COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:Losing KOCE-TV will be costly

Those who want to take KOCE-TV away from the residents of Orange County have launched a sophisticated and well-funded campaign to confuse and misrepresent the most critical issues related to the Coast Community College District’s sale of the station. Rather than acknowledge the many benefits of keeping the station educational (and an official PBS station), those favoring the sale of the station to Dallas-based Daystar Television Network are instead raising unfounded concerns about the validity of the sale two years ago.

What supporters of Daystar Television Network are not telling Orange County’s taxpayers and KOCE supporters is that there would likely be serious financial consequences as a result of a sale of KOCE to Daystar.

More details on these and other issues can be found at www.koce.org.

Given these factors, it was fiscally prudent for the district to award the station to the KOCE-TV Foundation two years ago. Furthermore, as a part of the sale, the KOCE-TV Foundation continues to broadcast television courses for the Coast Community College District, which generates millions in revenue for the district.

It’s time that the district trustees responsible for making the decision to sell the station to the foundation are given the credit they deserve for making a strong and forward-thinking choice.

The decision to sell the station to the foundation two years ago was a good one. It keeps our local station local and keeps Orange County less dependent on Los Angeles for so-called local programming. But more than that, it keeps the station’s primary use one of education so our diverse population can continue to enjoy and learn from its offerings.