Public Broadcasting Act of 1967
.svg) |
|
| Long title | An Act to amend the Communications Act of 1934 by extending and improving the provisions thereof relating to grants for construction of educational television broadcasting facilities, by authorizing assistance in the construction of non-commercial educational radio broadcasting facilities, by establishing a nonprofit corporation to assist in establishing innovative educational programs, to facilitate educational program availability, and to aid the operation of educational broadcasting facilities; and to authorize a comprehensive study of instructional television and radio; and for other purposes. |
|---|---|
| Enacted by | the 90th United States Congress |
| Effective | November 7, 1967 |
| Citations | |
| Public law | 90-129 |
| Statutes at Large | 81 Stat. 365 |
| Codification | |
| Titles amended | 47 U.S.C.: Telegraphy |
| U.S.C. sections amended | 47 U.S.C. ch. 5 §§ 390-397, 609 |
| Legislative history | |
|
|
The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 (47 U.S.C. § 396) set up public broadcasting in the United States, establishing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and, eventually, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), and National Public Radio (NPR).
The act charged the CPB with encouraging and facilitating program diversity, and expanding and developing non-commercial broadcasting. The CPB would have the funds to help local stations create innovative programs, thereby increasing the service of broadcasting in the public interest throughout the country.
The act was supported by many prominent Americans, including Fred Rogers ("Mister Rogers"), one of the founders of NPR and creator of All Things Considered Robert Conley, and Senator John O. Pastore, then chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Communications, during the House and United States Senate hearings in 1967.
The United States House of Representatives passed the bill 266-91 on September 21, 1967, with 51 members voting "present" and two not voting.
When President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the act into law on November 7, 1967, he described its purpose as:
"It announces to the world that our nation wants more than just material wealth; our nation wants more than a 'chicken in every pot.' We in America have an appetite for excellence, too. While we work every day to produce new goods and to create new wealth, we want most of all to enrich man's spirit. That is the purpose of this act.
...
Wikipedia