Patricia de Stacy Harrison
President and CEO
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
For those who question the value of public broadcasting, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita provided some helpful insight.
When events such as hurricanes disrupt the way of life as a community knows it, information is a lifeline for the community.
Public broadcasting has deep roots and extensive relationships within their communities. Although public broadcasting, as well as its employees, were deeply affected by Hurricane Katrina, and will have to rebuild its capabilities, it never lost a step in its commitment to the public, providing a steady stream of information to those struggling to survive the storm.
In New Orleans, commercial television station WWL was the only station to stay on the air – but their studios were gone. Beth Courtney, president and CEO of Louisiana Public Broadcasting, made their Baton Rouge studios available to WWL so New Orleans residents and emergency workers could have current information over this last remaining signal.
When emergency responders in Lafayette, Louisiana needed maps, local public radio station KRVS put out a call and listeners responded. In Mississippi, Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB) became the lifeline for huge areas of the State. Marie Antoon, MPB’s executive director, and her staff worked around the clock broadcasting despite the loss of electricity, phone, and internet services that took other broadcasters off the air.
Stations in and surrounding the hardest hit areas were able to put out community alerts provided by a range of sources and to correct misinformation because people in the community were encouraged to – and did – call in. The exchanges included where people could find potable water; where they could find ice; and if -- and when -- they could return to their communities.
Now, in the aftermath of the two hurricanes, public broadcasters, including PBS and NPR, are working to support the thousands of families affected by the disaster in a number of essential and unique ways.
Public broadcasters across the country have been putting aside their own fundraising drives to raise money for victims of the storm. In affected Gulf Coast States, television and radio stations are maintaining internet sites so evacuees can stay in contact with their communities. Stations have also aired Sesame Street’s hurricane broadcasts, utilizing Big Bird to help children deal with fear and grief.
Further, public broadcasting provided TV/DVD/VHS sets and video material from Sesame Street and Between the Lions to shelters housing young children and their parents, so parents and their kids could do things together, and so that kids can keep on learning. Characters from public television’s line up, including Big Bird, the lions from Between the Lions and Elmo, have been visiting shelters, telling stories and distributing books to preschool children. After immediate needs are met, surplus materials will be sent to partner child-care centers. In addition, stations with electronic high school and college credit courses are offering their programming to those in the hardest-hit areas where schools may not re-open for weeks or months.
As we begin to rebuild the communities destroyed by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita -- and better understand how to come together more effectively when disaster strikes -- one clear example of what works is public broadcasting.
If there ever was a time to recognize the extraordinary value of public television and radio, it is now. Locally owned, locally controlled, and locally funded – public broadcasters know their communities. The public also knows that in good times or bad, we can count on public broadcasting to serve the public interest, whether through educational programming or with life-saving information in emergencies. It truly is our community security network.
"Why support public broadcasting?" I think Hurricanes Katrina and Rita delivered the answer.
