Even whomever first uploaded it to Facebook noted that "NASA founded The Learning Channel" is untrue, but that seems to have gone over everyone's head. It's really not even important. The second half of this tweet is:
It was privatized. Now it shows Honey Boo Boo.
Looking at that statement, the obvious implication is that one can draw a straight, short line from privatization to stupid reality shows.
Only...You can't.
Government agencies ran TLC for eight years, from 1972 until 1980.
It was not until 1999 that TLC's "huge shift in programming" occurred. (Though, to be fair, a gradual shift began in the mid-1990s.)
If privatization had caused the channel's dumbing-down, it wouldn't have taken 19 years for this to happen. Moreover, if Americans actually gave a flying fuck about being informed and learning things, there would have been no impetus for it to happen.
I've got plenty of liberals on my Facebook feed...and they're watching at least as much shitty reality TV as the conservatives.
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