Public B'Cast Funds

NPR's John Nielsen reports that public broadcasters testified before The House Telecommunications Subcommittee today, in response to a republican proposal intended to move public radio and television off federal supports by the year 2000. The broadcasters objected to the 1-billion-dollar cap on a proposed trust fund contained in the legislation and complained that other provisions would bring too much commercial pressure to bear on public broadcasting. But disagreement surfaced among the panelists over whether the proposal would shift too much power from local independent stations to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.