PUBLIC BROADCASTING'S ORIGINAL MISSION

Carnegie Commission on Educational Television, 1967
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.)

Following are excerpts from the Carnegie Commission's
Summary of Recommendations.

"The programs we conceive to be the essence of Public Television are in general not economic for commercial sponsorship, are not designed for the classroom, and are directed at audiences ranging from the tens of thousands to the occasional tens of millions."

President Johnson signs the Public Broadcasting Act.
November 7, 1967

"Although it provides for immediate assistance to existing stations, this is a proposal not for small adjustments or patchwork changes, but for a comprehensive system that will ultimately bring Public Television to all the people of the United States: a system that in its totality will become a new and fundamental institution in American culture."

"We recommend that Congress provide the federal funds required by the Corporation through a manufacturer’s excise tax on television sets (beginning at 2 percent and rising to a ceiling of 5 percent). The revenues should be made available to the Corporation through a trust fund. In this manner a stable source of financial support would be assured. We would free the Corporation to the highest degree from the annual governmental budgeting and appropriations procedures: the goal we seek is an instrument for the free communication of ideas in a free society."

"An effective national educational television system must consist in its very essence of vigorous and independent local stations, adequate in number and well equipped. They should reach all parts of the country. They should be individually responsive to the needs of the local communities and collectively strong enough to meet the needs of a national audience. Each must be a product of local initiative and local support."

President Johnson signing Corporation for Public Broadcasting's (CPB) first reauthorization bill.

"Many good stations exist; they must be made better. Weak stations must be provided with the kind of support which will cure and not perpetuate their weakness. All educational television stations require greatly increased resources."

"The greatest practical diversity of program production sources is essential to the health of the system. Stations exist which now produce programs of interest outside their own areas, but which are in need of further financial assistance. Other stations should be encouraged to develop comparable talent and capacity."

"Public Television should be free to experiment and should sponsor research centers where persons of high talent can engage in experimentation."