Ken Burns says public media funds are key for his work

[April 08, 2011]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Ken Burns has a slew of documentary projects planned for the next six years, and he says they depend on funds from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Funding for the humanities and for public broadcasting has been targeted for deep cuts in Congress.

Burns says more than a third of his budgets come from those sources. A $1.3 million grant helped him make "The Civil War" series, and that money was quickly repaid through sales of his work.

He planned to tell Congress that cuts would devastate film producers. But a hearing Wednesday was canceled amid stalled budget talks.

Burns says Americans should know funding for public media is an "infinitesimal percentage" of the federal budget. He says such cuts won't reduce the nation's deficit.

[Associated Press; BRETT ZONGKER]

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