PBS Kids official visits Arkansas as campaign aims to keep public television affiliation

This article was first published by the Arkansas Advocate and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Public television supporters are ramping up a campaign aimed at reversing Arkansas’ decision to cut ties with PBS, forming a new advocacy group chaired by two former state first ladies and hosting a top PBS leader for a public forum.

Sara DeWitt, senior vice president and general manager of PBS Kids, visited Arkansas Thursday and planned to headline a forum at the Central Arkansas Library System’s main location in Little Rock.

The visit and forum are part of efforts by the newly formed Friends of Arkansas PBS, which is urging the Arkansas PBS Commission to reconsider its vote to disaffiliate. Arkansas was the first state to cut ties with PBS after the Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced its closure last year due to a loss in federal funding. 

DeWitt told the Arkansas Advocate Thursday that she still believes there are avenues for keeping PBS in Arkansas rather than cutting ties. CPB’s closure is “a stress to the whole system” of PBS member stations, and viewers have since increased their donations nationwide, including in Arkansas, DeWitt said.

“I believe there is a path forward for stations to be viable and to stay within the [PBS] system,” she said.

DeWitt said she “jumped at the chance” when former first ladies Gay White and Barbara Pryor invited her to the forum. 

DeWitt also said she looked forward to “having people who are viewers share what is so important to them about PBS, what they love about it, how PBS Kids makes a difference in their lives, and [letting] those commissioners know that there is just so much community support for keeping PBS in Arkansas.”

The Arkansas PBS Commission voted 6-2 in December to disaffiliate from PBS June 30, the end of the state fiscal year. If the board doesn’t reverse the decision, Arkansans’ ability to watch beloved PBS programs such as Ken Burns’ historical documentaries and Clifford the Big Red Dog will be taken off the air and limited to online apps and subscription services.

This will be a disservice to Arkansans without access to a reliable internet connection or affordable pre-K education, DeWitt said.

The recently rebranded Arkansas TV seeks to replace PBS programs with locally made, Arkansas-focused productions, said CEO Carlton Wing, a former Republican state legislator.

Friends of Arkansas PBS’ co-chairs are Gay White, widow of former Gov. Frank White, and Barbara Pryor, widow of former Gov. David Pryor.

David Pryor, who was also a former U.S. senator, served on the CPB board from 2006 to 2014. He “would be devastated to know that PBS in Arkansas is in jeopardy,” Barbara Pryor said in Monday’s news release.

Financial pressure

The vote to disaffiliate came as a shock to PBS headquarters and to Arkansans throughout the state. Many viewers and donors decided to stop financially supporting the network, according to emails to and from Arkansas TV obtained via a public records request.

Members of the public have expressed skepticism about Wing’s claim that continuing to pay PBS dues was financially unsustainable. White said in the news release that the financial issues should be resolvable “with the resources we have, both in money and bright minds.”

“We know the state has surplus funds that could be used to supplement the loss of national funding,” White said. “And I, as a financial supporter of PBS, am more than willing to increase my pledge. I know I’m not alone. Surely we can figure this out.”

Arkansas’ disaffiliation from PBS comes at a time when children’s literacy has been a focus for state officials. Thanks to a 2023 education overhaul policy, thousands of third-graders who do not meet state-issued reading standards could be required to repeat the grade this year, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

The new show being screened at Thursday’s forum is Phoebe & Jay, a literacy-focused animated series aimed at children ages 3 to 5. 

“It’s like a building block of literacy, which is not just sitting down and recognizing the letters, but being able to look around you and say, ‘Okay, where is the exit sign? How do I use these elevator buttons to get up or down? When is it safe for me to cross the street?’” DeWitt said.

Arkansas TV did not respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.