Another great piece, Kathleen. While most of us were sleeping, the Senate voted to slash $9B including the gutting of public broadcasting. Foreign aid got concessions. PBS and NPR? Left behind.
This isn’t just a budget cut. It’s a message: real journalism is expendable.
I believe the reason big five executives are not speaking up about the cutting of CPB funding is to avoid the ire of the administration. They don't want to end up like CBS, ABC, Columbia, Harvard, and various DC law firms - forced to pay settlements of frivolous lawsuits over alleged bias or editing the administration doesn't like. (Remember, this administration tried to remove 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings' and 'Horse' from the Naval Academy library.)
The big five executives are risk averse - they'd rather stay off the administration's cultural radar than stand up for the authors and books that make their business possible.
Thank you for this piece. I had no idea that conservative non-fiction tends to sell better than left-leaning work. I'd be interested in learning more, if ever you want to write about it--it's a world I know nothing about, and hadn't even heard of these imprints!
It's not really something for an entire newsletter. Think about it, though: Fox News is the #1 cable news network by a lot of viewers. Those same viewers buy conservative-leaning books.
Thank you for keeping us in the know. I did hear Senator Warren mention the donations to his library last night on CNN. I did not catch that it was our media conglomerates "donating" to it.
Thank you for this. Such an important perspective, particularly the conservative imprints and the larger trend of media capitulation.
As I read it I also thought, "Sigh, this is also indicative of how little the muckety-mucks understand boots on the ground publicity. They will be silent in the face of the cuts, and won't pull back on the pressure for NPR hits. And, find a way to blame the publicist if the NPR hits they get don't move the needle enough."
I love everything you do here on Substack but I have to disagree with you on this one. Media has changed dramatically in the last 40 years and it's well past time to stop federal funding of just one outlet - CPB. (To wit - only one "TV" show on a legacy "channel" got Emmy nominations, the rest are all new platforms.) Public broadcasting might have made sense when options were limited, but not anymore. Long format book reviews and discussions are now covered on podcasts, and there are plenty of them. Unless the government wants to also fund my Substack column, I'm not sure why its fair that tax dollars go to NPR/PBS.
As a 30 year veteran of public media, thank you for writing this, Kathleen. Why indeed, haven't the publishing giants made public statements about the defunding of public media? Shame on them.
This is a really important article, Kathleen. Thank you. It's inspiring me to put out a statement, even though I'm certainly far from being influential in the way the Big Five publishers are. Sharing widely and thank you for reminding us of what we already do know to be true—that the administration is at war with our entire media system. We all need to be part of the resistance.
Thank you for speaking out. You are right. It’s not just books. David McCullough worked on PBS programs too. Rick Atkinson is working with Ken Burns on his PBS documentary on the revolutionary war. Burns has a book coming out with the miniseries. There is a deep connection between broadcast media and books. Fiction yes but history too.
This is great. The cuts may really hurt Alabama, where I live, but I haven’t had time to check it out. Hope Beth Shelburne (@mothtoflame) is following you and this disaster. She is a former anchor at the largest commercial TV station in Alabama, now freelancing, and would have smart things to say if she comments.
Publicity is already so hard. As a micropress, we've only gotten on national NPR once, for CHICANO FRANKENSTEIN by Daniel A. Olivas, but local radio has been part of our strategy for every outreach campaign. I appreciate your threading the pieces together and considering the conservative imprints as a possible reason for silence. Oof.
Another great piece, Kathleen. While most of us were sleeping, the Senate voted to slash $9B including the gutting of public broadcasting. Foreign aid got concessions. PBS and NPR? Left behind.
This isn’t just a budget cut. It’s a message: real journalism is expendable.
We should all be wide awake.
Thank you for this thoughtful analysis and important call to action!
I believe the reason big five executives are not speaking up about the cutting of CPB funding is to avoid the ire of the administration. They don't want to end up like CBS, ABC, Columbia, Harvard, and various DC law firms - forced to pay settlements of frivolous lawsuits over alleged bias or editing the administration doesn't like. (Remember, this administration tried to remove 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings' and 'Horse' from the Naval Academy library.)
The big five executives are risk averse - they'd rather stay off the administration's cultural radar than stand up for the authors and books that make their business possible.
Thank you for this piece. I had no idea that conservative non-fiction tends to sell better than left-leaning work. I'd be interested in learning more, if ever you want to write about it--it's a world I know nothing about, and hadn't even heard of these imprints!
It's not really something for an entire newsletter. Think about it, though: Fox News is the #1 cable news network by a lot of viewers. Those same viewers buy conservative-leaning books.
Makes sense...thanks, Kathleen. I always learn something new here.
Thank you for keeping us in the know. I did hear Senator Warren mention the donations to his library last night on CNN. I did not catch that it was our media conglomerates "donating" to it.
Thank you for this. Such an important perspective, particularly the conservative imprints and the larger trend of media capitulation.
As I read it I also thought, "Sigh, this is also indicative of how little the muckety-mucks understand boots on the ground publicity. They will be silent in the face of the cuts, and won't pull back on the pressure for NPR hits. And, find a way to blame the publicist if the NPR hits they get don't move the needle enough."
That is so true.
I hadn’t considered the role of conservative imprints, but…oof. Yeah.
I love everything you do here on Substack but I have to disagree with you on this one. Media has changed dramatically in the last 40 years and it's well past time to stop federal funding of just one outlet - CPB. (To wit - only one "TV" show on a legacy "channel" got Emmy nominations, the rest are all new platforms.) Public broadcasting might have made sense when options were limited, but not anymore. Long format book reviews and discussions are now covered on podcasts, and there are plenty of them. Unless the government wants to also fund my Substack column, I'm not sure why its fair that tax dollars go to NPR/PBS.
We can agree to disagree. I’m not getting into it with you.
As a 30 year veteran of public media, thank you for writing this, Kathleen. Why indeed, haven't the publishing giants made public statements about the defunding of public media? Shame on them.
A fascinating and disturbing detail that more conservative titles sell better than left-leaning...
This is a really important article, Kathleen. Thank you. It's inspiring me to put out a statement, even though I'm certainly far from being influential in the way the Big Five publishers are. Sharing widely and thank you for reminding us of what we already do know to be true—that the administration is at war with our entire media system. We all need to be part of the resistance.
Thank you.
Thank you for speaking out. You are right. It’s not just books. David McCullough worked on PBS programs too. Rick Atkinson is working with Ken Burns on his PBS documentary on the revolutionary war. Burns has a book coming out with the miniseries. There is a deep connection between broadcast media and books. Fiction yes but history too.
Thanks for reading this!
Thank you for writing it on a tight deadline!
This is great. The cuts may really hurt Alabama, where I live, but I haven’t had time to check it out. Hope Beth Shelburne (@mothtoflame) is following you and this disaster. She is a former anchor at the largest commercial TV station in Alabama, now freelancing, and would have smart things to say if she comments.
The industry can't expect to want things from public broadcasting without defending its existence. It's puzzling to me.
Thank you for writing this.
Publicity is already so hard. As a micropress, we've only gotten on national NPR once, for CHICANO FRANKENSTEIN by Daniel A. Olivas, but local radio has been part of our strategy for every outreach campaign. I appreciate your threading the pieces together and considering the conservative imprints as a possible reason for silence. Oof.
I hope I’m wrong.
Thank you for this, Kathleen!!