Public broadcasting needs independent accountability

Public broadcasting receives only $3 per capita of public funding in the United States. That minuscule amount may be on the chopping block by the Trump administration as well. However, no matter the amount of funding public broadcasting receives it needs to be held accountable for the content that they produce.

Even though PBS often is criticized for being too liberal, a study done by media watchdog FAIR found that PBS Newshour actually tends to over-represent conservative voices on their flagship show.

A couple major highlights from the FAIR study:

"Among partisan sources, Republicans outnumbered Democrats on the NewsHour by 2-to-1 (66 percent vs. 33 percent). Only one representative of a third party appeared during the study period."

"People of color made up only 15 percent of U.S. sources. African-Americans made up 9 percent, Latinos 2 percent, and Asian- Americans and people of Mideastern descent made up one percent each. Alberto Gonzales accounted for more than 30 percent of Latino sources, while Condoleeza Rice accounted for nearly 13 percent of African-American sources."

These findings are quite alarming. They depict a nightly news show that clearly has a partisan tilt and a diversity problem. 

These results clearly show that PBS needs to reevaluate their editorial standards, as well as attempt to find more partisan balance and diversity among their guests.