New Public Media: A Plan for Action

This new report presents a series of creative policies and proposes reforms to support quality news reporting in local communities and to build a world-class noncommercial media system in America. New Public Media: A Plan for Action urges the creation of a trust fund seeded with a substantial endowment to supplement annual congressional appropriations and ultimately to enable the system to be completely self-sufficient. The report details a number of ways to support such a trust, including spectrum fees, a spectrum auction, a small tax on advertising, changes to the way advertising is treated in the tax code, or a small assessment on consumer electronic devices. In addition to proposing funding reforms, the report further explores a number of other ways to strengthen public media’s role in our society, including new leadership and structure for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, an expanded definition of who qualifies for funding, and new standards for community engagement and station performance.