Public Television Journalism

Public television news is an alternative to commercial news programming that positions the audience [Page 1155]as information-seeking citizens rather than consumers. The public television model seeks to provide news that is important to a self-governing public regardless of its commercial viability in the electronic media marketplace. American public television news emerged in the mid-twentieth century in response to at least three concerns raised by critics of commercial television news: (1) that concentration of commercial media ownership into fewer hands invited homogenization of news and narrowing of opinions; (2) that commercial imperatives required news to have an entertainment value that prioritized sensationalism over serious reporting; and (3) that privately owned media relegated viewers to the role of passive receivers of news.

Ostensibly free from corporate control, advertising pressures, and the quest for ratings, public television news is generally marked by longer formats, more in-depth coverage of issues, slower pacing, and less focus on visual content compared to commercial news. American public television news typically eschews weather, sports, and entertainment news except in the context of reports with wider social, political, economic, or science implications. The absence of commercial interruptions is a hallmark of public television programs, though programs are often preceded and followed by underwriting credits that use brand names, logos, and information about the sponsoring company and its product. Also, during regularly scheduled national “pledge” drives, news programs are interrupted to ask viewers to make contributions to support public television news.

From their start, public media were envisioned as a vehicle for balanced, inclusive coverage and discussion of the day's events. John Macy, the first president of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), believed that public perceptions of declining network news standards in the 1960s created a vacuum that public television news could fill. In 1970, he set three goals for public television news: to provide an alternative to “sensationalist” and “distorted” commercial news; to provide a model of rational discourse in which “reasonable men could work to solve public issues;” and to allow citizens to use television as a platform for expressing their own opinions (Macy 1970, 286–88). Despite such ambitious aims, however, the failure in the United States to secure reliable long-term funding for public television has left its news programs and documentaries vulnerable to financial and political pressures that have led to increasing commercialization and charges of bias from both left and right wing critics. Furthermore, the availability of news from cable networks, satellite, and online sources has steadily eroded the audience for public television news.