“This Report of the Carnegie Commission on Educational Television is addressed to the American people.”

That is how the members of the Carnegie Commission on Educational Television began their landmark 1967 report, Public Television: A Program for Action. The report concluded that the American people urgently needed—indeed, deserved—a high-quality educational television system free of commercial economic constraints that would serve audiences “ranging from the tens of thousands to the occasional tens of millions.” The report’s recommendations were adopted into the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. A subsequent Carnegie Commission report, A Public Trust, published in 1979, addressed the progress and problems that had emerged in the intervening years and set out a series of recommendations to strengthen public broadcasting and advance its mission into the future.

In endorsing the creation of the Carnegie Commission on Educational Television, then-president Lyndon B. Johnson articulated the connection between the vigor of our democracy and the need for the American public to be informed about the issues affecting both the United States and our global neighbors. He said, “From our beginnings as a nation, we have recognized that our security depends upon the enlightenment of our people; that our freedom depends on the communication of many ideas through many channels. [Hence,] I believe that educational television has an important future in the United States and throughout the world.”

Now, more than forty years later, public broadcasting finds itself at a crossroads. In an era marked by a seemingly limitless explosion of information and an equally dizzying and sophisticated array of digital and other technologies, along with interactive media platforms for delivering that information twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week (whether we want it or not), it seemed an appropriate time to once again focus on the role of public media in our national life. And since the Corporation was involved in the creation of public broadcasting, we felt it was important for us to continue to contribute to its vitality by bringing together PBS leaders with policymakers, educators, journalists, philanthropists and others to consider the many questions to be asked and answered about how public broadcasting will continue to both evolve and thrive in the years ahead.

There is no visible horizon on the media landscape; new developments are constantly appearing and the competition for the attention and the support of both the American and international audience is fierce. And yet, despite these challenges, the fundamental mission of public broadcasting remains unquestionably relevant: how can the power of media be used most effectively to enrich and enhance the public good? The conversation that began in November 2007 at the Carnegie Corporation meeting on Public Broadcasting: The Digital Challenge is only a beginning. Many innovative ideas were presented and certainly, there will be many more to come. We look forward to a continuing dialogue among those who value public broadcasting and are dedicated to its future.

Vartan Gregorian
President, Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Cover Photo: Shawn Thew/epa/Corbis

Interior Photos: Everod Nelson, Wetzler Studios Photography, Getty Images