Sen. Caryn Tyson, R-Parker, sits at her desk on the floor of the Kansas Senate in 2023. She was angered by footage in a documentary broadcast on PBS. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)
When Republican state Sen. Caryn Tyson denounced a public broadcasting program and called for eliminating all funding for Kansas PBS stations, one important detail was missing.
The name of the program.
“I was completely offended by it, and so I am absolutely going to strike their funding,” Tyson told the Senate commerce committee Wednesday. On Thursday, the panel decided against recommending that lawmakers slash the entire $500,000 public TV allotment, settling on a 10% slice — $50,000 — instead.
By nature, journalists are nosy people. After reading about and watching the hearing, I wanted to know what had gotten under Tyson’s skin. She didn’t identify the offending show during the hearing, or sentiment she found so appalling. The Parker resident didn’t respond to repeated inquiries from Kansas Reflector staff, either. That made me even more curious. The public deserves to know.