| | PBS, along with [[NPR]], has been accused of aiming its broadcast toward wealthy, elite segments of the American population while neglecting others, who nonetheless pay for the programming. When Congress debated cutting funding for NPR and PBS, House Democrats [[appeal to emotion|appealed]] to the children's programming on PBS such as ''[[Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood]]'' (1968-2001) and ''[[Sesame Street]]'' (1969-present). Puppets of ''Sesame Street'' characters were brought into the House chambers, and Rep. [[Ed Markey]] (D-MA) commented: "Oscar the Grouch has been friendlier to the ''Sesame Street'' characters than President Bush." <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4693682.stm US public TV shows 'facing cuts'], [[BBC]]</ref> Most of PBS's programming, however, is aimed at children as they feed over 12 hours of children's programming every day of the week versus 6–8 hours of adult programming. | | PBS, along with [[NPR]], has been accused of aiming its broadcast toward wealthy, elite segments of the American population while neglecting others, who nonetheless pay for the programming. When Congress debated cutting funding for NPR and PBS, House Democrats [[appeal to emotion|appealed]] to the children's programming on PBS such as ''[[Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood]]'' (1968-2001) and ''[[Sesame Street]]'' (1969-present). Puppets of ''Sesame Street'' characters were brought into the House chambers, and Rep. [[Ed Markey]] (D-MA) commented: "Oscar the Grouch has been friendlier to the ''Sesame Street'' characters than President Bush." <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4693682.stm US public TV shows 'facing cuts'], [[BBC]]</ref> Most of PBS's programming, however, is aimed at children as they feed over 12 hours of children's programming every day of the week versus 6–8 hours of adult programming. |
| − | In January 2021, PBS chief legal counsel Michael Beller was fired after it became publicly known (via exposure by [[Project Veritas]]) that he advocated the kidnapping of [[MAGA]] supporters' children to be incarcerated in [[gulag]]s and attacking the [[Trump]] [[White House]] with [[Molotov cocktail]]s.<ref>https://youtu.be/u7nT9yD0WPU</ref> | + | In January 2021, PBS chief legal counsel Michael Beller was fired after it became publicly known (via exposure by [[Project Veritas]]) that he advocated the kidnapping of [[MAGA]] supporters' children to be incarcerated in [[gulag]]s and attacking the [[Trump]] [[White House]] with [[Molotov cocktail]]s.<ref>https://youtu.be/u7nT9yD0WPU</ref> |
| | + | In May 2021, New York City station WNET, one of the flagship stations of PBS, came under criticism for its plans to air an episode of the program ''Let's Learn'' (aimed at children aged three to eight), featuring a flamboyant [[drag queen]] who calls himself "Lil' Miss Hot Mess", who appeared on the program to promote a perverted book he authored about the drag queen lifestyle, which targets children as its intended audience.<ref>[https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/05/pbs-station-defends-drag-queen-story-hour-kids-ages-3-8-performance-art-can-inspire-creative-thinking-video/ PBS Station Defends Drag Queen Story Hour For Kids Ages 3 to 8: ‘Performance Art That Can Inspire Creative Thinking’] at the Gateway Pundit</ref> Not surprisingly, WNET defended the episode, which it co-produced with the New York City Department of Education, as "performance art" and claimed that it "...strives to incorporate themes that explore diversity and promote inclusivity", while the episode was almost universally panned by critics on Twitter who called it an attempt to groom children into accepting sexual deviancy. |