[BC] Another public station bites the dust

[Alan Kline]

------ At 03:41 PM 6/26/2006 -0400, The Most Honourable Bernie Courtney wrote: -------
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>Museums probably arent going anywhere, but the same logic you could apply to
>niche formats also could very easily be applied to libraries.  With more and
>more research being done online, and traditional paper based material being
>digitized, there really ISNT a need for all the wasted space that libraries
>take up either.  Build some nice new condo's there instead, and put the
>archives in a rack of a data center somewhere and call it a day.  

Who's going to digitize and organize the millions and millions of books for
that all-encompassing digital library?  More to the point, who's going to 
pay for it, and would it really be less expensive than maintaining the 
brick-and-mortar libraries? The simple logistics of organizing such a 
massive effort are mind-numbing.

How about the local history departments that are so important in many
community libraries? What about the thousands and thousands of reels of
microfilm--local newspapers and geneaology files, just to name a few? Thousands
of microfiche?

And perhaps most importantly, how would we introduce new generations to the
absolute joy of just spending an afternoon browsing through the stacks, finding
new things that look interesting? Or finding something that isn't what you were
looking for in the first place, but takes you off on a whole new exploration?


>As for
>those who want to listen to bible thumping 24/7 or whats going on around
>campus, thats what streaming and podcasts are for.

And how is it that you or anyone else gets to decide what's suitable for
broadcast, and what should be shunted aside to a third-world of streaming
and podcasts?

The airwaves belong to the public--ALL of the public--which means that
people who might want to listen to religious programs, local public
affairs, or whatever, have as much right to a slice of that spectrum as
anyone.

I just read an FCC decision this afternoon concerning a Petition To Deny
filed against a nearby TV station.  The petitioner was attempting to 
shut down the station based on a couple of editorials he didn't like.

Put aside for the moment the fact that it's unusual today for stations
to even do editorials... The Commission ruled that under the First Amendment
and existing precedents, it had no business passing judgement on a licensee's
programming judgments.  Which is as it should be.

Note however, that there were no "wardrobe malfunctions" at issue here...

ak


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