Ex-KCET member

The Calendar article on KCET’s financial problems (Aug. 17) mentions a drop in membership of 40,000 between 2001 and 2002. I am one person who is no longer a member. The reason? When I see the “NewsHour” being sponsored by agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), I know that I’m not going to hear an in-depth analysis of the potential dangers of genetically modified food or monoculture. The television spots inform us that ADM has the solution to world hunger and is “the nature of things to come.”

In the past, viewers learned to trust PBS to present accurate and complete news coverage of controversial issues, but that trust has been broken. Now, according to the article, what’s important is to place contributors in the proper “behavior group” for fund-raising purposes.

That’s why my money now goes to Pacifica radio, KPFK-FM (90.7).

Gale Lawrence

Laguna Woods