PBS released a survey Monday showing that the vast
majority of people surveyed, including a majority of both Democrats and
Republicans, oppose eliminating funding for public broadcasting.
A Republican stopgap appropriations bill--the six-month version,
not the two-week version--would zero out funding for CPB for the remainder of the year.
According to the study, 69% or respondents opposed
cutting off the funding, while 27% supported it. Of those who identified
themselves as Democrats, 83% supported retaining the funding, while that number
was 69% for independents and 56% for Republicans.
Even among the 42% of respondents who said that
budget-cutting should be the nation's top priority, a majority (60%) said
eliminating CBP funding should not be in the mix.
The study also found that after military defense (81%),
PBS had the highest percentage (73%) of "excellent/good" responses to
the ranking of value for tax dollars. Almost 80% also said PBS should not have
its funding cut.
The research was conducted by political researchers Peter
Hart and Linda DiVall. The pair, one a Republican, the other a Democrat, polled
804 registered voters between Feb. 11 and Feb. 13. The margin of error
was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
"Voters strongly oppose cuts for public broadcasting
because they view it as an excellent taxpayer value and because they recognize
what would be lost without PBS' support for children's educational advancement,
as well as high quality science, history, and cultural programming," said
Hart in a statement.
