A Public Trust Unrealized: The Unresolved Constraints on US Public Media

Abstract

The term “a public trust” has long had strong resonance in the characterization of public-service broadcasting. The authors argue that public broadcasting in the USA can and should become a place to which all Americans can turn to meet their critical information needs. However, for it to become a true “public trust,” major federal policy and structural changes must be made. The chapter highlights a series of external constraints in federal communications policy, along with parallel internal issues in the structure and processes of public broadcasting itself. In the end, the chapter will suggest a few changes that might help public media better capitalize on the public’s trust—to help it earn a better base of material support and thereby to find an even larger and more stable place for itself in serving the information needs of the nation.

Note: This chapter is drawn largely from the author’s Ralph L. Crosman Lecture, “A Public Trust in Jeopardy: An Insider’s Look at The Unresolved Constraints on U.S. Public Media,” at the University of Colorado Boulder, April 23, 2013. The author wishes to acknowledge Mark Lloyd’s considerable assistance in editing this abridged version.