The Future of
Public Media Initiative
For an informed and connected America
The Poynter Institute and Public Media Company are launching the Future of Public Media Initiative to spur the creation of a reimagined public media ecosystem to serve the complex needs of our communities and nation today and into the future.
This initiative brings together communities, media leaders and outside thinkers in an inclusive process to shape a shared vision for what public media should become.
Why this Matters
Our public media system was designed over 50 years ago to support unaddressed but critical needs, including educational television, cultural enrichment, trustworthy news, emergency communications, children’s and public affairs programming, local connection and democratic values. But a half-century later, the promise of public media needs reimagining and revitalization if it is to serve the society we are rapidly becoming.
New technologies have opened new horizons for how we connect to information and to one another. But the broader media and technology landscape is also playing a role in destabilizing communities and fracturing notions of common purpose and even reality. Media ownership is consolidating and scaling to unprecedented heights; social media is a constant in our lives; and AI is playing an increasing role in manipulating the content we receive. The need for universal access to reliable information is corrupted by a relentless crush of misinformation; neighbors are becoming strangers; and trust is systematically eroded. If we fail to address these challenges, these trends will only accelerate over coming decades, with seismic consequences for our society and democracy.
There is added urgency to this already critical topic. Last summer, Congress rescinded funding for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, ending the public/private partnership that underpinned our public media system. This action has threatened public media organizations everywhere, but it also invites us to approach the question – what does public media need to become to serve our communities for the next 50 years? – with the freedom to think expansively and to generate answers that reach beyond incremental adaptations to bold new models. The future is ours to create.
Guiding Principles
Through this process, we will listen, learn and adapt. We also want to acknowledge a set of working assumptions that we bring to this initiative:
1
Free
Reliable information is a basic civic need, as essential as clean water or safe roads. Public media must be free to everyone.
2
Locally governed
Public media must be accountable to the communities it serves, not to shareholders, advertisers or funders. A single, federalized service will fail to address the complexities of the diverse people and places that define our country.
3
At national scale
A patchwork of small, local efforts can’t meet a national need for connection, enrichment and reliable information. Democracies around the world treat public media as core infrastructure. The United States should, too.
4
Beyond broadcast
Public media’s future must be defined by mission and purpose, not platform. As we move beyond broadcast, public media should expand to include a broader ecosystem of mission-aligned media organizations serving local communities.
5
Durable
Public media must be designed to keep adapting as technology and power keep consolidating — a 50-year commitment, not a response to one moment.
It is also our assumption – our driving belief – that change is both necessary and possible. The future should learn from the past, but it does not need to be constrained by it.
Stay informed about the latest developments and opportunities to get involved.
Latest Updates
Read the latest updates from the Future of Public Media Initiative:
