8/3/2017 Stanley McChrystal: Save PBS. It Makes Us Safer.

- The New York Times

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The Opinion Pages | OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

Stanley McChrystal: Save PBS. It Makes

Us Safer.
By STANLEY McCHRYSTAL APRIL 5, 2017
I like to say that leadership is a choice. As our leaders in Washington confront tough
decisions about our budget priorities, I urge them to continue federal funding for
public broadcasting. Public broadcasting makes our nation smarter, stronger and,
yes, safer. It’s a small public investment that pays huge dividends for Americans.
And it shouldn’t be pitted against spending more on improving our military. That’s a
false choice.

This might seem like an unlikely position for me, a 34-year combat veteran. But
it’s a view that has been shaped by my career leading brave men and women who
thrive and win when they are both strong and smart. My experience has taught me
that education, trusted institutions and civil discourse are the lifeblood of a great
nation.

Public broadcasting plays a special role with young children. According to the
Pew Research Center, rising numbers of American children live with one parent or
with two parents who both work.

My son and daughter-in-law are a two-income family with two children, and day
care is a part of their lives. Many other parents must get by without day care
services. These parents are busy in the morning and busy at night. They want to
protect their children from over-commercialized content. And they strive to prepare
their children for school and lifelong learning. Having thoughtful television, games
and other media that is not commercially driven is essential to good parenting.

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According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, more than half of all kids in our
country do not have the opportunity to attend a preschool program. I’ve also seen
research that PBS local stations reach more children ages 2 to 5 than any other
children’s network, and the new dedicated PBS Kids channel is the only free national
programming for children that is available anywhere and anytime.

Public television works hard to engage young learners and build the skills
needed for a jump-start on life. We need our youngest to be curious, resilient and
empathetic, and prepared for the jobs of the future.

Public, noncommercial broadcasting is also giving kids social-emotional skills

like persistence and self-control that are fundamental to success in school, not to
mention in the military, the institution where I spent most of my career.

In our society, I see public media as a lever. It pushes people by elevating them
and their sights. It brings them into more thinking and understanding, and it brings
us together. The federal appropriation for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting —
about $445 million annually — supports more than a thousand television and radio
stations at a cost of about $1.35 per citizen. President Trump has proposed
scrapping the corporation.

Trust among Americans and for many of our institutions is at its lowest levels in
generations, and stereotyping and prejudice have become substitutes for knowing
and understanding one another as individuals.

How Americans restore trust may be an existential question for our country,
then, but it’s ultimately a practical one, and our elected officials should advance
ideas not with lamentations but with practical measures.

I’ve seen articles that say PBS and its member stations are ranked first in public
trust among nationally known institutions. Why then would we degrade or destroy
an institution that binds us together?

We need public media that acts as our largest classroom. We need broadcasting
that treats us as citizens, not simply as consumers. We need a strong civil society
where the connection between different people and groups is firm and vibrant, not

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8/3/2017 Stanley McChrystal: Save PBS. It Makes Us Safer. - The New York Times

brittle and divided. We need to defend against weaknesses within and enemies
without, using the tools of civil society and hard power. We don’t have to pick one
over the other.

Stanley McChrystal, a retired Army general, is the founder of the McChrystal Group, a
consulting firm.

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A version of this op-ed appears in print on April 5, 2017, on Page A23 of the New York edition with the
headline: Save PBS. It Makes Us Safer.

© 2017 The New York Times Company

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