Letters to the Editor: Authoritarians dismantle the arts, so PBS and NPR are in the government’s sights

To the editor: Unsurprising the Trump administration is trying to defund public broadcasting (“PBS and NPR cater to all Americans, despite what Marjorie Taylor Greene might believe,” April 1). Throughout history, authoritarian regimes have tried to dismantle public access to the creative arts, and that’s above all what PBS and NPR trade in. The creative arts feed the soul, and the soul is where lack of bias and basic human kindness lie. In the face of human degradation, it’s proved to be our most resolute and immutable essence, our most defiant self. It’s a whole lot easier to control a person’s mind than their soul. Small wonder this regime wants to starve ours.

Sheran James, Laguna Beach

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To the editor: In a House Oversight Committee meeting NPR’s Katherine Maher and her counterpart at PBS, Paula Kerger, attempted to defend the millions of dollars of government funds spent on public broadcasting. Both floundered badly. In this age of trillion-dollar deficits, even a few paltry millions must be saved — particularly dollars contributing to totally biased news outlets.

John Hammerel, Santa Barbara