Statement of Dean Burch, chair of the Federal Communications Commission, before the Subcommittee on Communications of the Senate Committee on Commerce on S.3558, April 1, 1970. A prominent progressive FCC member, Nicholas Johnson, also endorsed the bill. Mr. Chairman, I welcome this opportunity to give you the Commission’s views on S.3558, the “Public Broadcasting Financing Act of 1970”. This bill is designed to carry out the President’s recommendation, as set forth in his Message on Education Reform, to extend Federal support of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. S.3558 would authorize annual appropriations for the Corporation through fiscal year 1973. Such sums as may be necessary would be authorized for each of the three fiscal years of 1971 through 1973.

NPR’s original bylaws were put into effect when it was incorporated on Feb. 26, 1970. ARTICLE I. Name The Corporation shall be known as NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO, INC. ARTICLE II. Offices 2.1 Registered Office. The Corporation shall maintain a registered office in The City of Washington, District of Columbia. 2.2 Other Offices. The Corporation may also have offices at such other places, either within or without the District of Columbia, as the business of the Corporation may require. ARTICLE III. Members 3.1 Membership. The Members of the Corporation shall be noncommercial educational radio broadcast stations as defined in the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, which shall have met the Membership Qualifications established for national public radio stations by the Board of Directors.

These articles were attached to National Public Radio’s certificate of incorporation filed with the District of Columbia Recorder of Deeds, Feb. 26, 1970. ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO, INC. We, the undersigned, natural persons of the age of twenty-one (21) years or more, and citizens of the United States, desiring to form a nonprofit corporation pursuant to the District of Columbia Non-Profit Corporations Act (23 D.C. Code Chapter 10), adopt the following Articles of Incorporation for such Corporation: ARTICLE I. The name of the Corporation is: NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO, INC. ARTICLE II. The period of duration of the Corporation is perpetual.

On Nov. 11, 1969, eight days after a quartet of public broadcasters signed PBS’s Articles of Incorporation, they adopted these initial bylaws. See also the network’s amended bylaws as of 2000. The initial By-Laws of the Public Broadcasting Service have been preliminarily adopted by the Incorporators to permit Public Broadcasting Service to begin to function under the laws of the District of Columbia. They are subject to ratification or modification by the Public Broadcasting Service Board of Directors upon its election. Article I Name The Corporation shall be known as the PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE. Article II Offices 2.1Registered Office.

On Nov. 3, 1969, four public broadcasters, including the presidents of CPB and National Educational Television (NET), incorporated a new nonprofit organization to interconnect the public television stations, taking on those functions of NET. See also the PBS bylaws, adopted eight days later. We, the undersigned, natural persons of the age of twenty-one (21) years or more, and citizens of the United States, desiring to form a nonprofit corporation pursuant to the District of Columbia Non-Profit Corporations Act (28 D.C. Code Chapter 10), adopt the following Articles of Incorporation for such Corporation: ARTICLE I. The name of the Corporation is: PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE.

Probably the most famous congressional testimony delivered on behalf of CPB appropriations came from Fred Rogers on May 2, 1969. The young writer/producer/host of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood made common cause with Sen. John Pastore (D-R.I.), who chaired the Senate Commerce Committee’s communications subcommittee. Public broadcasting was seeking an appropriation of $20 million, and the Nixon White House was proposing half as much. Margaret Mary Kimmel and Mark Collins narrate the scene in their book, The Wonder of It All: Fred Rogers and the Story of an Icon (PDF, scroll to page 20). “It’s a strange moment in the hallowed halls of the Senate,” Kimmel and Collins write — “a grown man reciting a child’s song to other grown men, but by now they feel as if they, too, are complicit in Rogers’ mission.”

This study — partially funded by CPB and the Ford Foundation during CPB’s first year and released in April 1969 — recommended creation of a public radio network and a national production center (a year before the founding of NPR), restructuring of the noncommercial FM band, and formation of a radio division at CPB to look out for public radio’s interests. The study was headed by Samuel C.O. Holt, who later served as programming chief at NPR. Holt’s recommendations are here. Summary The Public Radio Study was funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and The Ford Foundation at an important time for the medium.

Summary and Recommendations This study — partially funded by CPB during its first year and released in April 1969 — recommended creation of a public radio network and a national production center (a year before the founding of NPR), restructuring of the noncommercial FM band, and formation of a radio division at CPB to look out for public radio’s interests. The study was headed by Samuel C.O. Holt, who later served as programming chief at NPR. Jump to Recommendations The Public Radio Study was funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and The Ford Foundation at an important time for the medium.

What kind of organization should interconnect the public TV stations? On Sept. 23, 1968, a little more than a year before the formation of PBS, two officials of the newly created Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Ward B. Chamberlin and Robert D.B. Carlisle, drafted this proposal for a new nonprofit network. INTRODUCTORY The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, and the intensive discussions that preceded its enactment, have given high priority to the establishment of a nationwide interconnected television network to serve public TV daily. To give this system dedicated and professional management in keeping with its significant objectives, formation of an independent organization will be necessary.

Enacted less than 10 months after the report of the Carnegie Commission on Educational Broadcasting, this law initiates federal aid to the operation (as opposed to funding capital facilities) of public broadcasting. Provisions include: extending authorization of the earlier Educational Television Facilities Act, forbidding educational broadcasting stations to editorialize or support or oppose political candidates, establishing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and defining its board and purposes authorizing reduced telecommunications rates for interconnection authorizing appropriations to CPB, and authorizing a federal study of instructional television and radio. Public Law 90-129, 90th Congress, November 7, 1967 (as amended to April 26, 1968) Title I—Construction of Facilities Extension of duration of construction grants for educational broadcasting Sec.

With support building for federal aid to public TV, the advocates of public radio found they had to act quickly to make their case. National Educational Radio, a division of the National Association of Educational Broadcasters, hired Herman W. Land Associates to study the field and its potential. The resulting book, The Hidden Medium: A Status Report on Educational Radio in the United States, was published in April 1967. Overview and Summary The oldest of the electronic media, going back in service to experimental beginnings as station 9xm in the year 1919, educational radio, almost a half century later, remains virtually unknown as a communications force in its own right.

A month after the release of the first Carnegie Commission report, LBJ announced legislation to help pay for operations of public TV for the first time. These remarks appear in his health/education proposals to Congress, between the sections on adult illiteracy and computers in the classroom, leading off a section titled “Building for Tomorrow.” Before the end of the year, Congress had expanded the bill to include public radio and Johnson was signing the Public Broadcasting Act into law. BUILDING FOR TOMORROW Public television In 1951, the Federal Communications Commission set aside the first 242 television channels for noncommercial broadcasting, declaring: The public interest will be clearly served if these stations contribute significantly to the educational process of the Nation.

A 15-member commission created in 1965 by a major foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, released its report, Public Television: A Program for Action, on Jan. 26, 1967, popularizing the phrase “public television” and assisting the legislative campaign for federal aid to the field. (Public radio was added later by Congress.) See also Summary of the report’s recommendations. The commission chair, James R. Killian Jr. (1904-88) had already played a prominent public role as the first White House science advisor, 1955-57, advocating emphasis on science education, the creation of NASA and greater funding for the National Science Foundation as the Eisenhower administration responded to Washington’s post-Sputnik panic.

A 15-member commission created in 1965 by the Carnegie Corporation of New York released its report, “Public Television: A Program for Action,” on Jan. 26, 1967, popularizing the phrase “public television” and assisting the legislative campaign for federal aid to the field. (Public radio was added later by Congress.) See also the list of commission members and the Preface and Introductory Note of the report. The report’s summary of recommendations: A Proposal to Extend and Strengthen Educational Television: A Summary of the Commission’s Report The Carnegie Commission on Educational Television has reached the conclusion that a well-financed and well-directed educational television system, substantially larger and far more pervasive and effective than that which now exists in the United States, must be brought into being if the full needs of the American public are to be served.

A 15-member commission created in 1965 by a major foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, released its report, Public Television: A Program for Action, on Jan. 26, 1967, popularizing the phrase "public television" and assisting the legislative campaign for federal aid to the field.