Viriginia Gov Proposes Cancelling Govt Funding of Public Broadcasting

Jeff started a media series.  I've got a couple here in my hip pocket too, so here's the 1st one:
In Nov 2009, we saw the 1st indication that the luster was coming off the Obama halo when Virginia and New Jersey elected fiscally conservative governors.  Virginia is a traditionally conservative (though not traditionally Republican) state that has been trending liberal lately.  New Jersey was a Republican state when I was young, but it has been deep blue for decades now.  New Jersey elected Chris Christie, who needs no introduction to RTP&GGers.  Virginia elected Bob McDonnell, who I don't know that we've mentioned before.  Well, he's just given us a reason to honor his election:

“Public broadcasting is a wonderful resource, providing quality programming that is cherished by many,” McDonnell said. “However, in our modern media world there are thousands upon thousands of content providers operating in the free market. They compete with each other, and viewers and listeners have their choice as to what to tune into or turn on. Simply put, it doesn’t make sense to have some stations with the competitive advantage of being funded by taxpayer dollars. The decision to eliminate state funding of public broadcasting is driven by the fundamental need to reestablish the proper role of government, and budget accordingly.”

I agree completely with him. I actually watch a lot of the Oregon Public Broadcasting TV, I love the Mystery shows, and also, at least used to listen to NPR religiously. I used to donate regularly to Oregon Public Broadcasting too.  I still think they do a thorough job reporting, though you've got to take the reporting with their heavy liberal bias.  NPR and Mystery should be able to market themselves in the real world, not depend on taxes, state or federal, for survival.  If they can maintain their broadcasting strictly through donations, more power to them, but people who don't choose to listen to those stations shouldn't have to pay for them, particularly in the modern media world and the modern fiscal world.

If McDonnell can succeed here, this will be a tremendous example for the rest of the country!