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Bob Ross paintings to be auctioned to fund US public broadcasting
- charcircuit 1y ago>continues to support the very medium that brought his joy and creativity into American homes The message is more important than the medium. With the advent of the internet and platforms like YouTube it's easier than ever to get your video, your message, into the homes of America.
- Avicebron 1y agoWhen the way of consuming the medium changes, the message it carries changes as well. The reason public broadcasting is so well loved and "special" is that it was something collective (out of necessity). If I don't like charcircuit, I can find a youtube video declaring charcircuit a dangerous enemy combatant. When you are the only game in town, there was a sense of making it somewhat "casual" and we got things like bob ross and mr. rogers neighbourhood.
- derektank 1y agoSure, but PBS member stations also function as incubators, in addition to providing a platform. They provide (along with underwriting from 3rd party charitable institutions) artists/intellectuals/entertainers the upfront capital to produce their programming. YouTube isn't going to provide anyone with money upfront to make a show unless they already have a massive following. Mr. Rogers Neighborhood wouldn't exist if WQED hadn't taken a chance on a couple of 20 something's letting them produce Children's Corner in 1958. It's certainly possible that's less necessary nowadays, given how cheap filming and creating video content is nowadays, but it's worth considering.
- charcircuit 1y agoYoutube has incubated many multiples the number of creators than PBS member stations despite not providing upfront funding. Most creators don't start out from corporations or business loans.
- throwawaymaths 1y agoexactly. would veritasium, 3brown1blue, action lab, nile blue/red, up and atom, simone, etc. even exist via the PBS funding model?
- em-bee 1y agowhich channel is simone? the name is too generic, a search only turns up uninteresting stuff.
- amputect 1y agoPretty good chance they meant Simone Giertz, who is fantastic: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3KEoMzNz8eYnwBC34RaKCQ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3KEoMzNz8eYnwBC34RaKCQ
- mrguyorama 1y agoShe got her start by being "Shitty robot queen" on reddit, not youtube.
- cobbal 1y agoThe "PBS spacetime" channel exists, so they're doing something right.
- troyvit 1y agoIf it was properly funded? Quite possibly. If it had the same funding as Youtube's ad revenue then I think you'd have all those, but maybe a lot less of PewPewDie and Dude Perfect.
- ipython 1y agoLet’s compare MrBeast with Mr Rogers…
- linehedonist 1y agoWe got Ms Rachel from YouTube, who is genuinely fantastic.
- koolala 1y agoImagine YouTube but publicly funded. No horrible AI targetted ads without any restraint. No monopolistic control over half the worlds viewing devices to control what's installed. Instead, public good free informational content.
- mlrtime 1y agoNow Imagine it costs 100x what it costs google to run, but it has 1/100th the features and is down often.
- unnamed76ri 1y ago[flagged]
- hvb2 1y agoIf everything was geared towards efficiency, there wouldn't be any investigative journalism or open source software. Everyone would be shooting for their own gain and we would all be worse of as a result.
- koolala 1y agoWhy 100x the cost? What features are so important besides functional URLs to videos? Sharing videos publicly online is hard and Youtube is fake democratization for market capture.
- mcphage 1y agoAs long as I'm imagining, I'd also like a pony.
- captainkrtek 1y ago[flagged]
- tw04 1y ago[flagged]
- cbb330 1y agoPBS is not simply Bob Ross and Mr Rogers. for example, PBS NewsHour Also NOAA receives significant funding for climate change efforts primarily from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act
- Zhenya 1y agoThis is how you know you live in a bubble. PBS is unbelievably slanted; you just happen to agree with them in general. Here is the CEO of PBS saying insane things about the truth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPYXrhOXkwU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPYXrhOXkwU "The truth is a distraction"
- Alupis 1y agoPeople often equate "Public" with meaning "middle-center" or "apolitical". Many would claim National Public Radio (NPR) is middle-center, politically-speaking. Plenty of people disagree with that statement, and those who agree tend to like NPR's messaging - hence the "bubble" you referred to. Good, non-partisan reporting should make "both sides" groan from time to time. If you find yourself in agreement with nearly everything said, then it's a fair sign the politics lean "your direction".
- nba456_ 1y ago[flagged]
- alberth 1y agoI’m a big fan of NPR and the quality of their journalism. But it’s always struck me as odd that their frequent pledge drives suggest the ads they run don’t actually cover their costs. In effect, each 30-second pledge driver must generate more revenue than a 30-second sponsor ad — which seems like a flaw in their revenue model, where donations are more valuable per minute than their core revenue generating business model.
- slantedview 1y agoAs corporate media demonstrates, depending on ads and therefore, corporations, inevitably leads to compromises in your news coverage. NPR has tried to avoid this.
- mhb 1y agoYet they have compromised their news coverage by pandering to the preferences of their audience.
- peterpeppers 1y ago“Yet they have compromised their news coverage by pandering” Is this statement opinion or backed by data? Either way, I’m not sure you understand the purpose of a free press. A free press gives all audiences an opportunity to find contrarian viewpoints in the media. That’s it. There’s nothing else because that’s all that’s possible. There’s not some perfect state that exists where all media outlets (Fox News, CBS, Mother Jones) are perfectly neutral. This is why freedom of the press and freedom of speech are so important.
- mhb 1y agoIt's obvious, my opinion, and backed by data. That's all interesting, but it doesn't really address the point that NPR's coverage is biased by a desire to please its audience. Even though tautologically true for all organizations, it is disingenuous to suggest (as GP is doing) that NPR gets to don a mantle of impartiality because they don't run (some) ads to finance their operation. Despite how hard "NPR has tried to avoid this". So, sure, pick your favorite partisan news source. But don't try to claim that it's unbiased because it doesn't generate revenue with ads.
- axiolite 1y agoWouldn't it be better to let those towers go dark, and await the public outcry, instead of temporarily hiding the effects? The PBS affiliate stations in most need of federal funding are typically in rural, largely Republican areas. Let their own base tell the party they're not happy about being cut-off from their baseball documentaries and all the educational shows their kids watch.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- linehedonist 1y agoOr maybe those stations will simply close, never to be reopened, which in the grand scheme of things seems like a worse outcome.
- bagels 1y agoThis is the worse outcome, and the more likely one.
- swarnie 1y agoSomeone close to the administration could reopen them "in the interest of national security" or some such rubbish, isn't Larry's son in the media game? PragerU shorts injected directly in to Sesame Street wasn't on my 2025 bingo card but its not the wildest thing I've seen out of the US this year.
- mrguyorama 1y agoThose republicans have cheered on their local news being literally mouthpieces for a global company: Sinclair Broadcasting Those republicans left Fox News when they were forced to admit that they lied, and instead tuned into "media" that kept insisting that the 2020 election was "stolen" Those same people are cheering on an administration that erases American history because it is uncomfortable and cheer on a President who lies when his mouth is open. Thinking they will suddenly come to their senses is just delusional. >all the educational shows their kids watch. They don't let their kids watch educational shows. They buy documentaries from religious fundamentalist groups and force their children to watch shows about how the scientists lie to them for satan. They take their kids to organizations run by the Discovery Institute, including exhibits about how dinosaurs are a lie perpetrated by science. These people have been purposely nurturing an anti-science cult for decades. They have an entire "alternative" media infrastructure set up. PragerU is just a minuscule part of it.
- heohk 1y ago[flagged]
- zkmon 1y agoWonderful Bob Ross. For me, he is more than a painter. Probably a psychic therapist too. I use his videos as soothing sessions when I'm feeling low. And the way he creates complex imagery with simple brush pressings and sweeps, is beyond words.
- NaOH 1y agoRelated: It’s nearly impossible to buy an original Bob Ross painting (2021) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44284723 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44284723 - June 2025 (161 comments) It’s nearly impossible to buy an original Bob Ross painting - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27014367 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27014367 - May 2021 (85 comments)
- cramcgrab 1y agoIf pbs was only balanced or apolitical. There were several high profile blunders they refused to apologize or change. Would have been the same outcome if things were reversed. Heck, they could have done a pbs right and pbs left channel. But they know better. Such is the reason why so many are deserting the left, they’ve drifted way too far left.
- tmountain 1y agoAh, yes, you must be comparing NPR to all of the fair and balanced “clear eyed” right wing media we’ve come to know and love. No extremism or bias there whatsoever… /s
- yostrovs 1y agoTaxpayers don't have to pay for those outlets, though. They're part of this thing called free speech.
- littlestymaar 1y ago“Free speech”† †: not for you, just for those who can afford to buy a TV channel. Too bad if you aren't a billionaire.
- tmountain 1y agoPBS and other stations represented the center for a long while. The Overton window just keeps moving. Nowadays basic stuff like getting vaccinated has been politicized along with a zillion other things that used to be considered “normal”. Makes sense if your main mission is to expand attack surfaces but sucks for the rest of us.
- primer42 1y agoReality has a well known liberal bias.
- mcphage 1y ago> Such is the reason why so many are deserting the left, they’ve drifted way too far left. As the country rapidly descends into a right wing totalitarian state, it's great that you identified the real culprit: people who complained our country was descending into a right wing totalitarian state.
- beej71 1y agoAt this point, is there remotely any public money coming into NPR? Is it time for a rename?
- bsimpson 1y agoBob Ross Inc are not good people. They stole those paintings from his estate to make a buck. (More specifically, they ruthlessly commandeered his image after he died so they could keep making a fortune.) https://web.archive.org/web/20250121153258/https://www.thedailybeast.com/sex-deceit-and-scandal-the-ugly-war-over-bob-ross-ghost/ https://web.archive.org/web/20250121153258/https://www.theda...