With corporations cutting back on sponsorships of public television broadcasts, NewsHour With Jim Lehrer is facing a possible funding crisis, the New York Times reported today (Monday). The recent loss of Archer Daniels Midland as a corporate sponsor removed $4 million from the show's budget, which varies from $26-28 million per year, the newspaper observed. Moreover, it added, other PBS programs may face similar funding challenges as corporations cut back on all forms of advertising and no longer make endowments to public TV. Recently, the Times reported, NewsHour sought and received four international reporting grants. Executive producer Linda Winslow insisted that the grants had been "a great success story," allowing the program to extend its overseas reporting. However, she conceded, "I would not pooh-pooh the fear that it becomes something that steers you to something you wouldn't already do."
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