Mush on the brain

TV or not TV?

Public television, such as our own KOCE-TV, isn’t worth the

trouble, you say? The children’s shows on public television are

chock-full of ads, you say? We can find better viewing material on

cable channels, such as the Discovery Channel, the History Channel,

or A&E;, you say?

Seeing that the price of local cable services ranges from $50 to

more than $110 a month, I seriously doubt that many folks, especially

families with lots of kids, actually watch those channels. Public

television provides tens of millions of American children with

commercial-free educational programming.

An average of almost 70% of public television viewers do not watch

other similar stations, such as CNN, Discovery, A&E;, MSNBC or the

History Channel. Again, my guess is that they can’t or don’t choose

to subscribe to cable television.

I read recently in the Daily Pilot that television is no good

because of its deleterious effect on brain function. Columnist Steve

Smith equates television to drugs, really bad drugs like opium.

Well, then, how about the effect of music on the brain? Mozart and

Beethoven have a powerful effect on my brain. I easily become

mesmerized by the sounds, especially when the volume is up. Should I

abstain from music from now on? Will I suffer painful withdrawal

symptoms?

The writer offers up exercise as a valid alternative to watching

television. Actually, exercise has precisely the same powerfully

addictive effect on our brain as does opium and other exogenous

opiate drugs. Exercise releases a flood of endorphins or

neuropeptides that attach to the same opiate receptors in our brain

as does opium. These natural endorphins also make you feel (as the

writer states) “really, really good” and make you “crave more.”

Should I also give up my power walks? Should Lance Armstrong give

up riding his bike? After all, exercise turns our brain to mush,

right?

Public television is a source of information. I read recently that

public television has less than 5 1/2 non-programming minutes per

hour. Other stations average more than 16 minutes an hour, with

prime-time commercial television at 16:43. You certainly can’t beat

that.

Another interesting statistic states that 84% of adults feel that

PBS is a safe place for children to watch television.

MediaWeek reported some time ago that “Nightly Business Report” is

currently the highest-rated nightly business-news program on

television. Total Research Corp. reported that 70% of public

television viewers feel that companies that sponsor programming have

a commit- ment to quality and excellence (and that 61% would rather

buy a product from that company, all things being equal).

I interpret the “attack” on KOCE as a campaign against a perceived

liberal bias in public television’s programming.

Newt Gingrich, in 1995, called Public Broadcasting Service an

elitist enterprise. South Dakota Sen. Larry Pressler has said that

one out of every eight contributors to WETA, the PBS affiliate in

Washington, D.C., PBS affiliate, is a millionaire, one out of seven

has a wine cellar, and one out of three spent time in Europe in the

last three years.

Unbelievable! I have a wine collection, and I’ve spent time in

Europe in the last few years. As a retiree living on $3,300 a month,

am I now a member of the elite? Not!

In reply, PBS’s own chairman, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson said, Americans

overwhelmingly see public broadcasting as an unbiased information

source.

Rep. David Obey, a Wisconsin Democrat, said in a statement

recently: “Perhaps that’s what the GOP finds so offensive about it.

Republican leaders are trying to bring every facet of the federal

government under their control.... Now they are trying to put their

ideological stamp on public broadcasting.”

Television viewers deserve high-quality education services and

programming. And most of us know that the commercial marketplace

cannot be relied upon to provide quality, noncommercial educational

services that are in the public interest. Orange County needs KOCE to

remain in public hands.

* FLO MARTIN is a Costa Mesa resident and faculty member at Cal

State Fullerton.