What It Takes for Public Service Broadcasters to Survive
March 2011
The U.S. broadcasting industry is facing head-on an “upheaval in media.” Cable and satellite television has spread throughout the nation, which has lowered the influence of traditional terrestrial TV stations, while content distribution using the Internet is exploding. In such circumstances, American public service broadcasters have come to a major turning point in several respects. With commercial broadcasters cutting jobs and costs, pressed by the protracted economic slump, the role of public broadcasters is being re-examined as nationwide service providers that are less affected by the economy, and non profit media such as Pulitzer Prize-wining ProPublica have started showing their ability and receiving a reputation as a new type of “public service media.” On the other hand, the Republican Party that had been protesting the allocation of government subsidies to public broadcasters marked a hefty victory in the midterm elections in November 2010, to gain the majority in the House, and conservatives are gaining strength, represented by the Tea Party movement, showing an increased pressure on public broadcasters’ news programs, whish are regarded as liberal, is increasing.
Against this background, the author interviewed two former Chairmen of the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, to explore what roles public broadcasters can and should play. Richard E. Wiley (Chairman, 1974 to 1977) is now a heavyweight lawyer in Washington. After his retirement from FCC, he has been actively serving as consultant and advisor for a number of media companies. Although he is a Republican who supports a small government and relaxation of regulations, he has been consistently recognizing the importance of public broadcasting, from a standpoint of securing “diversity” of broadcasting, but Mr. Wiley stresses public broadcasters also need to be strong and distinctive enough to survive in this difficult age. He sees mergers between local broadcasters necessary time to time. Reed Hundt (Chairman, 1993 to 1997), a Democrat, experienced the largest revision of the U.S. broadcasting and communication law in 62 years; the Telecommunication Act of 1996 was enacted during his tenure. Mr. Hundt argues that what is most expected for the public broadcasters of today is an effort to provide quality content on various platforms other than broadcasting. He forecasts online distribution of content will become the mainstream in the future. Both Mr. Wiley and Mr. Hundt point out what public broadcasters in the U.S. need for survival is to devote themselves to local journalism for local communities, taking advantage of their long-established networks and news-gathering and production skills.