Principles of Public Media – 2nd draft 12/09/10
Preface
These principles define the essential value of Public Media to U.S. society, the unique
role they play within the global media environment, and the ways they ensure the
editorial integrity of their work.
They are intended to provide the case for public and private support of Public Media,
challenge Public Media organizations to earn that support, and safeguard the ability of
Public Media to serve the public independently.
To these ends, the following four principles address the objectives of Public Media, the
range of means by which it seeks to further these objectives, its working methods and
practices, and the needed working relationships among it’s varied constituencies.
The principles also reflect the further evolution of public broadcasting, from which much
of public media has evolved, and follow in its traditions of providing educational, cultural
and public service to the citizens of the United States.
1. Objective
The objective of Public Media is to support a strong civil society and strengthen
community life.
We are dedicated to developing and supporting a strong civil society and rich
community life across the United States, as characterized by:

Citizens with the education, cultural knowledge and sense of civic responsibility
needed to participate in their communities and enjoy a rich community life

Citizens who have access to means for expressing their concerns and viewpoints
in ways that will be heard and respectfully considered

Civil discourse and interaction among citizens with varying interests and
perspectives leading to greater shared knowledge and understanding of
differences, constructive problem-solving and sustained community building

Strong local communities built on civic involvement, which provide opportunity to
individuals and support a high standard of life.

A strong and effective national democracy enabled by an informed and engaged
public.
Our role in supporting this objective is in providing media capabilities, capacity and
content that are:
 Based in the local community
 Inclusive of the full community
 Focused on the common good
 Trusted because of their integrity
1

Accessible to all for free or nominal cost
We exist as a public service in support of this objective as a necessary complement to
other individual, commercial and non-commercial media focused on more private,
ideological, political or profit-making objectives.
We see these objectives as a continuation and further development of the democratic
principles and vital public life on which this country was founded.
2. Means
Public Media works to build a strong civil society and strengthen community
through a variety of means, media and platforms suited to local communities.
We pursue our objective through a range of means based on community needs,
interests and opportunities. These include:

Producing original content

Acquiring, aggregating, curating and exchanging content from diverse sources

Collaborating with others in the community to co-create content

Convening community groups and forums for exchange, dialogue and interaction

Providing spaces, virtual and real, for individuals to publicly express views and
contribute content on subjects of community concern

Using various forums, technologies and platforms to distribute content, convene
groups and develop community

Developing capacity and capability within the community to create and contribute
to multiple forms of media, including facilities, technology and skill development.
Through these means we work to provide the knowledge, information, places,
processes and tools that enable citizens to create and participate in a strong civil
society.
These means also support our ongoing openness to community input that informs,
guides and contributes to our work and furthers our objective.
We recognize that in using these means we are exercising judgment and making
decisions on a daily basis as to the selection of content to include and platforms to use.
We view these decisions as an integral part of effectively pursuing our objective and
exercising our responsibilities as a public service.
3. Practices
Public Media ensure the integrity of their work through established professional
practices, transparency and accountability.
To be effective in achieving our prime objective, we rely on a public reputation as widely
trusted, reliable and community-grounded content sources and service providers. We
build this reputation through practices that ensure the integrity of their work processes
and products, including:
2

Operating within a system of defined professional values and ethics, stated
standards of fairness, honesty, accuracy and quality control, and transparent
decision making processes.

Holding citizens participants to the same standards as they participate in and
contribute to public media work

Broadly engaging the community, seeking out informed and experienced parties,
and incorporating multiple perspectives

Formally ascertaining community needs and interests to inform and guide editorial
decisions, including ensuring that ascertainments processes are inclusive of the
full community and a diversity of voices, experiences and views

Providing full transparency as to sources used, funding received, individual and
organizational perspective held, and other factors of potential concern to users is
assessing trustworthiness

Providing additional context, background and sources for those seeking more indepth views

Taking full responsibility for content broadcast over licensed facilities, as specified
by FCC regulations
Through these practices we hold ourselves publicly accountable for the integrity of our
content, processes and relationships or clearly stating the limits of such accountability
when the content and action of other parties are involved.
Beyond these practices our accountability is also ensured through a multi-layered
system of accountability including, as applicable:

Compliance with the rule and regulations of the legal and regulatory structures
under which we operate, including those of the FCC, IRS and state and local
governments.

Compliance with the policies, procedures and performance requirements of major
funders relating to fiscal responsibility, service levels, public access and related
documentation and certification

Direction and oversight by our community-based governing boards and community
advisory boards

Feedback from our users who personally holds us accountable for the quality,
relevance and usefulness of ours services through their decisions to make or
withhold voluntary contributions
4. Constituency relationships (short version)
Public Media rely on relationships of mutual respect, transparency and
accountability with their various constituents.
We work within a network of important constituents and rely on mutually productive
relationships with these groups to be effective. While the nature of the working
relationships varies with constituent, common themes of respect, transparency and
accountability run throughout.
3

Our principal constituents are users, content partners and providers, other media
organizations, funders, governing boards, and legislators and regulators. We rely
on each of these to variously:

Share-in Public Media’s objective of building a strong civil society and community
life

Share their own perspectives and knowledge

Contribute informed content

Provide feedback, questions and criticism

Respect and share in Public Media standards and practices

Hold Public Media accountable to its own principles

Be equally transparent and accountable

Safeguard Public Media’s methods and practices of integrity
4. Constituency relationships (extended version)
Public Media rely on relationships of mutual respect, transparency and
accountability with their various constituents.
We work within a network of important constituents and rely on mutually productive
relationships with these groups to be effective. While the nature of the working
relationships varies by constituent, common themes of mutual respect, transparency
and accountability run throughout.

Users:
- Share your own perspectives and knowledge
- Contribute informed content
- Provide feedback, questions and criticism
- Hold Public Media accountable to these principles
- Support Public Media’s work to the extent of its actual value to you and your
community

Content partners and providers:
- Share-in Public Media’s objective of building a strong civil society and rich
community life
- Respect and share Public Media’s work practices and standards
- Be equally transparent and accountable

Funders:
- Share-in Public Media’s objective of building a strong public culture
- Be transparent with interests and intents in providing funding
- Respect Public Media’s methods and practices of integrity

Governing boards
- Provide the direction needed to keep Public Media focused on its objective
4
- Provide the oversight needed to hold Public Media accountable to these
principles
- Safeguard Public Media’s methods and practices of integrity
- Be transparent in governance processes and decision making

Other media organizations:
- Understand and respect Public Media’s operating principles
- Be equally clear and transparent in defining your own principles

Legislators and regulators:
- Recognize and respect the necessary and unique role that public media play in
supporting a civil society and democratic system
- Provide legal protections for public media to pursue its objective and maintain its
editorial integrity
5
Principles of Public Media – 2nd draft 12/09/10
Annotated version
Preface
Notes:
These principles define the essential value of Public
Media to U.S. society, the unique role they play
within the global media environment, and the ways
they ensure the editorial integrity of their work.
- Adds a paragraph at the end to directly recognize the
educational and cultural service of public
broadcasting and bridge between “broadcasting” and
“media’.
They are intended to provide the case for public and
private support of Public Media, challenge Public
Media organizations to earn that support, and
safeguard the ability of Public Media to serve the
public independently.
To these ends, the following four principles address
the objectives of Public Media, the range of means
by which it seeks to further these objectives, its
working methods and practices, and the needed
working relationships among it’s varied
constituencies.
- Does not attempt to address various core topics raised
in the last conversation (e.g. explanations of
accountability) in the interest of avoiding too much
positioning and throat clearing at the start. These
topics are addressed in the sections that follow.
- Drops the word “independent” from the end of the
first paragraph, as per the discussion notes.
- Uses the “we” approach to the singular/plural
question after the first paragraph.
The principles also reflect the further evolution of
public broadcasting, from which much of public
media has evolved, and follow in its traditions of
providing educational, cultural and public service to
the citizens of the United States.
6
1. Objective
Notes:
The objective of Public Media is to support a
strong civil society and strengthen
community life.
1. Applies the Thomas solution of using public media in the
plural form in the high-level principle statement and
reverting to “we” in the detail that follows. Public Media is
still used in the detail where there is not an issue with nounverb agreement.
We are dedicated to developing and supporting
a strong civil society and rich community life
across the United States, as characterized by:
 Citizens with the education, cultural
knowledge and sense of civic responsibility
needed to participate in their communities
and enjoy a rich community life
 Citizens who have access to means for
expressing their concerns and viewpoints in
ways that will be heard and respectfully
considered
 Civil discourse and interaction among
citizens with varying interests and
perspectives leading to greater shared
knowledge and understanding of
differences, constructive problem-solving
and sustained community building
 Strong local communities built on civic
involvement, which provide opportunity to
individuals and support a high standard of
life.
 A strong and effective national democracy
enabled by an informed and engaged
public.
Our role in supporting this objective is in
providing media capabilities, capacity and
content that are:
 Based in the local community
 Inclusive of the full community
 Focused on the common good
 Trusted because of their integrity
 Accessible to all for free or nominal cost
We exist as a public service in support of this
objective as a necessary complement to other
individual, commercial and non-commercial
media focused on more private, ideological,
political or profit-making objectives.
We see these objectives as a continuation and
further development of the democratic principles
and vital public life on which this country was
founded.
2. Considered several options for replacing “public culture”:
- American culture
- civic culture (Knight)
- common culture
- democratic culture
- public culture
- shared culture
- civic society
- civil society
- open society
(OSI)
- democratic
society
- civic life
- community life
- public life
A combination of “civil society” and “community life”
were chosen for this draft but could be substituted readily
with something more suitable. “Civil society” avoids the
word culture, which seemed to be the focus of concerns
about external perceptions (elitism, aloofness, being an
arbiter), and speaks to the citizenship aspects of the
objective as well as the nature of the engagement.
“Community life” is added to cover the objectives of public
media in supporting other aspects of their community -- the
arts, humanities, sciences, commerce, neighborhoods, etc.
3. Makes more direct reference to “educational” objectives in
the first bullet but still places them in the context of being a
necessary part of a strong civil society (public culture). If
even greater and more explicit emphasis is needed it may
be best to separate it completely and states the prime
objective in terms of “… support a strong civil society and
advance individual education and cultural knowledge”.
4. Adds the “Citizen’s who have access …” point in accord
with Pat’s definition of essential components of a public
culture and to sets-up the “places and forums” provisions
later in the document.
5. Strengthens and reorders the bullet points to make them
more outcome-focused and build from the individual to
national. The intent is to more clearly state and take the
high ground for public media’s public service.
6. In doing so the earlier point on “Public access to the
offerings of the arts, humanities and sciences, resources and
opportunities for life-long education, and media for the
expression of a diversity of voices, experiences and views.”
is dropped and subsumed elsewhere. In this form it seemed
something of a catch-all and not well integrated into the
thought flow.
7. Added the “Our role …” section to clearly state how public
media supports the objectives in ways that other media
entities cannot claim (or fully claim).
8. Expanded the “We exist as a public service …” point to
reference other noncommercial media to further
differentiate public media from such media (including that
of religious organizations, cause-based NPOs and political
movements).
9. The final “founding principles” point may seem like a bit of
flag waving but is intended to be another way of
affirmatively taking the high ground where such ground is
clearly in realm of what we actually do.
7
8
2. Means
Notes:
Public Media works to build a strong civil
society and strengthen community through a
variety of means, media and platforms suited to
local communities.
1. Addresses the “public forums and spaces” issue raised
by Tom by listing it as another “means” that public
media uses rather than an obligation (see “Providing
spaces …” bullet). The is in line with the group’s
discussion as well as the already stated point that
public media choose their mix of means based on
“community needs, interests and opportunities.”
We pursue our objective through a range of means
based on community needs, interests and
opportunities. These include:

Producing original content

Acquiring, aggregating, curating and
exchanging content from diverse sources

Collaborating with others in the community
to co-create content

Convening community groups and forums
for exchange, dialogue and interaction

Providing spaces, virtual and real, for
individuals to publicly express views and
contribute content on subjects of community
concern

Using various forums, technologies and
platforms to distribute content, convene
groups and develop community

Developing capacity and capability within
the community to create and contribute to
multiple forms of media, including facilities,
technology and skill development.
2. The topic is further addressed in the point below the
bullets that emphasizes the importance of these spaces
and related means to our work (see “These means also
support …”).
3. Addresses the “viewpoints” issues raised by Tom in
the final paragraph by explicitly recognizing that
selection decisions made by public media do, in fact,
express a view point at the level of saying “this is
important”. The issue is further addressed in the
“Practices” section.
4. Incorporates some line-level edits and additions from
Wick and Pat
Through these means we work to provide the
knowledge, information, places, processes and
tools that enable citizens to create and participate
in a strong civil society.
These means also support our ongoing openness
to community input that informs, guides and
contributes to our work and furthers our objective.
We recognize that in using these means we are
exercising judgment and making decisions on a
daily basis as to the selection of content to include
and platforms to use. We view these decisions as
an integral part of effectively pursuing our objective
and exercising our responsibilities as a public
service.
9
3. Practices
Notes:
Public Media ensure the integrity of their work through
established professional practices, transparency and
accountability.
1. Does not change the high level principle to
read “Public Media professionals …” as
suggested by Pat since the section applies to
both individuals and the
organizations/institutions of public media.
“Professional” is still used as a modifier of
“practices” specifically.
To be effective in achieving our prime objective, we rely on a
public reputation as widely trusted, reliable and communitygrounded content sources and service providers. We build this
reputation through practices that ensure the integrity of their work
processes and products, including:
 Operating within a system of defined professional values and
ethics, stated standards of fairness, honesty, accuracy and
quality control, and transparent decision making processes.
 Holding citizens participants to the same standards as they
participate in and contribute to public media work
 Broadly engaging the community, seeking out informed and
experienced parties, and incorporating multiple perspectives
 Formally ascertaining community needs and interests to inform
and guide editorial decisions, including ensuring that
ascertainments processes are inclusive of the full community
and a diversity of voices, experiences and views
 Providing full transparency as to sources used, funding
received, individual and organizational perspective held, and
other factors of potential concern to users is assessing
trustworthiness
 Providing additional context, background and sources for
those seeking more in-depth views
 Taking full responsibility for content broadcast over licensed
facilities, as specified by FCC regulations
Through these practices we hold ourselves publicly accountable
for the integrity of our content, processes and relationships or
clearly stating the limits of such accountability when the content
and action of other parties are involved.
Beyond these practices our accountability is also ensured through
a multi-layered system of accountability including, as applicable:
 Compliance with the rule and regulations of the legal and
regulatory structures under which we operate, including those
of the FCC, IRS and state and local governments.
 Compliance with the policies, procedures and performance
requirements of major funders relating to fiscal responsibility,
service levels, public access and related documentation and
certification
 Direction and oversight by our community-based governing
boards and community advisory boards
 Feedback from our users who personally holds us accountable
for the quality, relevance and usefulness of ours services
through their decisions to make or withhold voluntary
contributions
2. Changes “independent decision making
processes” to “transparent” to address the
“independence” issue (see “Operating within
a system …)
3. Adds a bullet extending the practices to
citizens participants as suggested in Pat’s and
Wick’s edits (see “Holding citizens …”).
4. Adds a bullet to include ascertainment as an
essential practice for supporting decisions
related to content selection and other editorial
choices that in effect define a “viewpoint”
(see “Formally ascertaining …”). This
further supports the point added in the
“Means” section regarding “exercising
judgment and making decisions”.
5. Does not add a bullet specifically addressing
editorializing as I was not sure of the group’s
full view on this part of the “viewpoints”
issue that Tom raised. Based on Malcolm’s
distinctions between “war is a bad thing” and
“this war is bad” a point could be added
along the lines of:
 Not endorsing or advocating for particular
public policies, legislative actions or
political platforms …or…
 Limiting editorializing and advocacy to
highlighting general issues of public
concern and not endorsing or supporting
specific proposals or actions.
6. Addresses the “FCC licensee” issue by
adding the specific requirements for content
responsibility (see “Taking full responsibility
for …”). This was the particular requirement
referenced in the group discussion. I don’t
know that there are others that need to be
addressed specifically. General FCC
compliance is covered by the added
“accountability” text at the end.
7. Addresses the “accountability” issue through
the added section at end by tying the practices
listed above to accountability and then further
detailing the other parts of public media’s
overall accountability system. It doesn’t
exactly follow the three level hierarchy Tom
outlined but does, I believe, cover all the
major elements or layers.
10
4. Constituency relationships (short version)
Notes:
Public Media rely on relationships of mutual respect,
transparency and accountability with their various constituents.
1. Follows Pat’s suggestion
and Wick’s edits to
consolidate the points
(versus breaking out by
constituent)
We work within a network of important constituents and rely on
mutually productive relationships with these groups to be effective.
While the nature of the working relationships varies with constituent,
common themes of respect, transparency and accountability run
throughout.
Our principal constituents are users, content partners and providers,
other media organizations, funders, governing boards, and legislators
and regulators. We rely on each of these to variously:
 Share-in Public Media’s objective of building a strong civil society
and community life
2. Retains the “constituent”
language to cover all
parties (versus citing
“partners” and
“constituents” separately)
3. Doesn’t use the “we”
approach in the detail
below the prime principle
(though “our” could be
substituted throughout).
 Share their own perspectives and knowledge
 Contribute informed content
 Provide feedback, questions and criticism
 Respect and share in Public Media standards and practices
 Hold Public Media accountable to its own principles
 Be equally transparent and accountable
 Safeguard Public Media’s methods and practices of integrity
11
4. Constituency relationships (extended version)
Notes:
Public Media rely on relationships of mutual respect, transparency
and accountability with their various constituents.
1. Keeps the break-out of
relationships by
constituency but draws
sharper distinctions that the
first draft (or at least
attempts to)
We work within a network of important constituents and rely on mutually
productive relationships with these groups to be effective. While the
nature of the working relationships varies by constituent, common
themes of mutual respect, transparency and accountability run
throughout.

Users:
- Share your own perspectives and knowledge
- Contribute informed content
- Provide feedback, questions and criticism
- Hold Public Media accountable to these principles
- Support Public Media’s work to the extent of its actual value to
you and your community

Content partners and providers:
- Share-in Public Media’s objective of building a strong civil society
and rich community life
- Respect and share Public Media’s work practices and standards
- Be equally transparent and accountable

Funders:
- Share-in Public Media’s objective of building a strong public
culture
- Be transparent with interests and intents in providing funding
- Respect Public Media’s methods and practices of integrity

Governing boards
- Provide the direction needed to keep Public Media focused on its
objective
- Provide the oversight needed to hold Public Media accountable
to these principles
- Safeguard Public Media’s methods and practices of integrity
- Be transparent in governance processes and decision making

Other media organizations:
- Understand and respect Public Media’s operating principles
- Be equally clear and transparent in defining your own principles

Legislators and regulators:
- Recognize and respect the necessary and unique role that public
media play in supporting a civil society and democratic system
2. Retained the “constituent”
language to cover all
parties, including partners
based on a definition of
constituency covering
3. Doesn’t use the “we”
approach in the detail
below the prime principle
(though “our” could be
substituted throughout).
- Provide legal protections for public media to pursue its objective
and maintain its editorial integrity
12