Broadcasting hypocrisy: Dunleavy, AG sing praises of AM radio, while attacking public radio, TV
The hypocrisy of Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Attorney General Tregarrick Taylor is on full display with the state claiming that we must have AM radios in electric cars because of the need for emergency communications in Alaska.
Taylor has just signed onto the latest right-wing Republican chain letter whining about the future of AM radios in cars, while Dunleavy has just vetoed $1 million for public radio in Alaska.
Public radio is essential for communications in rural Alaska communities where AM car radios deliver nothing but static.
But here we have Taylor attacking the “failure of certain automobile manufacturers to appreciate the importance of AM radio” just days after his boss failed again to appreciate the importance of public radio.
Taylor, who has issued 66 press releases so far this year through the AG publicity department, complains that “We’ve got to impress upon trade groups and electric vehicle carmakers how important AM is and why keeping it in vehicles is critical.”
“Without access to their main consumers—automobile owners—AM stations, and the lifesaving signals they provide, might cease to exist,” the Republican chain letter wails.
The real reason for the broadcast heartburn is that politicians are hearing from the owners of AM stations about this threat to the business model and the AM role in spreading Republican propaganda.
The real story here is the nonstop Dunleavy attack on public broadcasting, which he has never explained to the public.
Dunleavy has been a relentless foe of public broadcasting, going back to his years in the Legislature, while claiming that he isn’t a foe of public broadcasting. It makes me suspect that he has long held a grudge about public radio news coverage of his various government jobs in Alaska.
He began arguing in 2015 to end all all state funding for public broadcasting, claiming the state could not afford it.
On March 26, 2015, he told the Anchorage Daily News that this was not about the quality of public broadcasting.
"This is about reducing the budget," he said. "Can we afford to pay for public broadcasting and everything we want to pay for? We can't."
Dunleavy told the newspaper he wasn’t sure if his plan would create problems with emergency communications or force stations to close, “But he said he has relatives in villages who have other sources of news,” the News said, repeating a claim that Dunleavy has repeated over the years.
The Legislature ended up cutting public broadcasting from $3.3 million to $2 million.
On March 14, 2017, he again proposed eliminating all funding for public broadcasting, but he failed.
Running for governor in 2018 he hinted that he would continue to argue for elimination, telling a Ketchikan public radio station that “some would say that with additional television stations and radio stations, it may not be as vital as it once was to the health and safety of Alaskans.”
In 2019, he vetoed all money for public broadcasting, claiming that “we believe that people will still be able to access programs through other means.”
He also claimed that “grants, federal funding or other innovative sources” would help “communities that most need news and information.”
The Legislature restored $2.7 million in grants, but Dunleavy vetoed the money multiple times.
In December 2020, Dunleavy moved again to eliminate grants for public broadcasting. The Legislature rejected his plan and Dunleavy followed up with a veto of what he claimed was the “non-essential subsidy” for public broadcasting.
In 2022, he cut $1.5 million for state grants to public radio stations.
The Legislature provided funds for public broadcasting in the budget again this year, but Dunleavy vetoed $1 million on June 18 this year.
“We’re the only radio station for hundreds of miles. You know, our signal even reaches to Russia. Like, we’re the only source for people to get information if they’re not in a place with internet access,” KOTZ News Director Desiree Hagen in Kotzebue told Alaska’s News Source.
Dunleavy’s attempts to eliminate state funds for public broadcasting are never going to stop.
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