...is a one way street? He gives them buckets of money and obviously doesn't interfere with the editorial content. Why remove him? Are the protesters going to buy a million dollars worth of Nightline DVDs?

Actually, the Kochs, along

By tape on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 8:29am.

Actually, the Kochs, along with some other ultra-rich conservative election-buyers, got a documentary that was critical of them defunded. (nytimes link)

Hooray for speculation

By Lunchbox on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 9:25am.

From that NYTimes article (buried towards the end):

There is no straight line from Mr. Koch to ITVS’s change toward “Citizen Koch;” the PBS ombudsman Michael Getler said flatly in May that “there is no evidence that David Koch interfered with or tried to censor these films."

Yes, of course, I'm sure the

By tape on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 9:29am.

Yes, of course, I'm sure the funding was pulled for, uh, artistic reasons.

Money is money

By BlackKat on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 8:33am.

The Koch brothers, while known for being disgustingly conservative, are equally known for being great donors to worthy causes. Not just MIT and public television. Many of our greatest philanthropists have been industrial robber barons. Even the most repulsive, rich man in America, Donald Trump, gives tons of money to charities. And it's not any different than the way Exxon Mobil has sponsored shows on public television. Even if you don't like their environmental practices you damn well watched Masterpiece Theatre or NOVA and it never affected the content of those shows.

but they do affect the

By Carty on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 8:55am.

but they *do* affect the content of the shows, see the link above.

Again, not WMBR

By BostonDog on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 9:28am.

I really don't think he's affecting the content on WMBR. Although if he is, I fully support him. More Backwoods! More Lost Highway! More afternoon Jazz!

I don't care much for WGBH-TV but I will forever hold a grudge against WGBH-FM for eliminating their music shows on 89.7 and trying to out-NPR WBUR. I've always wondered if Koch pushed them in this direction, was opposed, or didn't know/care about the change.

Because of the way MIT and

By anon on Thu, 10/10/2013 - 1:09pm.

Because of the way MIT and WMBR are set up, a donation to MIT to build a child care center or cancer research building would have *no* effect on the radio station.

If Koch had given money directly to WMBR, then maybe it would justify further investigation. But he didn't.

Also, See The Rebuttal

By Suldog on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 11:30am.

n/t

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

Indeed , and Texaco is ,

By kvn on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 11:59am.

Indeed , and Texaco is , or was our friend as well. They sponsored shows by Bob Hope and Jack Benny ! Here is a Jack Benny & Texaco collaboration :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detail...

I wonder if NPR tipped this off....

By BrendanTLDR on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 8:09am.

I heard about Koch's long-time involvement with WGBH last week on NPR and now this week there's a protest. NSA is still spying on us, but hey the rich conservative that helped finance Zoom deserves a protest.

God Bless the Koch Brothers.

By jakester on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 8:25am.

"God Bless the Koch Brother". These 5 words, especially God and Koch Brothers should be all it takes to set off the infantile readership of this blog all day. I'll just sit back and enjoy the show. Now, go to it children...

Thank God!

By Brian Riccio on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 10:02am.

We have you to show us the error of our Liz Warren loving, Prius driving, recycling ways. Why, thanks to your post, I had them add a SECOND Styrofoam cup to my Dunkin Iced Coffee®! One time, I was on fire and David Koch actually stopped his limo to get out and piss on me to put me out. A true American hero!

So...

By Ward8Mahatma on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 8:38am.

...is this the PBS/NPR version of Koch blocking?

Meanwhile its perfectly ok

By anon on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 9:25am.

Meanwhile its perfectly ok for convicted felon and unrepentant Nazi collaborator George Soros to continue to donate and influence content because he leans left.

Ahhh...the George Soros!

By Brian Riccio on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 9:52am.

George Soros caused the Swine Flu. He also caused Obamacare. Soros is the reason there is no more prayer in schools. He sponsored forced busing. He is responsible for global warming. Soros, Soros, Soros.

While I like your witty reply

By Patricia on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 10:52am.

While I like your witty reply, I don't see the difference between Koch and Soros. It all depends from your own perspective and I really get a giggle when people get their panties in a twist at the mention of the Koch Brothers. The perfect trifecta would be to mention the likes of Palin, Koch and Regan all in one sentence to get heads spinning. Hilarious!

Anyone who watches PBS notices the Koch's contribution along with many others. So, if WGBH lost Koch funding - that's OK with these protesters? Is WGBH only to accept funding from those whose political viewpoints align with these protesters?

I would like the Koch foundation to give even more money if it would decrease these awful pledge drives that are seeming to happen bi monthly at this point.

Um, Soros has a long list of

By anon on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 11:24am.

Um, Soros has a long list of shady and despicable things which he is responsible for. Mostly currency manipulation and shaping government policy for crony capitalism. But your list is suitable for the tinfoil brigades.

I'll put Soros' list of shady and despicable things

By Brian Riccio on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 1:25pm.

against the Koch brothers list and I guarantee the Koch's come ahead in the scumbag department.

I don't think the Koch's have

By anon on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 1:42pm.

I don't think the Koch's have nearly bankrupted countries or sold people out to fascist death squads.

Great idea

By anon on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 9:57am.

Dump Koch and replace him with some Weston limousine liberal who has plenty of inflammatory rhetoric to offer but keeps his money in his wallet (not counting the $10 he gives to the I'm a girl clipboard warriors every couple of years.)

Boo hoo

By Boston_res on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 10:01am.

Why don't these protestors all go pool their money, and start their own production company?

Seriously!

By Kaz on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 10:21am.

Why don't all of these members of the public go start their own broadcasting station??

They could call it the Station of Broadcasting for the Public (SBP) or something catchy like that.

The Real Problems Here

By SwirlyGrrl on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 10:24am.

1. Our Federal Government has long abandoned its practice of requiring that media ownership does not concentrate in a few hands, as well as systematically removed public funding from non-profit media.

2. Citizen's United.

If we took care of 2, we might also be able to take care of 1, and the damage done by Koch money to our democracy wouldn't be an issue.

1. The government being

By anon on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 12:05pm.

1. The government being involved in regulating media ownership can lead to censorship of dissent of the minority party by the majority party.
2. Ditto for regulating money in politics.

It's better to not give government the power to interfere with freedom of speech or the press to avoid abuse by the government which is a real threat to democracy.

Seemed to work fine for many years

By SwirlyGrrl on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 2:28pm.

Money is not free speech. Seriously - do you really think it is democratic that personified corporations get to effectively decide who runs for office and, therefore, how the country is run?

Secondly, I'm not talking about censorship. What I am talking about is REGULATION for DEMOCRACY - the government as referee. The policy of preventing too many media outlets from being owned by the same people IS NOT CENSORSHIP - it is a policy that served the needs of informed, participatory democracy for decades. Nobody says that the Koch brothers cannot say what they want - but if they own all the media outlets, all we get to hear is what THEY want us to hear.

I highly recommend doing some research on the history of these two things - as well as how destructive money in politics is to democracy, and how monopolized media creates censorship, not prevents it.

Why should the gov't give

By anon on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 7:52pm.

Why should the gov't give money to well-off non-profit media at all? WGBH spent $85M on their hdqs, building in Brighton; NPR spent 200M (sic) on their DC hdqs,

One sided news a result of big donor contributions?

By anon on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 11:23am.

In reporting about the walkout by Boston school bus drivers on WGBH radio yesterday, only the spokesperson from the School Department was interviewed as to the grievances. No drivers. One side of the story.

For an informative documentary about the behind-the-scenes (OK, not so behind) manipulation of non-profit organizations and elected officials, watch PARK AVENUE by Alex Gibney on Netflix.

When did you hear that report?

By adamg on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 12:25pm.

If early in the day, the issue wasn't shady, secretive gazillionaires attempting to pull strings from their underwater lairs but the fact that the bus drivers made like the Russians in Dr. Strangelove and never told anybody about their plans to strike. At least initially, the bus drivers were nowhere to be found and weren't returning any reporter's phone calls or e-mails.

Dump Koch's. Wealthy Kerry and Gore will fill gap. Not.

By O-FISH-L on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 12:30pm.

"Liberals, who often claim to care more about others than conservatives do, are personally less charitable. -- Arthur Brooks in "Who Really Cares?"

Charitable Giving:

President Bill Clinton (underwear)
Vice President Al Gore, (1997) $353
Sen. John Kerry (1991-1995) $0, $820, $175, $2039, $0

That said, I hope the Koch brothers withdraw funding from WGBH until Emily Rooney's "Beat the Press" can find one ~~conservative~~ non-liberal, just once a year to sit on their panel. I realize non-liberals are hard to find in the media, but c'mon. The weekly Fox News bashing is comical but getting rather trite.

I love Beat the Press and

By Patricia on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 12:57pm.

I love Beat the Press and while I do find her panelists tend to lean left, with the exception of a few, they tend to state their case quite well without getting all bombastic. Jon Keller does a good job for being independent, when he is on. I don't mind disagreeing with someones viewpoints, it's how they express it that tends to get my dander up. An example would be a Callie Crosley vs a Bill Maher-type,. She states her case quite well and without all the crap.

Your unsupported assertions

By Scratchie on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 1:17pm.

Your unsupported assertions and cherry-picked statistics are extremely persuasive.

Just wait

By SwirlyGrrl on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 2:32pm.

I'm sure there's going to be an infowars or conservapedia link coming soon!

Scratchie and Swirly: FYI, the link is in the blue text

By O-FISH-L on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 6:12pm.

Scratchie and Swirly: FYI: The link is in the blue text, in the shaded box with the quotation from noted liberal Arthur Brooks. At least one liberal has integrity, admitting conservatives are more charitable than his own ilk. HERE is the link again, to help you along.

Yes, I saw that already, a

By Scratchie on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 7:02pm.

Yes, I saw that already, a review of a book that came out in 2006. Not exactly a primary or authoritative source.

WGBH used to have an even

By anon on Wed, 10/09/2013 - 1:29pm.

WGBH used to have an even handed BU journalism professor on there along with Joe Shockah from the Herald. But the Roon couldn't stand people disagreeing with her and stopped inviting them to the program. Any time Dan Kennedy accidentally disagrees with her he immediately changes his mind to agree the first chance he gets. The panel also routinely repeats stories proven to be false and has a tendency to by wishy washy about who they think is a "journalist" regardless of the merits of the reporting in question.