...because we need a thread on this.
As public broadcasting in The USA, Canada, the Canadian provinces, and other countries becomes starved of funding, corporations and the military step in with cash for programming that promotes their own interest, not the public's.
Unfortunately, those running the public networks often don't know the difference between the two.
[b]Dow-sponsored PBS series tracks Dow's product lines[/b]
April 23, 2012
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4522
The four-part series [i]America Revealed[/i], airing on PBS stations this month, looks at big-picture economic issues, from agriculture to transportation to manufacturing. The series underwriter? The Dow Chemical Company, whose commercial interests closely track the subjects covered in the PBS series.The first episode (4/11/12) focused on large-scale agriculture, which is one of the industries in which Dow is a major player. The program featured an extended look at the corn industry, including efforts to control pests. As the program explained, the food industry "needed a game changer" in that fight. And it got one: The "genetically modified organism, better known as a GMO."
[b]This positively portrayed "game changer" just happens to be the very type of product Dow sells.[/b] Indeed, Dow is among a handful of companies that dominate the genetic seed market. ...
The problem with the Dow series is broader. On the company's website, Dow breaks down its interests into four categories: Agricultural, Infrastructure/Transportation, Energy and Consumer/Lifestyle.The PBS series Dow is funding addresses food and agriculture in the first episode. The second episode, which aired last week, is titled "Nation on the Move"--a look at transportation. The third episode is "Electric Nation," and the final installment will deal with American manufacturing.
In other words, Dow's interests are all over the Dow-funded public TV series.
