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This editorial brought to you by viewers like you

      

Liam Britten
editor in chief
Poor America. It seems like there isn’t a country
in the world that we Canadians are meaner

to, with our snide remarks and disingenuous
man-on-the-street interviews with Rick Mercer.
Canadians really to behave like pricks to
America, and to think, they’re the same country
that fought with us in World War II... you know,
two years too late.

You see? More Canadian bitterness right
there.

Well you know what? I’m damn sick of
this behind-the-back snide behaviour from
Canadians. We’re supposed to be a polite
country, yet here we are ridiculing our closest
ally constantly. That ally of ours who puts up
trade barriers that ruin our exports, calls us
harbourers of terrorists and demands we join
every war they start.

Sorry, despite my best efforts, it’s really
hard to stop talking about them negatively.

So it stops here for me at least. We owe
America a little better than the rudeness we’re
so used to doling out. So here’s the nice thing
I’m going to say about them.

Thank you, American people, for PBS.

T honestly think the Public Broadcasting
System is one of the best things America has
ever given the world, and that’s not me being
facetious or deliberately underwhelming—I
just think it’s something all Americans should
be proud of. With America’s media landscape
dominated by the Glenn Becks, Bill O’Reillys
and Geraldo Riveras of the world, PBS seems to
be the last place on television where thoughtful
reporting with a sensible perspective exists.

Any program in any genre PBS broadcasts
is superior to the for-profit competition it faces.
Take science programming; Discovery Channel
is supposed to be the tops when it comes to
educational programming, but how much
educational value can their seemingly endless
line-up of shows about giant buildings and the
subsequent epic collapses of said buildings
really have?

Compare this to PBS programs like
Nova and Scientific American Frontiers with
mind-expanding subject matter and tasteful
production techniques does more for public
enlightenment than any Discovery shows,
which rarely stray from subjects like big
friggin’ boats, big friggin’ planes and of course,

Mythbusters.

Not that I have a problem with
Mythbusters; those guys rule.

And despite sometimes sometime
comically low-budget and antiquated production
values, PBS’ news and public affairs shows are
probably the best on American TV. Frontline
is the best of the bunch; other programs would
be afraid to talk to viewers about the subject
matter that Frontline takes on because these
other programs would never think that viewers
care to know about specialized subject matter in
such depth. What other programs would show
primetime documentaries about topics like how
Lee Atwater built modern conservative politics?
How competing diets battle for market share?
Or how corporate tax avoidance? No other
program has the courage and ability to take on
such subjects with the degree of competence
Frontline has and best yet, to talk to viewers
like adults.

And of course, who in Generation Y can
imagine what life would be like growing up
without the children’s programming on PBS?
Sesame Street, Mister Rogers’ Neighbourhood,
or Reading Rainbow? Sure, Saturday morning
cartoons were what we looked forward to all
week, but daytime shows on PBS are just plain
good for kids. Honestly, I think that the calm,
soothing voice of Mister Rodgers and the
magic power of his many cardigans is the only
thing that prevented me from turning into a
hyperactive sugar-addled child many years ago.

PBS should be a source of pride for
Americans everywhere. Despite the fact that
PBS is strong because of a collective effort, it’s
a testament of America’s rugged individualism.
When for-profit broadcasting fails the
American people, Americans can choose to
build up something of their own making as an
alternative; it’s because of American individuals
making efforts, unforced and of their own
accord that the world has this great thing. And
so, America, I thank you. But I don’t thank you
for your efforts to unfairly dominate NAFTA
and turn Canada into a client nation.

My god, will these anti-American
sentiments ever stop?

Your friend in high fidelity,
Liam Britten

Editor in chief

The Other Press

 

juicy! EB

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