Public Broadcasting

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the increasing commercialization of public broadcasting. In recent years, public broadcasters have significantly expanded the scope of donor and underwriting acknowledgments. This expanded scope means that promotional slogans and even corporate logos may be aired. The result is that many of public broadcasting's underwriting announcements are virtually indistinguishable from commercials. The paper rejects suggestions that allowing limited commercial advertisements to penetrate public broadcasting might alleviate the serious funding strains public broadcasting faces.

From the Paper:

"The controversy surrounding American public broadcasting's increasing commercialization has reached deafening proportions in recent years. Although the Federal Communications Act of 1934 uniformly prohibits noncommercial broadcasters from airing advertisements promoting any specific product or service, the interpretation of that guideline has over many years been stretched significantly as a result of several Federal Communication Commission (FCC) rulings. Public broadcasting's enhanced underwriter announcements increasingly mimic commercial broadcast advertisements. However, allowing public broadcast stations to sell traditional commercial advertisements in any way would greatly undermine the goals and spirit of the American public broadcasting system. While some funding alternatives have been suggested, a concrete and sustainable remedy for the long-term financial health of the U.S. public broadcasting system has yet to be realized."

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