In 1967 the Carnegie Commission Report, the founding document for public broadcasting, stated unambiguously that the U.S. should have a non-commercial TV and radio system offering programming that serves as "a forum for debate and controversy" and "provide[s] a voice for groups in the community that may otherwise be unheard." That same year, Congress passed the Public Broadcasting Act, the last major piece of Great Society legislation to be enacted. In subsequent decades, political pressure and lack of adequate funding have moved public TV & radio away from their founding principles.

Robert McChesney
Robert McChesney is president and co-founder of the Free Press, an organization working to increase public participation in media policy debates, and to generate policies that will produce a more democratic media. He is also professor of communications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and author of numerous books including "Rich Media, Poor Democracy" and "The Problem of the Media."