OPINION: Talk of the Town

PBS should get public support

Every time I read a Jeff Tucker piece, I wonder if this is the last edition I will pay to read? His opposition to public funding for PBS via the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) rests on the naïve assumption that all media should be supported solely by the market. He states that taxpayers should only pay for news that includes a “balanced discussion.” But there is no duty to “balance” in the business of news media corporations. In fact, the rise of infotainment news and alternative facts should be alarming to everyone who believes a democracy needs the press – the Fourth Estate – to keep us informed. Who will protect journalists from their corporate owners or the current president as more are forced out of their organizations for failing to agree with the powers-that-be?

Referring to NMPBS’s “New Mexico in Focus” program, Tucker aims to persuade us that “no one” watches because it spends too much time on “social justice causes.” Yet he fails to demonstrate that the program’s regional topics are adequately covered by any other news organization. On NPR June 9, there was an investigative piece about some federal judges subjecting their staff to appalling behavior. As media corporations have shifted resources away from long-form and investigative journalism, who will be left to serve our public interests with such in-depth reporting? Federal judges are on the frontlines of the president’s attempts to circumvent many laws, so we citizens need to know about judicial behavior inside and outside courtrooms.

I urge all taxpayers — as stakeholders in the U.S. government — to show their support for the protection of the CPB so PBS/NPR can continue to report on topics that are easily ignored and even suppressed in pursuit of maximum profits for shareholders.

Eithne Johnson

Albuquerque

Blackstone is unfit to lead NM’s energy future

Interfaith Worker Justice joins the opposition to Blackstone’s takeover of Public Service Company of New Mexico. CEO Stephen Schwarzman is a modern-day pharaoh worth an astonishing $37 billion. In 2023, Blackstone raked in $880.9 billion, profits that conceal exploitation and reckless disregard for human life incompatible with the values of New Mexico.

Pope Francis stated: “The commandment, ‘Thou shalt not kill’ sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life. Today, we also have to say ‘thou shalt not’ to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy also kills.”

New Mexico demands ethically managed electricity — not a business plan built on exploitation and abuse. In 2023, State Treasurer Laura Montoya announced that she would pull New Mexico’s public funds citing “excessive risks” and “alarming labor practices.”

Packers Sanitation Services Inc., controlled by Blackstone, was exposed for the illegal use of child labor ranging from 13 to 17 years of age, working overnight shifts at meat processing facilities in eight states. Three workers have died on the job so far — including one who was decapitated — and four who lost limbs. Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the company for safety violations. The Department of Labor opened 56 inspections in five years.

State investors bailed and so should we.

Blackstone used PSSI’s revenue to enrich itself leaving over $1 billion in debt to PSSI and extracting millions in payouts to investors. These are the predatory methods used by financial raiders who hollow out companies leaving devastation behind.

Now, Blackstone has targeted New Mexico.

PNM serves over half a million New Mexicans and is central to our clean energy transition. Blackstone-owned PNM will exploit New Mexico to enrich out-of-state investors.

We implore the PRC to reject this takeover. To do otherwise would be an unforgivable betrayal of our trust.

Holly Beaumont

Interfaith Worker Justice director

Cuts to Dept. of Education will hurt students

I am writing to express my concern about the recent cuts to the U.S. Department of Education and the direct impact they are having in our classrooms and beyond.

These cuts are not abstract—they are real, and they are hurting our students. One of the most immediate effects has been the withholding of professional learning resources that teachers rely on to improve instruction, meet students’ diverse needs, and stay up-to-date with best practices. When educators are not supported, it is our children who pay the price. We will ultimately see the impairment these cuts will have on the growth of our society.

Quality education depends on investment, not just in buildings and textbooks, but in the people who show up every day to teach, guide and inspire. Let’s urge policymakers to reconsider these cuts and to prioritize funding that directly supports learning in the classroom.

Noah Kelly

Albuquerque

$40 million verdict shows need for reform

The $40 million malpractice decision against Presbyterian is one prime reason why the health care industry is declining in New Mexico. You cannot place a monetary value on human life so having an open checkbook for life-changing medical mistakes will not make those mistakes less frequent. It will only increase medical costs and, as we have seen, drive good medical personnel from our state. Legislators have had multiple opportunities to fix the problem, but trial lawyers are a strong force here, to their and our own detriment. Common sense must play a role in these tragedies, but it has to start with our elected officials.

Gary Hays

Bernalillo

Diversity of opinions is strength of democracy

To follow Jeff Tucker’s logic from his Sunday Journal June 8 op-ed piece about defunding PBS, I should cancel my subscription to the Albuquerque Journal, as I don’t always approve of or agree with what they print on the Opinion pages. There are many times I don’t agree with some of the stories and interviews on the PBS News Hour (which I have watched since they days of McNeil Lehrer) but I certainly won’t call for eliminating their funding because of those stories. The diversity of opinion and audience is the strength of any democracy. Tucker can watch Fox News if that is more to his political liking. The overwhelming majority of the programming on PBS has no political bent, and provides some of the best TV that is available. Why eliminate all that because of a beef with some news coverage? And by the way, yes, I am a sustaining subscriber to both KNME and KHFM.

Richard Bumstead

Albuquerque