The Gimlet Eye

A FEW years ago, while researching one of my semiannual screeds against public television, I asked a PBS marketing specialist to describe a typical PBS audience. Her answer was succinct: “affluent, highly educated, the movers and shakers, the socially conscious and well-informed.”

This was the kind of quote every reporter lives for—guaranteed to embarrass the person who spoke it, as well as her employers, while offering maximum aid and comfort to their enemies. With thoughtless candor she had put the He to one of public broadcasting’s cornerstone conceits, which is that PBS is an egalitarian haven for the marginalized of American society, fiercely dedicated to meeting the “viewing needs” of those neglected in the Hobbesian marketplace of commercial broadcasting.

About the Author

Andrew Ferguson

Andrew Ferguson, a former columnist for NR, is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Featured Tags

A FEW years ago, while researching one of my semiannual screeds against public television, I asked a PBS marketing specialist to describe a typical PBS audience. Her answer was succinct: “affluent, highly educated, the movers and shakers, the socially conscious and well-informed.”

This was the kind of quote every reporter lives for—guaranteed to embarrass the person who spoke it, as well as her employers, while offering maximum aid and comfort to their enemies. With thoughtless candor she had put the He to one of public broadcasting’s cornerstone conceits, which is that PBS is an egalitarian haven for the marginalized of American society, fiercely dedicated to meeting the “viewing needs” of those neglected in the Hobbesian marketplace of commercial broadcasting.