Public Broadcasting Service and Censorship
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is a key player in the landscape of American media, created by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to provide quality public television programming. Established in the wake of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, PBS was intended to offer diverse content and viewpoints not typically found in commercial media, often providing critical perspectives on government policies and actions. Over the years, however, PBS has faced challenges related to censorship and funding pressures, particularly from government and corporate sources.
In the early 1970s, tensions arose when President Richard Nixon criticized PBS for its perceived liberal bias, leading to funding cuts and program cancellations deemed unsatisfactory to the administration. Subsequent administrations, including that of Ronald Reagan, continued this trend of financial constraints, pushing PBS to seek additional funding from corporate sponsors. This shift toward business financing raised concerns about potential bias in programming, particularly as corporations began to exert influence over content, favoring noncontroversial topics.
The ongoing struggle for financial stability has led to calls for increased accountability, with legislative measures requiring PBS to demonstrate balanced programming as a condition for federal funding. This complex relationship between funding sources and content underscores a significant challenge in public broadcasting: the tension between financial viability and editorial independence, raising important questions about censorship and free expression in media.
Public Broadcasting Service and Censorship
Founded: 1969
Type of organization: Agency created by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to maintain connections among public television stations and to provide programming
Significance: PBS’s dependency on the federal government and corporate donors for funding has limited its broadcasting freedom
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting created PBS to interconnect and serve public television stations. The Ford Foundation was apparently heavily involved in the creation of PBS, and this has led to questions about corporate control over the service from its beginning. There was also potential for government control, since the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, which chartered the CPB, required objectivity and balance in programming. Nevertheless, from its beginning PBS has offered information and points of view not available through commercial television stations. Regular programs such as Washington Week in Review, Banks and the Poor, and Black Perspective on the News have provided unique perspectives that were often critical of the U.S. government.
In the early 1970’s, however, President Richard Nixon became upset with public television, which he regarded as overly liberal and excessively critical of his administration. In 1972 he vetoed the annual appropriations bill for public broadcasting. Fearful of losing funding, the CPB either canceled or toned down many PBS programs that might be regarded as antigovernment or anti-Nixon Administration.
After Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980, PBS again suffered a tightening of the federal purse. During his campaign Reagan had identified federal spending cuts as a major goal; after his election he made it clear that government spending on public broadcasting would be reduced. Funding reductions in 1981 led PBS to search for alternative sources. Donations from business corporations, always part of the financing of public television, became even more central.
Greater reliance on business money led to greater business control over programming. In the early 1980’s, for example, WNET in New York aired “Hungry for Profit,” a program about multinational corporations buying up land in Third World countries. Angered by this program, Gulf and Western—which had been a major corporate underwriter for WNET—accused the station of being antibusiness and withdrew its financial support from the station.
A 1986 study of public television in the United States and Britain, conducted by the British Broadcasting Corporation, found that corporate underwriting tended to bias funding toward noncontroversial programs.
By the 1990’s PBS was experiencing financial pressures from both business and government. In 1992 Republican senator Robert Dole of Kansas sponsored an amendment to the Public Broadcasting Act requiring PBS and its sister organization, National Public Radio, to review their programming regularly and to report to Congress on their progressing in providing “balanced coverage” as a condition for continued federal funding.
The experience of PBS illustrates a central problem of the electronic media. The costs of television or radio time can render free expression extremely expensive, making financing itself a possible source of censorship.