President Donald Trump's plan to eliminate public broadcasting is wrong, and federal funding for it should continue, because "it's a small public investment that pays huge dividends for Americans," retired Army General Stanley McChrystal wrote in a The New York Times op-ed Wednesday.
"Public broadcasting makes our nation smarter, stronger, and, yes, safer," McChrystal wrote, adding his life experience, including 34 years as a combat vet, "has taught me that education, trusted institutions, and civil discourse are the lifeblood of a great nation."
Calling budget cuts in public broadcasting in order to spend more on improving the military a "false choice," McChrystal stressed "having thoughtful television, games, and other media that is not commercially driven is essential to good parenting," especially in this era when parents are not able to spend as much time with their children as previous generations.
He added public, noncommercial broadcasting gives children social-emotional skills that are crucial to success in school and helps prepare them for the future.
McChrystal said it makes no sense to get rid of an institution that ranks first in trust nationwide, especially when the federal appropriation for it is such a reasonable price, "about $445 million annually, [which] supports more than a thousand television and radio stations at a cost of about $1.35 per citizen."
"We need broadcasting that treats us as citizens, not simply as consumers," he urged. "We need a strong civil society where the connection between different people and groups is firm and vibrant, not brittle and divided. We need to defend against weaknesses within and enemies without, using the tools of civil society and hard power. We don't have to pick one over the other."
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