VICTIMS OF FUNDING SHORTAGE : THE UNCERTAINTY OF SURVIVAL ON PBS

The uncertain futures of two public-TV series, one new, one old, provide the latest evidence that news and public affairs programs exist precariously within public broadcasting.

“Any program on public television leads a precarious existence,” said Barry Chase, vice president for news and public affairs at the Public Broadcasting Service.

“But this is even truer of news and public affairs programs, because added to the financial pressures and shortages is the threat of offending some powerful interest that will in turn make such programs less attractive to major sources of funding, whether the federal government, corporations or even the public-TV stations.”

The two programs in question that by their natures pose “the threat of offending”: “Capitol Journal,” a new half-hour weekly series focusing on the Congress, scheduled to premiere on public television stations nationwide by late March; and “Inside Story,” an Emmy-winning weekly series examining the news media that was forced to suspend production at the end of its fourth season last July due to insufficient funds.

A common link between the two shows is Hodding Carter III, former anchor of “Inside Story” and the scheduled host/moderator of “Capitol Journal.”

Another common link is that both have encountered difficulty raising production funds.

The nation’s 300 public-television stations have pledged $1 million toward the $2.5-million annual budget of “Capitol Journal.” This is to be matched by an equal grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the federal funding agency for public broadcasting.

However, an additional $500,000 required for the series to proceed as scheduled has yet to be found from corporate underwriters, as was planned.

Neither have corporate underwriters been lined up to fund “Inside Story,” replacing General Electric Co., which was the sole source of the series’ $2.2-million budget for the last two seasons. This not only dims the possibility that the series can be revived this season, but also casts doubt about whether it can be revived in any future season.

Questions also have been raised recently about how long the public television stations will continue to support “The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour,” the nightly hourlong news program, to the tune of about $5 million a year, or one-fourth its annual budget. (CPB provides another fourth of the budget, with American Telephone & Telegraph Co. providing the remaining $10 million.)

“At some point, the dollars begin to run out,” Chase said by telephone this week from his Washington office, referring both to the stations and to CPB funds. “The federal dollars have been shrinking under the Reagan Administration (due to budget cuts in public broadcasting), and they have not been replaced by the corporate sector.”

“The squeeze is on,” said Ned Schnurman, the New York-based independent producer of “Inside Story.”

“Both PBS and CPB had less money, and the corporations, many of which talk loudly and carry a soft stick, can be more selective about what they fund,” he said. “It will take a courageous corporation to support a show like ours that takes on the media.”

The prospect of corporate funders for “Capitol Journal” seems greater to Ricki Green, vice president for news and public affairs at Washington’s WETA-TV, producing station of the projected series.

Green was formerly executive producer of “The Lawmakers,” another half-hour weekly Capitol Hill series, moderated by Paul Duke, that was canceled last year after five seasons due to insufficient support by stations and CPB. Green made clear that the new series has been carefully tailored to gain the approval of these sources of funding.

“There was a feeling that the old series was too inside-Washington and that it did not make a strong enough case that the average citizen should care what goes on on Capitol Hill.

“The new show,” Green explained, “will attempt to relate what goes on to the lives of ordinary people by bringing in other elements, such as the Administration, various constituencies and video reports from around the country.

“It was clear that a totally fresh approach was needed.

“These facts of life have been with us in public broadcasting for a long time,” said PBS’ Chase, referring to the problems encountered by news and public affairs programming. “But the current economic conditions and the current Administration have made them more aggravating.”