"Imagining a New Florida" on WPBT Channel 2, tonite ... by gimleteye

I'm curious about tonite's hour-long local PBS documentary on Florida and its signature state bird: the gated subdivision. OK, sprawl is not a bird, but low density, scattered subdivisions define Florida. The excesses of sprawl substantially contributed to the greatest economic decline in Florida since the Great Depression. I strongly doubt tonite's documentary will even touch its political and financial underpinnings. This blog is one of the only places that point of view crosses the great divide established between passive consumers and advertiser sponsored media. Public broadcasting in general and Channel 2 in particular has done an extraordinarily lousy job of putting powerful special interests under the microscope for viewers. I know, because I pay attention to coverage of politics and the Growth Machine. I've been interviewed on Channel 2 news programs-- representing the environmental point of view-- and I can feel the temperature rise in the studio when my point of view pushes too hard. Hardball on sprawl and the environment? Hardly. It is part of the "fair and balanced journalism" that is rarely ever fair and balanced when it comes to issues of growth, economic prerogatives, and the environment. But I'll suspend judgment on tonite's broadcast. I keep hoping for better from local PBS. Maybe tonite is the night.Click this link for the Herald story.