Alabama commission revises APTV’s mission statement, 2012

See also Current coverage. Alabama network’s mission statement before the Alabama Educational Television Commission revised it June 12, 2012
Alabama Public Television Mission, Vision, Values, and Diversity Statement
MISSION
Each of us is born with a natural desire to learn. We seek to explore our world and to understand life and the people around us. Alabama Public Television is a center of discovery for people of all ages. We motivate children to learn, empower students and teachers to succeed, and provide a lifelong path to knowledge.

Corporation for Public Broadcasting authorizing law as of June 2012

47 USC § 396, or U.S. Code, Title 47, Chapter 5, Subchapter III, Part IV, subpart d, § 396
This compilation of federal law was posted freely by the Legal Information Institute of Cornell University Law School. See LII for the latest preliminary (subject to revision) and final versions. (a) Congressional declaration of policy
The Congress hereby finds and declares that—
(1) it is in the public interest to encourage the growth and development of public radio and television broadcasting, including the use of such media for instructional, educational, and cultural purposes;
(2) it is in the public interest to encourage the growth and development of nonbroadcast telecommunications technologies for the delivery of public telecommunications services;
(3) expansion and development of public telecommunications and of diversity of its programming depend on freedom, imagination, and initiative on both local and national levels;
(4) the encouragement and support of public telecommunications, while matters of importance for private and local development, are also of appropriate and important concern to the Federal Government;
(5) it furthers the general welfare to encourage public telecommunications services which will be responsive to the interests of people both in particular localities and throughout the United States, which will constitute an expression of diversity and excellence, and which will constitute a source of alternative telecommunications services for all the citizens of the Nation;
(6) it is in the public interest to encourage the development of programming that involves creative risks and that addresses the needs of unserved and underserved audiences, particularly children and minorities;
(7) it is necessary and appropriate for the Federal Government to complement, assist, and support a national policy that will most effectively make public telecommunications services available to all citizens of the United States;
(8) public television and radio stations and public telecommunications services constitute valuable local community resources for utilizing electronic media to address national concerns and solve local problems through community programs and outreach programs;
(9) it is in the public interest for the Federal Government to ensure that all citizens of the United States have access to public telecommunications services through all appropriate available telecommunications distribution technologies; and
(10) a private corporation should be created to facilitate the development of public telecommunications and to afford maximum protection from extraneous interference and control. (b) Establishment of Corporation; application of District of Columbia Nonprofit Corporation Act
There is authorized to be established a nonprofit corporation, to be known as the “Corporation for Public Broadcasting”, which will not be an agency or establishment of the United States Government. The Corporation shall be subject to the provisions of this section, and, to the extent consistent with this section, to the District of Columbia Nonprofit Corporation Act.

National Forum for Public Television Executives: Draft 3 recommendations

Third Draft Recommendations of Core Working Group, October 1997
In the process of founding the Forum, this was the Core Working Group’s final draft, released Oct. 14, 1997, before the Convention of Stations, Nov. 5, where the Forum was voted into existence. Our Goal
Our goal is to change the way station CEOs communicate, think and interact with one another on issues and opportunities that affect all licensees. Thus, our intent is to create a framework and process that enables public television senior executives to discuss and address critical opportunities and issues — and make collective decisions when necessary.

National Forum for Public Television Executives, Draft 2 recommendations

Second Draft Recommendations of Core Working Group, September 1997
In the process of creating the Forum, public TV’s Core Working Group circulated this draft to its Circle of Advisors on Sept. 5, 1997. After revisions, the group circulated a third draft, Oct. 13. To the Circle of Advisors:

We thank you for your thoughtful and timely feedback to our August 4th draft proposal and survey.

National Forum for Public Television Executives: Phase II of creation

Phase II: The Search for Paradigms
Five months before public TV stations voted the Forum into being, this paper was prepared by their facilitators, the consulting firm BMR Associates. Released June 17, 1997. I. Introduction
During Phase II of Countdown ’97, BMR Associates studied approximately 20 different organizations. The goal of the research was to discover whether other organizations  — similar in structure to public television — had established frameworks and processes that enabled them to make decisions and work together in a coordinated manner. In identifying organizations to explore, BMR focused on organizations that met the following criteria:

The organization consisted of autonomous units, locally owned and operated.

National Forum for Public Television Executives: Phase I of creation

Phase I: Overview of Conclusions and Their Implications
Early in the year-long process of founding the Forum, the facilitating consultants, BMR Associates, prepared this summary of findings, released in October 1996. The goal of Phase I was to lay the foundation for Countdown ’97” as described in our project proposal. Phase I consisted of 49 interviews with public broadcasting industry leaders and managers, plus two facilitated workshops and two focus groups. As defined in the RFP, the project included all of public broadcasting. However, midway through Phase I we determined that we should focus our efforts on public television because public radio did not exhibit the same level of need for changes in governance and organization.

National Forum for Public Television Executives: Participants in formation

Dozens included the Core Working Group, the Circle of Advisors and consultants from BMR Associates. Countdown ’97 Core Working Group (CWG)
The Core Working Group, consisting of 13 public television station chief executives, developed plans for the ongoing CEO Forum created in 1997. For background on how the Core Working Group was selected, the goal of the project and other details see Questions and Answers about Countdown ’97. Carole Cartwright, WYCC, Chicago, IL
Bryce Combs, WMVS/WMVT, Milwaukee, WI
Trina Cutter, WNIT, Elkart, IN
Mark Erstling, WPSX, University Park, PA
Ginni Fox, Kentucky Educational Television, Lexington, KY
Dennis Haarsager, KWSU, Pullman, WA
Mike Hardgrove, KETC, St. Louis, MO
Al Jerome, KCET, Los Angeles, CA
Bill McCarter, WTTW, Chicago, IL
George Miles, Jr., WQED, Pittsburgh, PA
Jim Pagliarini, KNPB, Reno, NV
Al Pizzato, WSRE, Pensacola, FL
Mel Rogers, KOCE, Huntington Beach, CA

Circle of Advisors

The Circle of Advisors was a group of 38 individuals including 33 public TV licensee chief executives and five other public broadcasters who participated in discussion groups and reviewed document drafts.

National Forum for Public Television Executives, initial charter, 1997

This charter, which created the ongoing CEO Forum, was adopted in public TV’s Convention of Stations, Nov. 5, 1997. I. The Vision
Technology is bringing a sea change to the broadcasting industry, but nowhere more profoundly than in public television. Stations will be free to specialize where they now dabble; to excel where they now experiment. In the one-channel analog world, stations of necessity can excel mainly in one mission.

National Forum for Public Television Executives: The Case for Change, September 1997

This concise document, making the case for the Forum, was prepared by public TV’s Core Working Group and released in this revised form in September 1997, two months before the Forum was established. See also other Forum documents. 1. The community of PTV stations needs a new process and a framework to address key business opportunities and issues. a. We are faced today with the need to address important issues brought about by advancing technology and increased competition.

National Forum for Public Television Executives: Voting to create, 1997

This is the record of recorded votes taken during the Convention of Stations, Nov. 5, 1997, in Austin, which established the Forum, amending and adopting its original charter. Voters “present” include chief executives voting by proxy. Vote on the Forum charter
113 votes were cast, including 7 not present

On a one licensee/one vote basis:

90 voted yes, representing 85 percent of those present,
16 voted no, representing 15 percent of those present,
7 not present for the vote, representing 4 percent of those present at the convention. On a system-wide purchasing power basis:

576 purchasing power units voted yes, representing 86 percent of the units present,
68 purchasing power units voted no, representing 10 percent of the units present,
26 purchasing power units were not present for the vote, representing 4 percent of the units present

Vote to join the Forum
117 votes were cast, including 11 not present and 26 abstains

On a one licensee/one vote basis:

73 voted yes, representing 62.5 percent of those present
7 voted no, representing 6 percent of those present
26 abstained or were not present, representing 22 percent of those present
11 were not present for the vote, representing 9.5 percent of those present at the convention

On a system-wide purchasing power basis:

465 purchasing power units voted yes, representing 65 percent of the units present,
24 purchasing power units voted no, representing 3.5 percent of those present,
183 purchasing power units abstained, representing 25 percent of those present,
46 purchasing power units were not present for the vote, representing 6.5 percent of those present at the convention.

National Forum for Public Television Executives: Q&A on creation

As public TV’s Core Working Group worked to build consensus around creation of the Forum in 1997, it published this Q&A, both on paper and on its web site. “Countdown ’97” was the group’s name for its consensus-building process. Questions and Answers about Countdown ’97
Here are questions typical of those we’ve heard general managers and others in the public television community ask about Countdown ’97, along with answers from John Hershberger, Senior Associate with BMR Associates, the San Francisco consulting firm guiding the Countdown ’97 process. Countdown ’97 will conclude with a Convention of Stations in Austin, Texas, on Nov. 5.

National Forum for Public Television Executives

A majority of public TV stations voted to create the National Forum for Public Television Executives (the CEO Forum) at a Convention of Stations in Austin, Texas, on Nov. 5, 1997. Current covered the founding as well as the discontinuance of the forum five years later in July 2003. The forum had been created in an extended process by a committee called the Core Working Group, initially appointed by America’s Public Television Stations (APTS). The Case for Change (draft), May 1997

Questions & answers about the process of creating the Forum (“Countdown 97”), drafted by the Core Working Group, 1997

Charter (as amended) for the National Forum for Public Television Executives, Nov.

Association of Independents in Radio (AIR) Bylaws

These bylaws were approved,  Nov. 15, 1988, when AIR was incorporated as a nonprofit in New York. ARTICLE ONE: MEMBERSHIP
Section 1. Membership

A.I.R. shall be a membership organization. There shall be three categories of membership:

a. Organizational Membership – shall be open to organizations providing radio/audio programs and services (including but not limited to, production, presentation, research, distribution, exhibition, or education).

Affinity Group Coalition, Mission and Principles, 2004

The Public Television Affinity Group Coalition adopted its statement of Mission and Principles in February 2004. RESOLUTION Whereas, representatives and staff of the Major Market Group, The National Educational Telecommunications Association, the Organization of State Broadcasting Executives, the Program Resource Group and the Small Station Association have been working in cooperation with staff of the Association of Public Television Stations, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Public Broadcasting Service; and,

Whereas, these licensee representatives have drafted and recommended for acceptance by all public television entities a statement of our shared vision; now therefore be it Resolved, that we, the licensee members of the Public Broadcasting Service, do hereby request that the PBS Board of Directors consider acceptance of this statement as a representation of member interests and as a guide for strategic planning and operations. Why Public Television? Public television is the only universally accessible national resource that uses the power and accessibility of television to educate, enlighten, and inform. Because of its public service mission, public television is more essential than ever in the cluttered media landscape.

Charting the Digital Broadcasting Future, 1998

Advisory Committee on Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters
Final Report, Dec. 18, 1998
a.k.a. PIAC or the Gore Commission

See PDF of full report; sections of the report posted in HTML by the Benton Foundation; and the list of commission members. Executive Summary
As this Nation’’s 1,600 television stations begin to convert to a digital television format, it is appropriate to reexamine the long-standing social compact between broadcasters and the American people. The quality of governance, intelligence of political discourse, diversity of free expression, vitality of local communities, opportunities for education and instruction, and many other dimensions of American life will be affected profoundly by how digital television evolves. This Advisory Committee’s recommendations on how public interest obligations of television broadcasters ought to change in the new digital television era represent a new stage in the ongoing evolution of the public interest standard: a needed reassessment in light of dramatic changes in communications technology, market structures, and the needs of a democratic society.

Bill Moyers’ full remarks at APT Fall Marketplace, Nov. 10, 2011

I can’t tell you how glad I am to be here.  Or maybe I can.  Last Friday, after filming in Washington for our new series, I was waiting at Union Station for the train back to New York when a woman about my age approached me with a quizzical look on her face. She asked:

“Weren’t you Bill Moyers?”

“Once upon a time,” I answered. She said, “I’ll be darned . . .

PBS Editorial Standards and Policies as of June 2011

The Public Broadcasting Service (“PBS”) is committed to serving the public interest by providing content of the highest quality that enriches the marketplace of ideas, unencumbered by commercial imperative. Throughout PBS’s history, four fundamental principles have guided that commitment. Editorial integrity: PBS content should embrace the highest commitment to excellence, professionalism, intellectual honesty and transparency. In its news and information content, accuracy should be the cornerstone. Quality: PBS content should be distinguished by professionalism, thoroughness, and a commitment to experimentation and innovation.