Education Secretary Blasts PBS Cartoon Story aired: Friday, January 28, 2005
A children's television show is pitting the new U.S. secretary of education against a cartoon rabbit called Buster.
Postcards from Buster, which is produced at WGBH in Boston, is funded mainly by the federal Ready-to-Learn initiative. The current controversy is over an unaired episode in which the animated bunny visits real-life children in Vermont. Their parents are lesbians, and the show features maple sugaring and other aspects of the family's farm life.
But Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has denounced it, saying that "many parents would not want their young children exposed to the lifestyles portrayed in the episode." In this, her first week on the job, Spellings wrote to PBS asking it to refund federal money spent on the "Sugartime" show, and adding the department would clarify its "expectations for future programming it funds."
PBS has decided not to air the episode and is refusing to distribute the footage to its 349 member stations.
For another opinion on the dust-up over Buster we're joined by Peggy Charren, founder of Action For Children's Television and a member of the board at WGBH.
Guests:
Peggy Charren, founder of Action For Children's Television and a member of the board at WGBH.
