Why public media must rethink assumptions shaped by CPB funding
This commentary was first published on the author’s LinkedIn page and is republished here with permission.
Public media has existed in two distinct eras, and we’re entering the third. The first was prior to the creation of CPB in 1967, when public media was a scrappy ecosystem of noncommercial radio and television stations without much of an audience or national profile. The second era was marked by the nationalization of the service after the passage of the Public Broadcasting Act and the founding of PBS and NPR.
Public media existed before federal funding, and it will continue to exist in this third, evolving era. But it will be different. Losing federal funding is a huge immediate challenge but may not be the biggest one.
Related Knowledge Center: State of the business model
The traditional journalism business model has long since collapsed, and news organizations have shrunk or disappeared entirely. While a number of promising experiments are under way, the public has not shown a willingness to buy what news organizations are selling.