WASHINGTON -- Sen. Ted Stevens said he will try to restore federal funding for public broadcasting, but he warned that public radio and television must change their ways.
Public broadcasters, the Alaska Republican charged, are politically biased.
"Unfortunately, more and more they have become advocates and become those who are seeking (political) change," he said Thursday in an interview with Alaska reporters.
His remarks came just before the House voted 284-140 to nix a proposed cut of $100 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, with Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, voting to kill the cut.
"So many Alaskans rely on the PBS; such huge budgetary cuts would have a devastating effect on Alaska," Young said in a press release after the vote.
Still, an even greater cut to public broadcasting remains in the House appropriations bill. The bill the House passed Friday would cut more than $100 million for equipment upgrades, satellite technology and programming support.
The House vote followed a nationwide publicity campaign by a number of left-leaning groups, such as Common Cause and MoveOn.org. Many public radio and TV stations -- including Anchorage's KSKA and KAKM -- ran announcements about the pending cuts and urged people to call their senators and representatives.
Republicans have accused public broadcasting, notably the PBS television network, of a liberal bias in its political reporting. Defenders of PBS say conservatives are trying to mute thoughtful, critical analysis of the Republican-led Congress and White House.
Stevens said public broadcasters need to maintain "total impartiality" and ensure that they air opposing views.
"They are not independent entities that can become advocates, or become supporters of any faction in the public," he said.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, created by Congress in 1967, receives federal money and distributes it to public radio and TV stations around the country. The local stations raise most of their money from individual donations and corporate contributions. The stations spend a portion of their revenues to buy programming from PBS, National Public Radio and other distributors.
In the House debate Thursday, Rep. James Leach, R-Iowa, defended the political programming on public television by saying public broadcasting was never meant to be the government's microphone.
"All government officials, left, right and center, should expect to be criticized and find views reflected that they do not agree with," he said.
Stevens said in the press interview that people need to understand that public broadcasters "are not there to take sides on the issues that divide our country."
(Stevens excluded the Daily News from the interview with reporters because he is angry over the paper's reporting on his financial investments. The paper obtained a tape of his remarks.)
He cited, as an example of bias, the stations' response to the threatened cuts.
"Today -- turn on your radio. They're saying, 'Call your senator. They've cut our money,' " Stevens said. "That's lobbying with federal money, as a matter of fact. That should not be done."
Paul Stankavich, general manager of KSKA and KAKM, said he obtained legal advice that the announcements his stations ran -- testimonials from prominent Alaskans about the value of public broadcasting -- weren't lobbying.
"We tried to encourage anyone who had an opinion either way to write or call," he said.
In retrospect, he said, maybe the messages weren't the best idea.
Stankavich said the stations always aim for a variety of views on the shows they produce, but public broadcasting, locally and nationally, is looking for ways to provide more perspectives.
"If nothing else, it (the criticism) is bringing our attention to a subject we should pay attention to," he said. "We should be constantly challenging ourselves."
The appropriations bill with funds for public broadcasting, HR 3010, has passed only the House so far. The Senate must still pass its own version, and then a conference committee will reconcile the two bills.
Reporter Liz Ruskin can be reached at lruskin@adn.com.
