Public Television for Sale: Media, the Market, and the Public Sphere

Analyzing the evolving funding structure of public television, sociologist Hoynes finds an increasing reliance on corporate sponsorhip. Through revealing interviews with PBS employees, a comparative analysis of the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour and ABC news, and examples showing the interrelation of programming content and financing, Hoynes demonstrates that PBS has largely abandoned its original commitment to underserved viewers, adopting a bottom-line approach to programming. In arguing for a public television system more reflective of U.S. citizenry, Hoynes disputes the application of the free-market model to the realm of ideas, noting that competition for ratings threatens diversity, and he astutely points out that the explosion in cable channels has not resulted in a heyday for media pluralism. While Hoynes's specific recommendations for future funding of PBS are less than inspired (a sales tax on TV sets has been proposed before and rebuffed), his contention that a genuinely public television must be ``insulated'' from intervention by both market and state is sound. Suggesting that PBS reclaim territory pioneered by public access and C-Span, Hoynes ignores the question of whether the success of these alternative efforts signals PBS's obsolescence in the area of public affairs programming. Some may end up wondering whether pressuring PBS to change is worth the effort. This study is indispensible to anyone who cares about the future of public television or the broader issue of the relationship between mass media and democracy. (Mar.)