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Pai, who chaired the FCC from 2017 to 2021, during the Donald Trump administration and was often derided online mostly for undoing the net neutrality rules, is now a partner at Searchlight Capital Partners, a global investment firm.

”America’s Public Television Stations are honored and delighted to welcome Ajit Pai to the APTS board,” said APTS president and CEO Patrick Butler.

Fox in the henhouse, again.

  • thesmokingman@programming.dev
    451·
    1 year ago

    I can’t actually figure out what APTS does. I think it’s only a lobbying nonprofit. It’s not mentioned on the public television Wikipedia article and I’m struggling to find a good Google query that turns up something it’s done. Putting all of that together, it’s just a continuation of his regulatory capture.

    Edit: I should have looked at the 501©3 stuff first. This org collects money from public stations and spends it on its staff. It lobbies but doesn’t present much in the way of returns.

    https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521170071/202223429349300807/full

    • money_loo@1337lemmy.com
      202·
      1 year ago

      They help fund some public stations around the country, and lobby to support them, allegedly.

      America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) is a nonprofit membership organization ensuring a strong and financially sound public television system and helping member stations provide essential public services in education, public safety and civic leadership to the American people.

      Its affiliate APTS Action, Inc. promotes the legislative and regulatory interests of noncommercial television stations at the national level through direct advocacy and through grasstops and grassroots campaigns designed to garner bipartisan political support. The public television system is comprised of 158 licensees operating 356 public television stations across America and serving more than 97 percent of the American people. About half of these licensees are nonprofit community foundations. The rest are State, university and local school district licensees. All are locally owned, locally operated and locally oriented in their programming and community services, and all share a mission of serving everyone, everywhere, every day for free – including in places where no model for commercial success exists.

      APTS is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in all forms to reflect the society that public television serves.

      Additionally, APTS is committed to ensuring digital accessibility for people with disabilities. We are continually working to improve the user experience for everyone, and applying the relevant accessibility standards.

      • thesmokingman@programming.dev
        101·
        1 year ago

        I don’t trust their website given Pai’s involvement. Did you find an external source that talked about their funding of stations? The about you quoted (that I read several times to try to parse) really just highlights they funnel money to lobbyists.

          • thesmokingman@programming.dev
            61·
            1 year ago

            All that does is show public stations, not stations they fund. I can find no record that shows they’re in any way involved in the public stations in my state.

            • money_loo@1337lemmy.com
              41·
              1 year ago

              You seem to be confusing the two organizations which is understandable as it is kind of confusing subject.

              One of them supports local stations, and then the other supports them politically that’s why it says it’s affiliate.

              So while one half of the group lobbies in their interest to “support local stations” (again, allegedly, I don’t fucking work for them and have no idea what they actually do) the other half supports the stations that are a part of their membership.

              Those member stations that they support are indeed the ones listed on that website. What “support” truly means in their context, I have no clue my dude.

              *the starting comment for this tree found their tax stuff and after looking it over myself, I agree with their assessment that they mostly funnel money to staff, earning their 15 full time employees about 163k dollars a year each, if it’s divided equally. They claim to provide money to their member stations based on certain conditions being met, but it’s a pittance of their total income. Seems like Ajit will feel right at home!

              • thesmokingman@programming.dev
                4·
                1 year ago

                I am the starting comment in this tree. We don’t have data on the lobbying arm because it’s not a nonprofit. “Supporting their members” is what I want to understand and, unless you’ve found a source I haven’t, I can find no concrete impact of the nonprofit on public television in the United States other than members of the station boards get money in salary from the dues their stations pay. With all due respect, I’m interested in sources that explain what they do, not speculation pulled from marketing copy on their own website, which is where I started.

                • money_loo@1337lemmy.com
                  4·
                  1 year ago

                  Yeah dude I’m interested in that, too.

                  But I’m not sure what you want from me I’m not one of their board members I’m just finding shit on the internet and parsing it, same as you.

    • Socsa@sh.itjust.works
      2·
      1 year ago

      Ok, now I’m actually convinced that this is good, because it means this power hungry shitstain isn’t able to curate any real influence beyond a token lobbying job at a second rate firm.