Longtime pubcasting consultant Michael Marcotte is weighing in on the new Knight Foundation report on nonprofit journalism sustainability, which examines 18 news organizations nationwide, several of which partner with public broadcasters.
Marcotte notes that CPB “has not been open about sharing comparative data like Knight is doing here. Nor does it seem as concerted in its effort to grow public media through a national conversation about the future of news, as Knight is so good at doing.”
He adds: “I suggest public media leaders borrow a page from the Knight Foundation and initiate a concerted look at our long range plans for growth and sustainability, especially as it relates to the future of journalism in America. A systematic and open study would help.”
Knight’s 2009 report on information needs in a Democracy criticized pubcasters’ newsgathering capacity, as did a 2010 followup by veteran news executive Barbara Cochran, a news chief at NPR in the 1980s.