Dear editor,

President Trump’s proposed budget cuts funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In addition it eliminates the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

I believe these kinds of cuts are mistaken and will hurt Mississippi’s access to education, cultural programming, news and public safety information. This will be most keenly felt in rural Mississippi, where other media sources aren’t available.

CPB helps fund the radio and television stations operated by Mississippi Public Broadcasting. This vital network of stations is particularly important during hurricane and tornado season. Their public safety broadcasts help Mississippians keep track of fast moving weather and other vital information.

I’d like to call on our local politicians to take action against these cuts. In particular Roger Wicker, Thad Cochran and Bennie Thompson should object to these cuts in congress. I also encourage Mississippi Public Broadcasting to engage with Mississippi officials and make sure that they are fully informed on how the CPB cuts will effect MPB operations.

Lastly, I’d like to emphasize what a dumb idea it is to defund CPB. It would be like the United Kingdom getting rid of the BBC. Whatever partisan interests might be served by pulling money out of the CPB, they would be quickly offset by the damage done to education, cultural, news and public safety programming.
Robert Carleton

Vicksburg