DONATE

About the Initiative

Our Approach

Our first phase, which runs through spring of 2027, includes an engagement process designed to generate a set of recommendations. These will include a clarified mission and vision, a refreshed definition of public media, key principles, structure, scale and future funding models that can ground future policy decisions and actions.

The process will include an extensive survey, a grounding in existing research and proposals and a series of focus groups across the country. These findings and conversations will inform preliminary recommendations, which will be tested and refined to help build consensus.

In early 2027, the second phase will begin. Recommendations will be formalized and shared publicly, along with any unresolved issues that need further exploration, with a goal to realize these essential transformations on a rapid timeline.

  1. We recognize that substantial research and thinking has already been done – over the years and even decades – about “the future of public media.” We are not starting from scratch but building upon critical thinking that precedes us.
  2. We believe that the needs of communities must be our North Star, and that community needs are likely to vary substantially. Public media must be in service to the public.
  3. We see exceptional talent and wisdom within public media and within adjacent fields, like civic and nonprofit news; these leaders are present in communities of every scale and in every region. We will engage practitioners as problem-solvers.
  4. We know that any bubble suffocates. To think boldly about the future, we will also engage thinkers with expertise in technology, community building, democracy, academia and other arenas who may bring unexpected but essential insight to our questions.

What questions will we explore?

Our core question:

“What does public media need to become
to best serve our communities
for the next 50 years?”

  • In what ways is public media prepared and/or unprepared to respond to community needs today and into the future? Where are the gaps and market failures?
  • What is the purpose of public media? What does information equity and information integrity mean and require?
  • What does “public” mean? What does it mean to serve the public interest? What types of organizations might be considered “public media?” 
  • What is public media’s definition and structure? What are the values, design principles, key structures, and funding models of a new public media system? 
  • What principles should shape the system of the future? What existing elements should be preserved or updated, what should be added, and what needs to be sunsetted?

Research

Further Reading

Our work builds on substantial research and thinking — developed over years, even decades — about the future of public media.

Primary research

A primary source for the Future of Public Media Initiative is City Square Associates‘ research, particularly:

Community Signals: A Meta-Analysis of Recent National Research for Public Media (City Square Associates): A meta-analysis of three major national studies City Square Associates conducted between 2024 and 2026, together, measuring the needs, sentiments and opinions of over 100,000 US adults — a unique source of insight into what communities actually want and need from public media.

American Public Media Group and the Station Resource Group commissioned City Square Associates to bring the three studies into conversation with one another and to translate what they say into an answer to one question: What signals is the community sending that public media should attend to as it contemplates its future?

The individual studies behind this meta-analysis also offer valuable insight on their own:

Additional Research and Commentary:

We’ve found the following research and papers useful in our thinking:

How We Are Supported

Initial funding for the project has come from The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations and Knight Foundation.

Stay informed about the latest developments
and opportunities to get involved.

Get Updates