Public Broadcasting Trust Fund Expected to Start as Pilot

House leaders are expected to devise language on the trust fund after the Easter recess, Murphy said: “I imagine that this program will start off on a smaller footprint than we would like. But that’s the way things begin.” The trust has support in both parties and both houses of Congress, she said: “We have been working with leadership and committee chairs on a continual basis, and they are now in the final process of shaping what they are going to do.”

Public broadcasters at first proposed a trust fund based on public TV stations’ early return of analog spectrum, a push they abandoned when Congress set a hard date. They're now part of Digital Promise, which seeks 20% of proceeds from the spectrum sale, of which public broadcasting would get 20%, Murphy said.

But media advocacy groups voice skepticism that Congress would divert spectrum proceeds to public broadcasting, given the deficit. Some blame national public broadcasting bodies for not leaning lean hard enough on Congress. “Congress has a lot of deficits and spectrum auctions could be spent in 6 different ways,” said Celia Wexler of Common Cause. A trust fund would be a good way to assure public broadcasting’s independence, she said, but any such financing should be tied to public TV’s “true commitment” to local broadcasting.

Public broadcasting entities haven’t been serious about the trust fund, Jerry Starr, exec. dir. of Citizens for Independent Public Bcstg (CIPB). “They just kind of like it the way it is,” he said of the annual funding requests to Congress. Public broadcasters have been discussing alternative funding, he said, “but my clear sense is that they are nowhere near a consensus about change in direction whereby they would be more publicly funded and publicly accountable.” The question is who will “lead the charge” for a trust fund, he said: APTS is doing little due to its “very commercial vision.” PBS is very cautious, and CPB wants only to scrutinize programming, Starr said: “So it is hard to identify who in fact would promote the vision.”

MoveOn.org -- which recently began lobbying Congress to restore public broadcasting funding cuts proposed by President Bush -- is “looking to start a conversation” about permanent funding and governance reform in public broadcasting, said Media Action Dir. Noah Winer. The fund’s specifics can be “discussed by everyone who recognizes public broadcasting as an essential resource for watchdog news reporting and commercial-free kids shows,” he said, but Congress must do more for PBS and NPR than preserve the status quo.

The concept of a fully govt.-financed public broadcasting system is under threat even in places like the U.K., said Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy. PBS hasn’t made the case for full funding, he said: “If PBS would tell the American people, for example, that an increase of funds would bring a completely noncommercial, underwriting-free and toy-license free children’s block, there might be political support.” Democrats and Republicans seem to like the current system “where public broadcasting is kept on a short political leash,” Chester said.

“If I thought any of these folks could deliver more than about 3 votes in Congress, I'd be willing to work with them,” said APTS Pres. John Lawson. But each year media groups “stand on the sidelines and make their tired whines about public broadcasting than actually move an agenda,” he added. APTS will continue to back Digital Promise, more federal money for CPB, a successful DTV transition and public broadcasting proposals for the No Child Left Behind Act, he added.