Television, Public Educational

Proposed by, lobbied for, and signed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1967, the Public Television Act, which created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, was the impetus for public educational television as it exists in the United States today. The issue of funding was not resolved in this act, an issue that continues to be problematic. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), although created by federal law, is a private, nonprofit corporation. The CPB receives money from Congress to fund the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which was created in 1968, as well as National Public Radio and Public Radio International. Its funding has frequently been controversial in Congress, with opposition, primarily among conservatives, centering on the cultural and educational programs which the CPB supports.

PBS airs most ...