Valley PBS’ local shows are too ag focused. TV station’s leaders reject feedback | Opinion

For those who’ve been following the sad and troubling descent of the San Joaquin Valley’s only public television station, KVPT Channel 18, recent controversial developments will seem almost predictable.

Instead of listening and attempting to work with concerned members of the community to improve the station’s previously reported shortcomings, station management — and by extension the governing board — have decided to pursue a campaign of verbally attacking on social media, and other broadcast outlets those who offer suggestions for a more inclusive direction.

Channel 18, known as Valley Public Television, continues to provide all of the excellent national and international programming that is the hallmark of America’s public broadcasting system, such as the PBS News Hour, arts, entertainment and children’s programming.

But for the past few years, Channel 18’s locally produced programming has arguably taken on a strenuous bias in favor of agriculture and related business.

This bias appears in two forms with respect to the station’s locally produced programming. First is the abundance of programming directed at promoting agriculture. Second, within the programming produced are instances where the host,producer — and CEO of the station, Jeff Aiello — tees up opinions from his guests to justify agriculture’s use of water, while denigrating those who have opposing views regarding California’s water usage.

In recent public comments, Aiello has proudly boasted of his bias toward the agricultural industry. A stance completely acceptable, if he weren’t doing so in his capacity as CEO of a public television station.

There are a number of obvious reasons a CEO who operates a federally funded public trust would not allow themselves to be openly partisan with respect to politics, religion, business, the environment, social causes or any number of other topics that might come into play during presentations of local programming.

To most people aware of, or involved in the media and journalism, maintaining a distance from bias would be understood as a basic part of the job description for the CEO of a public television station.

And, at any other federally funded, public broadcasting outlet, Aiello’s recent unjustified, intemperate, and childish remarks aimed at news outlets and observers would likely result in immediate corrective actions taken by that public station’s board of directors. So far, Aiello remains unbowed, and appears to enjoy nearly full support of Channel 18’s board.

To round out readers’ understanding of what appears to have provoked Aiello’s anger, observers, myself included, have been asking him, the station’s community advisory board , and its board of directors to follow PBS’s and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s standards for fairness and ethics regarding locally produced programming.

We have also asked station management to create policies and procedures for widely determining the Valley’s needs, interests and desires for locally produced programming, and then producing such programs. That’s it.

What’s been the response from management and the board? For me personally, following my approval for an open seat on the advisory board in April by would-be colleagues, I was ultimately denied that volunteer position. This occurred following the inaccurate and unfair comments of a board member at the governing board’s May meeting where a motion to approve the nomination was allowed to die for lack of a second.

More recently, following publication of a news story regarding concerns for the station’s local programming that included notification that PBS’s public editor plans to examine complaints, Aiello attacked concerned observers verbally on a local radio station. He also took aim on social media at the publication that ran the news story. (Perhaps Aiello regrets that he allowed himself to so vociferously acknowledge his ill-advised, full-throated bias in favor of one sector of Valley life.)

Far from begrudging agriculture its opportunity to self-promote on Channel 18, I, and some observers simply want to see the station, management and board embrace the entire seven county area of service with responsive, local programming. We also believe the station’s locally produced programming must strive to strictly adhere to PBS and CPB guidelines for ethics, fairness and balance in its local productions.

When Aiello and the current board of directors took the helm, they essentially procured a large tent. The entire Valley wants to share that tent, but for now, it appears only a small, but powerful segment of the Valley is welcome.

Valley PBS is our public television station. It should not be a private club.

Gunnar Jensen of Fresno worked as a news and public affairs producer for commercial, public and community radio stations in the San Joaquín Valley from 1978-94.