Creative PR's Jazz Beitler with his Sesame Street buddies

Some of my favorite memories of media in my childhood involve Public Broadcasting.  I would wake up eager to watch Sesame Street, The Electric Company, and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.  Also, I remember my excitement of listening to the radio dramatization of the original Star Wars on NPR Playhouse.

The Fred Rogers Memorial Statue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Since I was raised in Pittsburgh,  Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood has always had a special place in my heart.  Mister Rogers (Fred Rogers) was born and raised in the Pittsburgh area.  He produced Mister Rodgers’ Neighborhood at Pittsburgh’s PBS station WQED.
Fred Rogers was displeased with the way television addressed children and made an effort to change this when he began to write for and perform on local Pennsylvania shows dedicated to youth. The Public Broadcasting System developed his own nationally aired show in 1968 and over the course of three decades on television, he became an indelible American icon of children’s entertainment and education, as well as a symbol of compassion, patience, and morality.

In 1969, Rogers appeared before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Communications. His goal was to support funding for PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, in response to significant proposed cuts. In about six minutes of testimony, Rogers spoke of the need for social and emotional education that public television provided. He passionately argued that alternative television programming like his Neighborhood helped encourage children to become happy and productive citizens, sometimes opposing less positive messages in media and in popular culture. He even recited the lyrics to one of his songs.
The chairman of the subcommittee, John O. Pastore, was not previously familiar with Rogers’ work, and was sometimes described as impatient. However, he reported that the testimony had given him goosebumps, and declared, “I think it’s wonderful. Looks like you just earned the $20 million.” The subsequent congressional appropriation, for 1971, increased PBS funding from $9 million to $22 million.
See video from Mister Rogers’ appearance before the United States Senate Subcommittee.

I cannot imagine my life and my childhood without Public Media.  I hope that future generations can fondly recall memories of Public Media while sharing it with their children.

Thank you Mister Rogers, Big Bird, Bert & Ernie.

~ Jazz Beitler
Creative PR

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