PBS Donor-List Flap: a Red Herring

To the Editor:

Regarding the recent flap in Congress over donor lists (“Swapping of PBS Mailing Lists Raises Issue of Donor Privacy,” July 29): What is the problem?

The privacy issue can easily be dealt with by letting donors have an “opt out” option. Beyond that, anybody who thinks that public-broadcasting fund raising should be hamstrung by limiting its list acquisitions should support it through increased appropriations, making fund raising unnecessary.

This is a red herring by those who oppose public broadcasting and its public funding. Their opposition to list sharing with political groups is especially ironic, given their stranglehold on appropriations for the Public Broadcasting Service. If that isn’t political, I don’t know what is. Next the opponents will want to prevent the stations from “lobbying” Congress for revenue.

Nora Porter
Port Townsend, Wash.