New Public Media

The public broadcasting community converges in Austin this week for PBS’ annual meeting to talk a little shop, see sneak peeks of the newest programming and well…face a bit of the inevitable discussion: What is the future of public media?

In the midst of panels and the workshops, the president of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting honored David Fanning, executive producer of FRONTLINE, as this year’s recipient of the Ralph Lowell medal – the most prestigious award in public television. And as he thanked the public media community for the honor, he delivered an impassioned speech about the importance of journalism:

Journalism takes you places you could never otherwise get to. It encourages you to ask questions. It expects that you’ll come back and tell us what you found, and what those answers are, as truthfully and carefully as possible. And to keep asking questions…

It is a license that also requires a self-examination – a test of whether one is capable of being open, honest, and fair, and whether you have the strength to admit your mistakes when you get something wrong.

… at its best journalism is a challenge to our intellects -- to answer the important questions about the world we live in… More than the license to get behind closed doors, and learn the secrets, expose the charlatans, or follow the money, journalism is a mission to make the world a better place. It matters, profoundly, especially now when the world seems especially complicated, troubled, and dangerous.

Fanning seized the moment to highlight the importance of journalism,central to public media:

… I believe it should have so central a place in our work, in public media. It’s our mission too. We will always have our roots in children’s programming, the arts, science, history, and education, but if there was ever a time to help educate people at large, it’s now… And journalism – really good, tough-minded, smart journalism, could be the great organizing idea behind a reinvention of public television.

This is a time of turmoil and unease in our business; we fight among ourselves (while we keep a pretense of civility in public) but the truth is that we have to reinvent ourselves, for our survival.

It’s said that out of great difficulties come great opportunities, and there is one now, in the midst of the greatest disruption to journalism in its history… If public television stations can reach out to the smart, literate, dedicated people who are trying to start up online news organizations, virtual newsrooms, we will find people who share our mission.

If we give a home to a new generation of talented young people who are fluent in the language of new media and its digital tools, we will encourage innovation. I know – I was there once upon a time…

Of course, you’ll need to find a tough-minded editor in chief. Build an editorial firewall, and open up the studios to a noisy, undecorous debate… Look hard at city hall and the state house. Get into the public’s business… And be ready to take the heat.

I have no illusions how tough that is to do, how hard that will be to manage. But if we don’t take up the challenge to truly serve the public interest, we will lose our way, and become increasingly irrelevant…

Fanning’s words are well timed. The Federal Communications Commission just held a massive public inquiry into the future of media. And Free Press’ recent paper outlining a series of proposals to build a stronger national public media system in has been getting some attention from unlikely corners. Matthew Lasar reviewed the proposal in Ars Tecnica this week, a site that typically focuses on new media and technology. Lasar points out:

…the core question that the report raises seems pretty compelling. Where is the funding for journalism—the reporting of events and facts—going to come from? The Internet advertising model? Cable TV talk shows? Bloggers and anonymous commenters? Really?

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