This weekend I joined nearly 800 Arts Managers from across the U.S. at the Americans for the Arts
conference in Austin, TX to discuss the state of the arts. The first action I took was to join the Arts Action Fund Arts Action Fund.
For as little as $20 anyone can become a member of the fund as we look to build political advocacy muscle for the arts. Numbers matter. The more individuals and businesses that join the Arts Action Fund, the better our ability to map arts support. Clusters of participation add up to political influence.
The following is taken from Media Matters
"6/10/05
New York Times: Panel Would Cut Public Broadcasting Aid
"It is clear the G.O.P. agenda is to control public broadcasting or to defund it," said Representative David R. Obey of Wisconsin, the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. "House Republicans have gutted funding for public broadcasting stations across the country."
The vote came as public stations and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting are engaged in a debate over the editorial balance in programming and the independence of the stations.
The head of the Republican-controlled corporation, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, has pressed public broadcasting to correct what he and other conservatives consider liberal bias. That has prompted public broadcasting leaders - including the chief executive of PBS - to object that his actions pose a threat to editorial independence."
Stephen and I are having a heck of a time finding National Public Radio broadcasts here in Houston. I've resorted to listening to KQED radio of San Francisco and WFUV of Fordham University online. But we can find plenty of religious radio.
