–Jeff Ward, editor, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
Lehigh Valley Public Media, known by most as Channel 39 or PBS 39, has been burning through money.
Let’s stop it. Above all, let’s stop giving it more public money on top of its $80 million endowment — that’s public money too.
I will have more on the numbers later. I have an accounting degree and years of experience looking at financial statements, but I have asked experts to go through the financial records.
“It ain’t pretty,” to put it in the vernacular.
Part of 39’s turnaround plan is to seek more state and federal money, more of your money, to waste.
I ask you to act, but to act politely and sensibly. The blame here belongs on the board and on management (though there appears to be no management at this time). The average PBS 39 employee is just doing their job, and perhaps wondering if they’re going to get fired as a result of the fiscal 2023 “Year of Spending Recklessly.”
First, ask the federal Inspector General for public television to audit PBS 39.
Send an email to OIGemail@cpb.org and I suggest keeping it short and polite, something like,
PBS 39, based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, spent $15.15 million in fiscal 2023 while taking in only $6.49 million. It has cut staff, burned through money and embarked upon a change in direction that appears to be a financial disaster.
Please audit this organization’s finances and operations.
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Then, contact PBS 39. There is a contact form with an irritating CAPTCHA at https://www.wlvt.org/contact-us/
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Perhaps the Board of Directors has already requested an audit. They should, if they have not.
I’ve been making contacts and getting some response, finally.
In addition to PBS 39, I suggest you contact:
U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, Allentown: Also an irritating form, this one at
https://wild.house.gov/address_authentication?form=/contact/email-me
Also Pennsylvania Representative Josh Siegel, Allentown. His contact form is:
https://www.pahouse.com/Siegel/Contact/
Siegel’s name was raised during PBS 39’s board meeting as somebody who might help this outfit more state money. To be fair, he was not there and I don’t know if he plans to do that.
Let’s head that off at the pass, as they say in old cowboy movies.
Thanks to those who have told me they have requested that the IG and others look into this.
I’ve contacted several people in government, and those who responded in detail say they did not know about the 2023 debacle.
Nobody, including local media, has really been paying attention. Let’s pay attention now.
I’m not the crusader type, but when somebody burns taxpayers’ money and then wants to burn more, I’ll take a stand.
Please join me. If you don’t like PBS, here’s your chance. If you support public television, you have even more at stake.
Others to contact: Lehigh Valley Public Media’s board at https://www.wlvt.org/about/board-of-directors/ and any elected official in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton, Lehigh and Northampton counties, state representatives and senators, and our two U.S. senators, Bob Casey and John Fetterman.
As one of my colleagues used to say, “Right or wrong, do something!”
Lehigh Valley News Briefs 