We loyal PBS junkies were shocked down to our Birkenstocks and driving our Volvos into bridge abutments at the news that a former employee of Georgia Public Broadcasting has been indicted on a charge of diverting more than $21,000 in GPB money into her bank account.
Outrageous. That’s money we gave in good faith for Fleetwood Mac reunion concerts and Fifties acts in their 70s singing about teenage love. How many Justin Wilson cooking reruns or “Civil War” episodes would twenty-one grand have bought?
Obviously, there’s only one recourse for GPB to recoup that money.
Pledge drive.
(Fade-out from concert hall. Fade-in to applause from studio full of people seated at banks of telephones)
“Isn’t that wonderful? Doesn’t that bring back some great times, Jack?”
“You bet it does, Beth, and we’ll be right back with more unforgettable memories from ‘Ossified Legends of Doo-Wop’ right after this brief 45-minute break to remind YOU of why YOU need to be a part of the Public Broadcasting family, and why we need YOU to send in
your pledge and become a member. For just a $20 contribution we’ll send you a Grateful Dead poster featuring high-resolution pictures of the band, including the late Jerry Garcia and all three dead keyboard players; a $60 pledge gets you 12 hours of Carl Sagan’s historic ‘Cosmos’ series in the equally historic Beta videotape format; and for a pledge of $120 or more you’ll receive the 12-CD complete works of Yoko Ono.”The other possibility is a few brief on-air announcements that for $21,000, they won’t have a pledge drive.
They’d have the money in a week.
