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intended to create a single publicly funded, independently administered network like the
BBC. Instead, it was envisioned as a loose association of local outlets supported by
government funds. Over the years, however, it has evolved into a more cohesive entity that
resembles traditional American broadcast networks in many respects.
From the beginning, government financing of local broadcasters raised concerns about the
possibility of political influence over media content. To prevent this, Congress created the
private, nonprofit Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to administer the funds and
serve as a barrier between the public broadcasting network and both public and private
donors.

U.S. public broadcasting has grown since its inception, but not to the extent of many of its
European counterparts. The BBC has become the largest public broadcaster in the world,
with a government subsidy of nearly $27 per citizen in 2005, while U.S. government
funding for the CPB has rarely exceeded $2 per citizen.56 The Republican Party, as the
traditional advocate of “small government,” has been the main source of opposition to
increased government financing for public media. In the 1980s, the administration of
President Ronald Reagan cut the CPB’s budget by $35 million. During the political
campaigns of 1994, then Congressman Newt Gingrich and other Republicans proposed
“zeroing out” government funding for public broadcasting as a part of their overall
platform, claiming that the CPB was biased against conservatives and asserting that the
proliferation of cable television stations rendered government funding unnecessary.57
Evidence of political influence at the CPB came to the attention of the American public
through the November 2005 resignation of CPB Board Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson.
Tomlinson had sought to bring “fairness and balance” to public broadcasting by
counteracting what he saw as a liberal bias. However, a CPB internal inquiry found that he
had broken federal law by making managerial decisions based on political affiliations. In
particular, Tomlinson had advocated the creation of a number of conservative programs
and had frequently e-mailed the White House concerning the hiring of former Republican
Party co-chairwoman Patricia Harrison as CPB president.

Media Diversity

Broadcast media. The United States is one of the largest media markets in the world, home
to more than 1,500 daily newspapers, 14,000 licensed broadcast radio stations,58 and
1,900 television stations.59 The news media are only a subset of the entire media market,
but as recently as 2004 there were nearly 45 million television viewers for the morning
and evening news programs (combined) at the three main broadcast stations—ABC, CBS,
and NBC; this does not include the many cable and satellite television news
outlets.60 Even in the radio industry, audience numbers remain high, particularly for talk
shows featuring conservative commentary. The most popular of these, The Rush Limbaugh
Show, had more than 13.5 million listeners in 2005.61 Given the size and power of the
broadcast industry, it is unsurprising that the diversity of the content consumed as well as
the consolidation of outlet ownership have become the topics of contentious debate.

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