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Current (https://current.org/series/future-of-public-media/)

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The Future of Public Media

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Fifty years after President Lyndon Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act into law, the American media landscape has transformed in ways that visionaries, pioneers and advocates for nationally funded “public telecommunications services” scarcely imagined. Yet their ideals for a system that takes “creative risks and that addresses the needs of unserved and underserved audiences” endure. In a special series reflecting on this milestone anniversary, essayists with insight into today’s public broadcasting system share ideas for carrying the legacy into the future.

System/Policy

Even as podcasting grows, medium can stay true to public broadcasting’s roots

By Julie Shapiro, Executive Producer (Radiotopia) | November 9, 2017

“All of us cultivating the podcasting space can certainly do our part” to keep the Public Broadcasting Act’s goals “active and audible,” writes Radiotopia’s executive producer.

System/Policy

The pubmedia difference: addressing audiences as citizens

By Ray Suarez, John J. McCloy Visiting Professor of American Studies (Amherst College) | November 6, 2017

“Our very DNA — its code written in the words of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 — confirmed we were different.”

System/Policy

Pubmedia must open gates to makers who push boundaries

By Adriana Gallardo, Engagement Reporter (ProPublica) | November 2, 2017

“The work of introducing new ideas often feels like a test that will be judged by a trusted few.”

System/Policy

After historic efforts to weaken pubmedia, ‘just be amazed that anything gets done’

By Patricia Aufderheide, Senior Research Fellow (Center for Media & Social Impact) | October 30, 2017

The decentralized, financially dependent structure of public broadcasting is “a feature, not a bug.”

System/Policy

NYT CEO: Digital media alone won’t address public’s need for quality news

By Mark Thompson, CEO (New York Times Co.) | October 26, 2017

A former chief executive of the BBC argues that public-service broadcasting will only become more important as media continue to expand on digital platforms.

System/Policy

As pubmedia enters ‘populist’ phase, public trust is system’s greatest asset

By Ellen P. Goodman, Co-Director (Rutgers Institute for Information Policy & Law) | October 23, 2017

“The challenge for this period is fusing the strengths and public support of traditional public media with the energy and competencies of new entrants and civic institutions outside of media.”

System/Policy

Gary Knell: Pubmedia’s commitment to local audiences must transcend lip service

By Gary Knell, President (National Geographic Society) | October 19, 2017

As public media heads into its next 50 years, shifting strategies to focus on content “will require a hard turn and painful decisions that affect finances, people and structures.”

System/Policy

Laura Walker: Public media can be ‘a haven from divisive rhetoric’

By Laura R. Walker, Executive-in-Residence (Yale School of Management) | October 16, 2017

“Public media is especially crucial now, both to seek objective truth and to envision a sustainable model for the future of local journalism.”

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