The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 160

Continued "If KET became the governor's arm, I think the people would know it and just not watch," he says. "I can't see how its use by the state could be either effective or much of a danger to the public." "IhE trick in all this, as Press admits, is how to stay independent of politics when KET depends on Frankfort for more than 80 per cent of its money (the rest comes from gifts from supporters, two Kentucky corporations that underwrite programs, and from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting). The KET Advisory Committee, appointed in 1974 to evaluate KET's policies, concluded that KET should be doing more high school, college and adult education, and should expand its public-affairs broadcasting, all of which call for more money. fairly small, but in the next 10 years the power of TV is going to become greater and greater, compared with that of newspapers. "Let's say that we have another event as traumatic statewide as busing was here, and the governor and the people in the legislature don't like the way the media are getting the news out, don't feel we are getting the truth to the people.

I can hear the speech now. 'People have a right to know what is happening to them. If the commercial media won't tell them the truth, here is this medium, KET, which belongs to the people and which exists to serve them, tell them the And the truth, of course, would be what the governor said it was." Morton, however, does not see the threat as serious. audience. The next net puts on an even worse show and gets an even bigger audience, so the third puts on a still worse one, and so on.

We have seen a great decline in live dramatic productions, and in documentaries. It worries me because we have an obligation to improve public standards and tastes, and we are going in the opposite direction. But what's the alternative? A king to save us from ourselves? That's the one thing we cannot afford, and that is the heart of our dilemma." But friction between KET and commercial owners is a minor concern compared with the fear of political interference. "Actually, there have been few instances in which we needed insulation against politics," says Press. "We have a good governing board in the Kentucky Authority for Educational Television, and it would try to protect us if need be.

But the danger is always there. And we need protection not only for our sake, but for Frankfort's. If a powerful group complains to the governor about something we put on the air, he needs to be able to say, 'They're not under our direct control. If they have abused the process, we will try to change the law, but we can't go over the head of the governing That would protect him and us." Ket needs insulation for another reason, says Bingham. "TV, in my opinion, is going to become much more powerful in the next decade.

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