Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns recently spoke with The Bulwark, where he commented on the impact of eliminating federal funding for public broadcasting. Burns said, “It’s a big deal, they killed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, incredibly shortsighted, it’ll hurt mostly rural communities. Maybe that’s their intention. There’ll be news deserts. Nobody will be covering the school board or the city council meetings.”
Burns made these remarks during an interview with John Avlon. He suggested that without organizations like PBS and NPR, rural Americans could face a lack of local news coverage.
The comments drew significant criticism on social media platforms such as Twitter/X. Users challenged Burns’ claim that rural communities rely primarily on PBS and NPR for news access. Several users pointed out that most people in rural areas have access to internet services and alternative news sources, suggesting that public broadcasting is not their only option.
Some responses also noted that programming from PBS and NPR is often more popular among urban audiences rather than those in rural regions. Critics argued that assuming rural Americans depend solely on public broadcasting underestimates their access to diverse media outlets.
Others questioned Burns’ perspective by highlighting his professional relationship with PBS as a platform for his documentaries, implying he has a personal interest in supporting public broadcasting.
Social media reactions included skepticism about the portrayal of rural Americans as lacking information resources and suggested this view does not reflect current realities regarding technology and media consumption in those areas.
