Speech to the US Senate on Funding for PBS Fred Rogers (Ft. Senator Pastore)
"Speech to the US Senate on Funding for PBS" features Fred Rogers advocating for public broadcasting funding, highlighting its importance for children's education and emotional well-being. The heartfelt dialogue emphasizes kindness and community. Released in 1969, it blends spoken word with gentle melodies. #Folk. Its cultural impact endures, influencing discussions on media's role in society.
[Senator Pastore]
Alright Rogers, you've got the floor.
[Mr. Rogers]
Senator Pastore, this is a philosophical statement and would take about ten minutes to read, so I'll not do that. One of the first things that a child learns in a healthy family is trust, and I trust what you have said that you will read this. It's very important to me. I care deeply about children.
[Senator Pastore]
Will it make you happy if you read it?
[Mr. Rogers]
I'd just like to talk about it, if it's alright. My first children's program was on WQED fifteen years ago, and its budget was $30. Now, with the help of the Sears-Roebuck Foundation and National Educational Television, as well as all of the affiliated stations -- each station pays to show our program. It's a unique kind of funding in educational television. With this help, now our program has a budget of $6000. It may sound like quite a difference, but $6000 pays for less than two minutes of cartoons. Two minutes of animated, what I sometimes say, bombardment. I'm very much concerned, as I know you are, about what's being delivered to our children in this country. And I've worked in the field of child development for six years now, trying to understand the inner needs of children. We deal with such things as -- as the inner drama of childhood. We don't have to bop somebody over the head to...make drama on the screen. We deal with such things as getting a haircut, or the feelings about brothers and sisters, and the kind of anger that arises in simple family situations. And we speak to it constructively.
[Senator Pastore]
How long of a program is it?
[Mr. Rogers]
It's a half hour every day. Most channels schedule it in the noontime as well as in the evening. WETA here has scheduled it in the late afternoon.
[Senator Pastore]
Could we get a copy of this so that we can see it? Maybe not today, but I'd like to see the program.
[Mr. Rogers]
I'd like very much for you to see it.
[Senator Pastore]
I'd like to see the program itself, or any one of them.
Alright Rogers, you've got the floor.
[Mr. Rogers]
Senator Pastore, this is a philosophical statement and would take about ten minutes to read, so I'll not do that. One of the first things that a child learns in a healthy family is trust, and I trust what you have said that you will read this. It's very important to me. I care deeply about children.
[Senator Pastore]
Will it make you happy if you read it?
[Mr. Rogers]
I'd just like to talk about it, if it's alright. My first children's program was on WQED fifteen years ago, and its budget was $30. Now, with the help of the Sears-Roebuck Foundation and National Educational Television, as well as all of the affiliated stations -- each station pays to show our program. It's a unique kind of funding in educational television. With this help, now our program has a budget of $6000. It may sound like quite a difference, but $6000 pays for less than two minutes of cartoons. Two minutes of animated, what I sometimes say, bombardment. I'm very much concerned, as I know you are, about what's being delivered to our children in this country. And I've worked in the field of child development for six years now, trying to understand the inner needs of children. We deal with such things as -- as the inner drama of childhood. We don't have to bop somebody over the head to...make drama on the screen. We deal with such things as getting a haircut, or the feelings about brothers and sisters, and the kind of anger that arises in simple family situations. And we speak to it constructively.
[Senator Pastore]
How long of a program is it?
[Mr. Rogers]
It's a half hour every day. Most channels schedule it in the noontime as well as in the evening. WETA here has scheduled it in the late afternoon.
[Senator Pastore]
Could we get a copy of this so that we can see it? Maybe not today, but I'd like to see the program.
[Mr. Rogers]
I'd like very much for you to see it.
[Senator Pastore]
I'd like to see the program itself, or any one of them.
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