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Harrison statement to Senate on CPB appropriations, July 2005
Within days after beginning work as president of CPB, Patricia S. Harrison delivered this statement about pending appropriations in the Senate Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on Labor-HHS, July 11, 2005. See also remarks by CPB Chairman Ken Tomlinson during the same Senate hearing.Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to discuss with you the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s funding requests for FY2006 and FY2008. Although I became CPB’s President only one week ago, I have long understood and appreciated the vital role that public broadcasting plays in the lives of so many Americans.
I accepted the challenge of leading CPB because I believe that public broadcasting serves as a vital connector to community for so many Americans rural and urban. Many have referred to public television and radio as oases in a desert of commercialism. Certainly, public broadcasters offer television and radio worth watching and listening to. Public broadcasting is a unique source of education, information, and entertainment that fully deserves strong, continuing congressional support.
There is another reason I wanted to lead CPB. It is based on my almost four years serving as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs. In that capacity, I managed a bureau of hundreds of people, worked with 1500 public/private partnerships and 80,000 volunteers to conduct 30,000 cultural, professional and educational exchange programs annually, including the prestigious Fulbright and International Visitor programs.
These vital programs were also connectors between the American people and citizens from other countries. In the early 90’s, the budget was cut for exchanges and just when we needed to have this critical outreach after September 11, 2001, the resources were not there. I am very proud that I was able to increase our budget with the help of Congress. My goal was to reach out beyond the elites to younger, more diverse audiences, and to affirm and connect with what we have in common as opposed to our differences. One example — with the strong support of Senators Kennedy and Lugar, we were able to create the first high school program for boys and girls from the Arab Muslim world.
I see a similar challenge facing public broadcasting today. This is an important time to affirm what we have and to work to make it better, to reinvigorate public broadcasting and underscore its unique relevance in the multichannel world.
I have a proven track record of leadership, and I am ready, willing and eager to help lead this organization into a strengthened relationship with public broadcasting stations, national organizations, public and private funders, and the millions of Americans who turn to public broadcasting each week.
As I begin my tenure at CPB, I am particularly fortunate to be able to build on what the corporation’s staff and their colleagues throughout the public broadcasting community have already done. Mr. Chairman, today I will mention just a few of these initiatives — work that is possible, Mr. Chairman, because of the commitment made by Congress and so many others in the public interest, and work that I believe will help us leverage an even greater return on the public’s investment.
As the distinguished committee knows, public broadcasting is a collection of locally based stations that serve both local and national needs.
Public broadcasters offer coverage of national news — and of local
high school and college sports. They bring the world’s greatest artists
and performances into our living rooms, and they collaborate with local arts
and cultural institutions. Public broadcasting reaches children just learning
to read, and often these children are sitting in front of the television
with parents who are themselves learning to read in a new language.
Public broadcasting is not one size fits all. What you see and hear depends
upon where you live and what the communities needs are.
•
in Pennsylvania, you can explore your state’s history with Marking
Pennsylvania History on WHYY;
•
in Iowa, you can tune in to Living in Iowa, a monthly statewide magazine
show;
•
and in North Dakota, you can keep up on all the doings with Dakota
Datebook,
daily on North Dakota Public Radio.
All across the country, stations are bringing different services and programming, informed by community attitudes and concerns, to their audiences. They are able to do this so effectively because they are locally owned and operated. They know their communities, what their neighbors want in terms of programming, what their local organizations need in terms of support. In a word, they are connected. And that connection is one that distant commercial media simply can’t or won’t provide.
Mr. Chairman, with your permission, I’d like to turn now to our funding requests and the ways in which those federal dollars benefit citizens and communities across the country.
These requests were of course submitted before I came aboard last week, but I have had the opportunity to review them with staff and believe they merit strong support.
CPB is requesting $430 million in advance appropriations for fiscal year 2008, the vast majority of which will flow directly to local public television and radio stations for locally based, locally relevant operations.
Additionally, the corporation requests $45 million in FY 2006 for the ongoing conversion to digital technology. Mr. Chairman, this is so important. As the result of the investment made by Congress so far, hundreds of public television and radio stations are offering digital signals, and we have recently begun making grants to develop new digital services for local communities.
Digital is the future of broadcasting and the future is here. Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, public broadcasting must be enabled to participate fully in that future, and thanks to your ongoing support, it is well on the way.
Finally, CPB is requesting $40 million in FY2006 to fund replacement of the public television interconnection system. Given the scheduled expiration of public television’s satellite leases, we must not miss this opportunity to develop a system that is both more efficient and compatible with the new digital technologies.
Mr. Chairman, I recognize that we make these requests in a time of great pressure on the federal budget. The requested funds, however, represent an investment of only about $1.75 per American – and the return on investment is far greater in terms of value to older citizens, urban and rural residents, and minority audiences. If this were a stock, I would argue it is one of the best investments the American people have ever made.
Public broadcasting serves every one. There are no qualifications of age
and income; no requirements for matching funds; no copays. Instead, public
broadcasting is available to virtually every American, free of charge, in
every community across the country. And every week, more than 100 million
of our fellow citizens take advantage of the opportunity to tune in.
In fact, this July 4th I began my day in Washington, D.C. listening to
Morning Edition and the reading of the Declaration of Independence. My
day ended at the Capitol Fourth concert and fireworks on the Capitol steps.
Public television covered this event, which meant that my 90-year-old mother
and so many others like her throughout the country could share in the celebration
of America’s birthday without leaving home.
Of every dollar CPB receives from the federal government, 95 cents goes to local stations, either directly, or indirectly to support radio, television and on-line programming, research and technology.
The largest amount by far — 72 cents of every dollar — goes directly to local public television and public radio stations. As I said, these stations are uniquely connected to their communities. They determine their own program schedules, and often produce their own programming; they respond to community needs and leverage local support.
CPB also supports the creation of programming for radio, television, and new media. Probably every American is familiar with signature programs like Masterpiece Theater and Sesame Street, but today, we’re funding tomorrow’s classics. If you’ve heard any of the new StoryCorps or This I Believe segments on public radio or listened to Philadelphia’s own Terry Gross, you know what I mean. And we have similarly high hopes for our newly announced children’s programming initiative, which will continue public broadcasting’s leadership in high-quality, noncommercial, educational programming for children; for America at a Crossroads, which will explore the issues facing us in the wake of the 9/11 attacks; and for the American History and Civics Initiative, which will capitalize on today’s technology to reach and teach middle and high school students.
To carry out its mandate to serve the underserved, CPB provides support to five minority consortia — representing the unique points of views of Latinos, African-Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders. We also fund the Independent Television Service, through which the work of innovative, independent filmmakers is made available to the public television audience.
And we also work to ensure that the programs we support have a life long after the television and radio are turned off. Materials are available on website and for classroom use and often prove enduringly popular as the years go on. Radio material, too, is available for download or web-based listening. And programming is frequently supported with direct, person-to-person outreach, something distinguishes public broadcasting from our commercial counterparts. In other words, our impact resonates well beyond the broadcast.
Another six cents of every dollar go to projects that benefit the entire public broadcasting community. We negotiate and pay music royalties for all of public broadcasting, for example, allowing audiences nationwide to enjoy new and classic recordings, and we recently completed the most comprehensive audience research project in public television history, information that producers and broadcasters will use to guide programming decisions for years to come.
With special appropriations from Congress, CPB helps local public broadcasters provide the advanced public service digital technology makes possible. We are funding the upgrade of the public television interconnection system that delivers programming to stations. And we are funding station purchases of digital equipment that they will use to provide new and needed streams of news, music, and public service programming. From homeland security information to special streams of programming for kids, the public investment is creating a deeper, richer mix of services available to people across the country.
CPB’s administrative expenses are limited by law to five percent, but we normally hold them even lower. Less than a nickel of every federal dollar stays in Washington; the rest is spent to benefit stations across the country.
The federal appropriation accounts for only about 15 percent of the entire cost of public broadcasting, and stations and other organizations must work very hard to raise the money to fund their activities. In fact, CPB funded the Major Giving Initiative, which has helped stations sharpen their community-based fundraising skills and improve their balance sheets.
The federal dollars are critically to leveraging all the other resources.
It opens the door for funding from state and local governments, universities,
businesses, foundations, by providing a “seal of approval” from
the federal government.
The funding we receive from Congress ensures that public broadcasting continues
to offer programming and services — without commercial interruption
— that are superior across the board to those offered by commercial competitors.
As Ken Burns has said, “The programming on PBS, in all of its splendid
variety, offers the rarest treat amidst the outrageous cacophony of our television
marketplace — it gives us back our attention and our memory. And by
so doing insures that we have a future.”
Public broadcasting attracts the support of viewers and listeners nationwide — people from all walks of life, who add their dollars to the vital core of federal support, writing the checks to fund programs and services that are important to their lives, leisure, and careers.
The Public Broadcasting Act describes public television and radio stations as “valuable community resources” that can help address local concerns. The American public has already invested a great deal in creating, preserving and now modernizing these resources. With the requested funding, we will work to fulfill their hopes and expectations by continuing to deliver high quality, high value services.
Mr. Chairman, members of the subcommittee, on behalf of all my colleagues in public broadcasting, let me say how much we appreciate the vital support Congress continues to provide. And let me say personally that I understand how valuable public broadcasting is. Plain and simple, strong public broadcasting means a stronger democracy. I take that responsibility extremely seriously. Thank you, and I will be happy to try to answer any questions you may have.
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July 11, 2005
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