The Federal Communication Commission’s Future of Media project is holding its second workshop today on “Public and Other Noncommercial Media in the Digital Era.” An all-star cast of public and noncommercial media leaders have descended into the commission’s headquarters to tackle some challenging questions about new journalism business models, new technologies, the future of community media, the role of public media in serving underserved populations… just to name a few.
While public broadcasting didn’t get the budgetary axe from Washington this year, many stations are facing a new funding foe: state government.
It’s critical now, more than ever, for public access TV and public broadcasters to explore partnerships. Public access, or PEG, TV lacks the audience and public support enjoyed by public broadcasters. Public broadcasters need local support from residents and organizations that benefit from PEG access TV services. Most importantly, both PEG access TV and public broadcasters need to reconcile the fact that viewers and producers are moving online.
In order to bridge this public media divide, the reasons the divide exists in the first place need to be addressed. Here’s my hunch:
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has announced a major journalism initiative that will increase original local reporting in seven regions around the country. Media Minutes has the story this week.
The CPB is funding the creation of seven Local Journalism Centers that would combine the resources of participating public TV and radio stations to tackle important but under-reported regional news stories.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has a pretty simple proposal for how to counter the decline in local journalism that has hit communities across the country: invest in local reporting.
Last Thursday, the CPB announced that it’s investing $10.5 million to create seven “Local Journalism Centers” across the country – multimedia hubs that will cover local issues.
It took me years of searching, but I think I finally found the aggressive, audacious, uncompromising media our democracy needs.
While channel-surfing the other day, I came across a fresh-faced, young reporter for a cable network aggressively following an important person around an airport and refusing to let up with his questions. The unwilling interviewee grew angry, suddenly snapping and shouting at the reporter to leave him alone.
“Do you think you’re immune to questions?” the reporter shouted back repeatedly.
Lately, I have seen an increase in the popularity of sharing personal stories on the radio. Public radio programs like This American Life (distributed by Public Radio International and aired on many National Public Radio stations nationwide), have demonstrated to a general audience the one-to-one potential of radio.
Stand aside, cable news networks. For seven years and running, PBS has clocked in at number one in public trust – and this year is no exception. Considering that the purpose of public media is to meet the needs of the public and not the shareholders, this poll is a good sign that PBS is on the right track.
Across the country, community media projects have been sprouting out of a dying traditional media system that has often failed to deliver what the public really wants: local news and information. Now, more than ever before, citizens are taking the media back, using this time of media chaos to forge ahead with news projects that serve their interests—regardless of whether they graduated from J-school or not.
Bob McChesney and John Nichols have called for the government to help promote more quality, “accountability” journalism. So have former Washington Post editor Leonard Downie, Jr., and journalism historian Michael Schudson, in their recent Columbia Journalism School-sponsored report.