Ajit Pai Elected To Public Television Board Of Trustees

oDDmON@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 529 points –
indiawest.com

Pai, who chaired the FCC from 2017 to 2021, during the Donald Trump administration and was often derided online mostly for undoing the net neutrality rules, is now a partner at Searchlight Capital Partners, a global investment firm.

”America’s Public Television Stations are honored and delighted to welcome Ajit Pai to the APTS board,” said APTS president and CEO Patrick Butler.

Fox in the henhouse, again.

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Fuck Ajit Pai and the ridiculously oversized Reese's mug he rode in on.

But especially fuck the corporate oligarchy that bankrolls him and the corruption he rode in on.

They must love that guy. Does all their shitty deeds and takes all of the heat for it.

I'll never not pronounce his name as "a shit pie".

The bizarre thing, whenever you write it out like that on Reddit, good chance you'll get downvoted to hell.

But count me as one of the club that does persistently sound his name out like that.

The guy is the walking definition of corporate weasel.

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WTAF? So he can ruin PBS too?

Yup. Bye bye sesame street

Sesame Street isn't actually owned by PBS, it's a nonprofit called Sesame Workshop. And it was like 8 years ago that SW was running into funding trouble due to declining DVD sales, and ended up licensing the show to HBO so that they could continue producing episodes at the rate they wanted. PBS now gets episodes several months behind.

TIL, I did not know that. Since I have young kids, I've started watching it with them the last couple of years and it's such an amazing, wholesome TV show. I can't believe they were running into funding problems, I feel like they should do national fundraising drives and they'd get their funding in a heartbeat (or at least, I sure as hell would donate every year).

The problem is that anything actually for the kids doesn't usually get funded. The "for the kids" stuff that does get funded is almost always for the benefit of someone else.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Ajit kill sesame street for shits and giggles regardless of the funding.

Wait so he’s not burning in hell with Epstein, Hitler, and Kissinger?

Just when I thought this dipshit was out of my life for good.

He looks like he shits his pants on purpose.

I can’t actually figure out what APTS does. I think it’s only a lobbying nonprofit. It’s not mentioned on the public television Wikipedia article and I’m struggling to find a good Google query that turns up something it’s done. Putting all of that together, it’s just a continuation of his regulatory capture.

Edit: I should have looked at the 501(c)3 stuff first. This org collects money from public stations and spends it on its staff. It lobbies but doesn’t present much in the way of returns.

https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521170071/202223429349300807/full

They help fund some public stations around the country, and lobby to support them, allegedly.

America's Public Television Stations (APTS) is a nonprofit membership organization ensuring a strong and financially sound public television system and helping member stations provide essential public services in education, public safety and civic leadership to the American people.

Its affiliate APTS Action, Inc. promotes the legislative and regulatory interests of noncommercial television stations at the national level through direct advocacy and through grasstops and grassroots campaigns designed to garner bipartisan political support. The public television system is comprised of 158 licensees operating 356 public television stations across America and serving more than 97 percent of the American people. About half of these licensees are nonprofit community foundations. The rest are State, university and local school district licensees. All are locally owned, locally operated and locally oriented in their programming and community services, and all share a mission of serving everyone, everywhere, every day for free – including in places where no model for commercial success exists.

APTS is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in all forms to reflect the society that public television serves.

Additionally, APTS is committed to ensuring digital accessibility for people with disabilities. We are continually working to improve the user experience for everyone, and applying the relevant accessibility standards.

I don’t trust their website given Pai’s involvement. Did you find an external source that talked about their funding of stations? The about you quoted (that I read several times to try to parse) really just highlights they funnel money to lobbyists.

You can use this portal to find the public access stations they support.

https://apts.org/stations/find-your-public-tv-station

All that does is show public stations, not stations they fund. I can find no record that shows they’re in any way involved in the public stations in my state.

You seem to be confusing the two organizations which is understandable as it is kind of confusing subject.

One of them supports local stations, and then the other supports them politically that’s why it says it’s affiliate.

So while one half of the group lobbies in their interest to “support local stations” (again, allegedly, I don’t fucking work for them and have no idea what they actually do) the other half supports the stations that are a part of their membership.

Those member stations that they support are indeed the ones listed on that website. What “support” truly means in their context, I have no clue my dude.

*the starting comment for this tree found their tax stuff and after looking it over myself, I agree with their assessment that they mostly funnel money to staff, earning their 15 full time employees about 163k dollars a year each, if it’s divided equally. They claim to provide money to their member stations based on certain conditions being met, but it’s a pittance of their total income. Seems like Ajit will feel right at home!

I am the starting comment in this tree. We don’t have data on the lobbying arm because it’s not a nonprofit. “Supporting their members” is what I want to understand and, unless you’ve found a source I haven’t, I can find no concrete impact of the nonprofit on public television in the United States other than members of the station boards get money in salary from the dues their stations pay. With all due respect, I’m interested in sources that explain what they do, not speculation pulled from marketing copy on their own website, which is where I started.

Yeah dude I’m interested in that, too.

But I’m not sure what you want from me I’m not one of their board members I’m just finding shit on the internet and parsing it, same as you.

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Ok, now I'm actually convinced that this is good, because it means this power hungry shitstain isn't able to curate any real influence beyond a token lobbying job at a second rate firm.

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How does this guy have any place doing anything? Who's in control?

This is the way you bribe politicians now. Somewhere along the line dinners are had and promises of future jobs are made, then you do your work like a good little greedypieceofshitjackass, leave government, and end up on some board of directors or what have you in the industry you helped make money through your actions in government.

Bribery is illegal, employing ex-government officials and giving them gigantic salaries isn't... :(

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No one is in control. That's why dumb decisions get made. He's an Ivy Leaguer who was head of the FCC. On paper, this is a no-brainer hire. Obviously, smart people would disagree with that.

If you can be bought and sold, and you tell everyone that you can be bought and sold, and even proud of it, then chances are that other places are going to want to buy and sell you.

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Oh man he should be what comes up when you google 'punchable face'

There to turn public television into the propaganda mouthpiece of the right.

Get ready for such public programming as Assisstant Nurse Karen's Holistic Medicine Hour where it's a half hour straight of anti-vax talk. Real Flat Earth Talk with Hosts Brayden and Jayden. And Patriots and Patriotism in a Socialist Hellscape where all hosts and guests are in all camo, armed with an Ar-15, weigh at least 3 bills, and have trouble walking, breathing, or both.

Imagine what they will turn pbs kids into.

Probably a 30 minute cartoon series about how to not report rape.

I think I speak for everyone when I say that guy can eat a bag o dicks

All the dicks. And the bag, to be certain that if he weasels his way out of eating the dicks, at least he’ll have to find a way to carry them around for a while.

What is Patrick Butler's deal? Because no one is honored and delighted to welcome this douche nozzle into any organization with a shred of integrity.

This is what happens when Koch money goes to public media like PBS and NPR- they start hiring corporatist toadies

 This country has always had the best politicians money can buy.

God I thought we were done with this asshole...

Welp public television is fucked with this asshole a part of it...

What happened to him leaving the FCC and joining Verizon, or whatever cellphone company that he was benefiting?

What the mother fuck! We’d have no Mr Roger’s had this shitbag been there back in the day. Fuck him!

He looks like a cartoon villain, or the manifestation of the movie Office Space into reality, but not in a good way.

Don't know how he made his face even more punchable

Dude has the stereotypical face of corruption

This is the day PBS died guys. Sucks.

So whatever happened to net neutrality? I haven't heard any bad stories since the asshole we're discussing went for it.

Not much has happened. ISPs have the ability now to charge based on usage but so far have not. The possibility still lingers however.

The only thing he should be elected for is guillotine blade sharpness tester.

Why? Why does he still have a career? Why can't he just retire?