Re: Muzzling the Muppets/Bush Wants PBS to Toe Republican Line

Of course, one has to wonder why those whose profession is the study

> of history tend to have liberal views. Is there something in the > detailed study of what has happened in the past that leads to such a > position? Or is it just that those with other views tend more to spend > their lives in other fields?

Interesting question. It seems that those attracted to fields of the "letters" tend to be more liberal-oriented than those attracted to the fields of the "numbers".

When I was in college the engineer/science/business students and faculty were either politically conservative or apolitical. The humanities majors and faculty were more political and generally liberal.

You can see the difference in the writings of the two types. The first group tend to write in no-nonsense prose top down, "saw this/did that" in more objective terms. The second group tends to write in more abstract prose, such as focusing on people and their feelings instead of the physical environment.

I know first-hand that the "politically correct" movement was real and strong with a powerful influence on public discourse, politics, and academics in certain areas (some places were much stronger than others). I believe that movement did far more harm than good by forcing a distortion of the facts* and public discussion of the real issues. That's bad communication. I think in some productions PBS was at fault -- in the example I cited in an earlier post, as well in some other productions.

I really want PBS to be truly independent without political interference -- pressure from the right is no better than pressure from the left.

*I recall a writer in a newspaper article claiming a new school was built in the 1950s and was segregated -- the black kids had to walk past it to their own school. That was a lie and wrong. The new school was actually a distance away from the old school and separated by natural barriers (a park hill and an unbridged railroad line).

Another instance is unrealistically representing minorities/ poor/ handicapped and related issues in story lines -- more so than they do in reality. PBS ran a Canandian children's series "Degrassi Jr High" that seemed to focus on a contemporary social issue every week. Real life isn't like that for most people, and constant issues exposure becomes propaganda. Now I realize TV in the early 1960s was generally unrealistically bland, but going to the other extreme doesn't make it right. I will give "All in the Family" credit because while it usually made Archie to be the bad guy, it would poke fun at Mike's ignorance as well.

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hancock4
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