PBS

[[File:PBS logo.svg|right|thumb|165px|In case you haven't guessed, this is their logo.]]{{media}}
{{cquote|"Baloney and Kids is brought to you by this station and other stations that lack clever programming."|||''Animaniacs'', the "Baloney and Kids" segment of Episode 61}}

The '''Public Broadcasting Service''' is an [[United States|American]] non-profit broadcast television service. The successor to National Educational Television, PBS began broadcasting in 1970 and is carried by various member stations that determine their own schedules of PBS programming.

==Programming==
Programs on PBS cover a variety of educational, informational, and cultural topics. From Monday to Friday, PBS shows children's programming in the daytime hours, followed by the ''PBS NewsHour'' (formerly ''The MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour'' and ''The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer'') in evenings. (Some affiliates in the West Coast, like KQED in San Francisco and KNPB in Reno, show the ''NewsHour'' live at 3 p.m. Pacific.) ''Frontline'' is the investigative journalism program. Charlie Rose and Tavis Smiley also host daily talk shows for PBS. During the midday, many PBS stations air programs that are in a "how-to" basis and included shows such as ''This Old House'', and ''The Joy of Painting''.

There is also a good variety of [[science]]-related programs like ''Nova'', the musical programs ''Austin City Limits'' and ''Great Performances'', and the fine arts program ''Masterpiece Theatre'' among others. 

Many PBS stations also import programs from the [[United Kingdom|UK]], including ''[[BBC]] World News'' and various British sitcoms and dramas from past and present. ''Masterpiece Theatre'' and ''Masterpiece Mystery!'' also bring many British shows to American audiences, ''Downton Abbey'' for instance.  ''NOVA'' still repackages programs that were originally from the BBC2 program ''Horizon''. PBS may also air some Canadian shows such as the ''Red Greene Show''.  Many of the children's show that aired on PBS were Canadian shows such as ''The Big Comfy Couch'', ''Noddy'', ''Shining Time Station'', and ''Caillou''. Most surprisingly, KTEH (now branded as KQED+) was known in the late 1990s and early 2000s for being an early promoter of anime, having aired the likes of ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'', ''Serial Experiments Lain'', ''Bubblegum Crisis'', ''Urusei Yatsura'', and ''Ranma ½''.

In the 1970 through 1980s many PBS stations would have shows designed to assist teachers at all levels of education in the 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM block mixed in with more generalized programing.  So you would have ''Thinkabout'', ''The Metric System'' and even a late high school early college level show narrated by biologist Professor James Moriarty III, ''Wordsmith'' with Bob Smith (which explored and used the concept of "word cells")  mixed in with ''Sesame Street'' and ''Electric Company'' as well ''The Joy of Painting'' and various reading programs with John Robbins as host (in some shows he would quick draw the scene being read by the narrator).  By the 1990s, most of these shows were gone from many public television stations, which replaced them with fare for younger audiences.

==Quackery and woo==
{{cquote|What does it profit us to honor science in ''{{wpl|Nova (TV series)|Nova|,}}'' only to open the door to [[quack]]s and [[charlatan]]s?|20|20|Ervin Duggan, president of the Public Broadcasting Service, reflecting on the presence of Gary Null on PBS pledge drives, in 1999.<ref>Hillel Aron. [https://www.laweekly.com/left-wing-darling-pacifica-radio-is-sliding-into-the-abyss/ Left Wing Darling Pacifica Radio is sliding into the abyss]. laweekly.com. 21 March 2014</ref>}}

Be prepared for an endless barrage of [[self-help]] programs from figures like Suze Orman 
and Wayne Dyer
 and musical programs during "pledge weeks" in which PBS pitches these programs on DVD to raise funds. Even worse, expect a serious overdose of [[medical woo]] from the likes of [[Daniel Amen]], {{wpl|Mark Hyman}}, [[Joel Fuhrman]], [[Josh Axe]], and [[Gary Null]] for the same purpose.<ref>[http://www.salon.com/2009/03/12/mark_hyman/ Robert Burton, PBS's latest infomercial] Salon</ref><ref>Skeptoid: [https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4503 "Bad Science on PBS"] January 26, 2016.</ref> Most of the "free pledge drive programs" originate from a company called "Executive Programming Services."<ref>[http://epstv.com/ Executive Program Services (EPS)], self-described as "Largest Supplier of Free Pledge Programming to Public Television."</ref>

==Accusations of bias==
*On 23 June 2005 the conservative [[Media Research Center]]  accused PBS of promoting left-wing ideology in its programming while rejecting right-wing points of view, in violation of the federal Public Broadcasting Act requiring "that fairness and objectivity should be observed in 'all programming of a controversial nature.'"<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20050626023758/http://www.mediaresearch.org/mrcspotlight/publicbroadcasting/pbs.asp  Public Broadcasting: Your Taxes Fund Liberal Bias]. Media Research Center: June 23, 2005.</reF>  This claim ignored the fact that way back in 1969 the Supreme Court had ruled with ''Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC'' that while the FCC had the right to enforce the {{wpl|Fairness Doctrine}}, it was not obliged to do so.  More over ''Telecommunications Research and Action Center v. FCC'', 801 F.2d 501 (D.C. Cir. 1986) and ''Meredith Corp. v. FCC'' in 1987 expressly declared that Congress did ''not'' mandate the doctrine.  So Media Research Center was crying about something the FCC hadn't been required to do '''for nearly 20 years'''!
*During the late 1990s, PBS broadcast a program called ''National Desk'' that promoted misinformation regarding [[public education]] and [[sexism]], often with undisclosed connections between its right-wing sources and funders.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20050205065141/http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1039 PBS's National Desk] (''Extra!'', July/August 2000), [http://web.archive.org/web/20050205064430/http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1040 Out of School] (ibid)</ref>
*When [[George W. Bush]] crony Ken Tomlinson became the chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS dumped Bill Moyers and replaced him with the ''[[Wall Street Journal]]''-produced ''Journal Editorial Report'' and another talk show hosted by [[Tucker Carlson]].<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20090625135701/http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3817 Inclusion vs. Exclusion at PBS] (''Extra!'', September/October 2005)</ref> Moyers returned to PBS in 2007.
*[[Koch Industries|David H. Koch]] was a sponsor of ''Nova''; given how Koch's business has so much axe to grind against [[climate change]] legislation it brings pressure to downplay science that undermines the oil industry.<ref>[http://fair.org/blog/2010/09/08/is-nova-catering-to-its-anti-science-sugar-daddy/ Is Nova Catering to Its Anti-Science Sugar Daddy?] FAIR: September 8, 2010.</ref><ref>Getler, Michael. "[http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2013/05/david_koch_and_pbs_the_odd_couple.html David Koch and PBS: The Odd Couple]." PBS: May 25, 2013.</ref><ref>Getler, Michael. "[http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/blogs/ombudsman/2015/12/11/global-warming-koch-and-nova/ Global Warming, Koch and NOVA]." PBS: December 11, 2015.</ref>

==See also==
*[[NPR]]

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}
[[Category:American media]]
[[Category:Television]]
[[Category:Public broadcasters]]

Categories: American media, Television, Public broadcasters