Standing up for public television

That's what we try to do, and although we certainly aren't perfect, we strive every day to fulfill that complicated and vital mission. And no commercial network is animated by a mandate of service like that of PBS. That's why so many of us, despite these slings and arrows, continue to work in public broadcasting.

Critics say PBS is unnecessary in this multichannel universe; that there's no need for government investment in television; that we must let the marketplace dictate our culture. They are certain that only the marketplace determines what is valuable or worth doing.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Many blessings have flowed to America from that marketplace, but I am certain that none of the films I have made in the last nearly 30 years could have been produced anywhere but at PBS. It is also important to note that the marketplace won't come to your house at 3 a.m. when it is on fire, nor is the marketplace flying over Afghanistan at this moment.

I don't mean to suggest that PBS has anything to do with the actual defense of our country, but it does help make our country worth defending.