Ensure KOCE stays public The Coast Community...

Ensure KOCE stays public

The Coast Community College District must explore all

possibilities that will preserve Orange County’s only public

television station, KOCE, as a public broadcast entity.

KOCE has always presented impartial and informative programming

directed to all the residents of Orange County. Orange County does

not need, much less want, any takeover of KOCE by the Christian

television network from Texas -- Daystar -- that will probably

feature primarily Christian programming. There are, most likely,

other religious subjects and topics that most people here would

prefer to watch and hear.

Our country has recently experienced the Bush administration’s

questioning of Corporation for Public Broadcasting (PBS. Congress

attempted to limit PBS funding, which has now been partially

restored, at least for the present. The attempt to purchase KOCE by

Daystar seems to be another effort to limit what we, the public, can

view.

I urge everyone to support KOCE and ask the Coast Community

College board of trustees to retain KOCE as a public broadcasting

station -- owned by the college or the station’s fundraising

foundation.

B. LILLEGRAVEN

Newport Beach

How about lawsuit to save KOCE?

I keep reading this regarding the sale of KOCE: “According to

state law, school districts may sell property for cash to the highest

bidder.” Where does it say must?

Daystar bid $25 million in cash versus the foundation’s bid of $32

million. Only after the deadline did Daystar increase its offer to

$40 million. Since when is this is “the rankest sort of favoritism,”

to accept a higher bid made within the stated time frame, as the

appellate court suggested?

The majority of the public watching KOCE does not want the format

changed from that of a public broadcaster. The Federal Communications

Commission has transferred the broadcast license to the KOCE-TV

Foundation, which has not only been running the company for more than

a year, but it has honored the general public’s request to “preserve

the station’s PBS format.” The Orange County Superior Court has

upheld the sale as legal.

Daystar doesn’t get its way, so it threatens to sue everyone

involved, knowing that the more money it causes the school district

and foundation to have to spend defending the lawful acquisition of

the station, the better Daystar thinks its chances of winning by

financial bullying will be.

Thanks to attacks on public broadcasting all over this country

from those within the federal government and the religious right,

many media outlets have caved into the pressure and doubled their

efforts to avoid a liberal tint.

Let’s not let KOCE-TV be stolen by a bunch of bullies with money

to throw around.

Maybe we should sue them if we don’t get our way. Listen up

Daystar! We do not want anymore of your company in our lives than we

already have.

ROSEANNE EICHENBAUM

Costa Mesa