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New report: Reception waning, future out of focus for the Nation’s public television system  

CHICAGO —The threat of reduced federal funding looms. Conventional wisdom says public television has lost sight of its mission and mandate. Competing political interests, economic challenges and a static, aging pool of viewers have pushed the public broadcasting industry to a crossroads.

The Future of Public Television , published this week by the Cultural Policy Center at The University of Chicago, details analyses and perspectives from national public broadcasting and communications professionals who convened at a two-day conference in Chicago to examine the industry's challenges and prospective reform.

Moderated by veteran WTTW-Chicago journalist John Callaway, the panel discussions summarized in The Future of Public Television feature insights from former and current chief executives with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Public Broadcasting System, Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting, National Public Radio and the Association of Public Television Stations, as well as officials with local public broadcasting affiliates in Chicago, Washington DC, St. Paul, Philadelphia , and Daytona Beach . Additional insights are offered by Newton Minow, former Federal Communications Commission chairman; Ken Auletta, author and media critic for the The New Yorker; independent communications experts and media consultants; and researchers from The University of Chicago, Columbia University , University of Arizona and University of Pennsylvania .

Cultural policy experts at The University of Chicago call the conference an important springboard for developing policy recommendations that will be crucial to legislators and public broadcasting stakeholders determining a viable future for public television.

“Public television is at a complicated and precarious moment in its history,” said D. Carroll Joynes , Ph.D, executive director of the Cultural Policy Center . “The discussions that took place in Chicago among the industry’s leaders and stakeholders must continue if answers are to be found to the myriad internal and external problems that beset this important institution. We hope to work toward providing objective research and further analyses that will inform this national debate and ultimately develop recommendations for sound policy that can be put to work in guiding public television’s future.”

An online version of The Future of Public Television is available at http://culturalpolicy.uchicago.edu/pdfs/pbsbook.pdf . To share insights, request additional copies or receive information on future conferences and workshops, contact the Cultural Policy Center at The University of Chicago at 773/702-4407.

The Cultural Policy Center fosters research to inform public dialogue about the practical workings of culture in our lives. As an incubator for measuring, assessing, evaluating and developing new ways of approaching policy on culture and the arts, the Center helps policymakers and arts professionals better understand how to foster cultural creativity, stabilize cultural organizations and institutions, increase public participation in cultural activities, and preserve cultural heritage.

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