamental violation of their rights.
These days PBS is little more than a propaganda arm of the Democrat party, with a decided bias against any religion.
With a trillion dollar deficit this year we cannot afford to spend another dime on PBS.
KBYU should not give up their independence in order to comply with PBS dictates.
"I have seen no evidence that KBYU receives any taxpayer funding. My assumption is that it does not."
It receives funding from PBS which in turn is mostly funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) which receives Congressional funding so KBYU is receiving taxpayer funding albeit indirectly but that isn't the issue. The issue is that PBS doesn't have the right to receive taxpayer money and then to turn around and discriminate against certain providers based solely on their providing religious programming which is explicitly stating "if you want to receive public funding you will adhere to the moral and religious beliefs of those who provide the funding."
This at the same time as requiring those people who are religious to subsidize stupid programming. That isn't right and it's violate the 1st amendment which prohibits the government from singling out people or groups for exclusion based solely on religion or specifically endorse any one religion over another.
They have no more right to require that religious programming be aired on all PBS channels then they do to prohibit every PBS channel from airing them solely based on religion.
Originally PBS was formed to make educational programming available to the public. Today, MANY channels provide all kinds of programming across a wide spectrum including educational.
The government should only be in the business of providing services that are necessary to the nation and which are NOT provided by the private sector. The time for taxpayer subsidized public broadcasting has way since passed.
KBYU will do just fine on it's own. It's time for PBS to go!!!!!
As for the NEA grant funding, that is for producing the source material, not the airing. And if NEA funds any KBYU produced programs, then that's the NEA's call, not PBS nor "taxpayer money." And I'm not so thrilled with anything that the Federal government uses my tax dollars for, this is a drop in a bucket.
Fairness -- shmairness.
On another note, they said in the article that it has been 15 years since the policy was reviewed:
2009 - 15 = 1994, who was President then?
This is an administrative change reflecting national Democrats general contempt for anything faith related.
As for non-commercial, the cynical side in me likes to point out all the Elmo dolls, the Barney dolls, the Thomas the Tank Engine trains, the Arthur books, etc. . .that are sold without any advertising needed. Billions of dollars in licensing. The shows could be considered to be half-hour to hour long commercials. So, why do we have to donate money?
This is the same as prohibiting the free exercise. If people don't want to listen they just don't turn that station on. No one is forcing them to listen. They have a wrist, some fingers and a mind, which they can use to turn the dial or push a button.
Add your comment
Comments are monitored. Any comments found to be abusive, offensive, off-topic, misrepresentative, more than 200 words or containing URLs will not be posted.
E-mail address: For internal use only. We may want to contact you to publish your comment (not your e-mail address) in the newspaper or for a separate story idea.
- 7 firefighters injured at Dallas 7:46 a.m.
- Ref thought of quitting over handball 7:45 a.m.
- Rebound slower than first thought 7:39 a.m.
- Philippines declares emergency 7:31 a.m.
- Stock futures point to mixed open 7:27 a.m.
- 200K animals to be sacrificed in Nepal 7:25 a.m.
- Home prices rise, 4th month in row 7:23 a.m.
- 'Dancing' will fill out finale 12:13 a.m.
- Tuesday on TV 12:13 a.m.
- I'll take doc's advice on mammogram 12:12 a.m.
- Bronco, Kyle rubber match
- Real Champions
- Protests against Phoenix LDS temple
- BYU's Lamb, Jorgensen reprimanded
- Time for big matchups in WAC, MWC
- Plenty on line for rivalry game
- RSL wins MLS Cup on penalty kicks
- Fans greet returning Real Salt Lake
- Hall, Johnson matchup key
- Inmate dead following prison fight
- Glenn Beck to enter politics?
214 - RSL wins MLS Cup on penalty kicks
197 - Palin plans tour stop in Utah
178 - Palin's book shows she's unqualified
133 - BYU records with win
132 - Bronco, Kyle rubber match
132 - Protests against Phoenix LDS temple
116 - BYU cuts Women's Research Inst.
103 - Officer cleared in Cardall Taser case
103 - Jazz finally win in San Antonio
99
Associated Press Personal Finance Writer Candice Choi offers gift-giving...
Don't you owe it to readers to represent both sides? My brother in law was...
Grow Up. You are playing a man's sport. Don't like it, quit, ya big baby.
the right to turn America into a Taliban like state with Christian values....
Has Palin tried to take over 1/6th of our Nation's Economy in a power grab?...
donny did so well he deserves to win he has worked so hard and did a awsome job
Um, those are the bowls they can get into now.
Ben, Goodman never claimed that Palin was unqualified for the presidency...
The rivalry won't get friendlier because the hatred for BYU stems from...
Boy, great past presidents calling Thanksgiving, "... being the day set apart...
it's true, they attack mormon belifs on and off the feild... Ute fans! your...


