Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)

Administrative History/Information:

• Formed in 1969
• Merged with NAEB's Educational Television Stations division and the National Coordinating Committee of Governing Board Chairmen: 1973
• Distributes public television programming nationally
• operates the public television interconnection system
• administers the stations' national programming market
• Public Broadcasting Policy Base documents:
  • Annual Reports, 1998, 1999 and 2000 at PBS Online
  • Initial by-laws, November 11, 1969
  • Present by-laws as amended through February 6, 2000
  • Proposal on the Formation of the Public Television Network, by Ward Chamberlin and Robert Carlisle
• Website: http://www.pbs.org/

Related Collections:

• Mary Aladj Papers
• Edmund F. Ball Papers
• Christopher Buchanan Papers
• Margaret Chisholm Papers
• Corporation for Public Broadcasting Archives: John W. Macy Files
• David L. Crippens Papers
• James Day Papers
• Donley F. Feddersen Papers
• Susan Fratkin Papers
• Lee C. Frischknecht Papers
• Burt Harrison Papers-Interviews:
  • Martin P. Busch
  • Robert A. Mott
  • Frank W. Norwood
  • James Robertson
  • John P. Witherspoon
• Presley D. Holmes Papers
• Samuel C.O. Holt Papers
• Laurence A. Jarvik Papers
• Alan F. Lewis Papers
• Frank W. Lloyd Papers
• Donald R. McNeil Papers
• Richard J. Meyer Papers
• Robert A. Mott Papers
• National Friends of Public Broadcasting (NFPB)
• Frank W. Norwood Papers
• Arthur A. Paul Papers
• Bill Reed Papers
• Robert M. Reed Papers
• Jim Robertson Papers - Gerard (Jerry) Appy Interview
• Ralph B. Rogers Papers
• Gerald Slater Papers
• Duane G. Straub Papers
• Jeane R. Young Papers

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Reference Shelf Materials

Reading Room

Adler, Richard and Walter S. Baer. The Electronic Box Office: Humanities and Arts on the Cable. New York: Praeger, 1974. BCAST REF PN 1992.8 .S9 A3

Avery, Robert K., ed. Public Service Broadcasting in a Multi-Channel Environment. New York: Longman, 1993. NPBA REF HD 8689.4 .P83

Avery, Robert K. and Robert Pepper. The Politics of Interconnection: A History of Public Television at the National Level. Washington, DC: National Association of Educational Broadcasters, 1979.

• NPBA REF HE 8700.8 .A85
• LAB Collection: 384.575 A (NAB Books)

Barsamian, David. The Decline and Fall of Public Broadcasting. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2001. NPBA REF HE 8700.8 .B374 2001

Blakely, Robert J. The People's Instrument: A Philosophy of Programming for Public Television. Washington, Public Affairs Press, 1971. BCAST REF PN 1992.8 .P8 B47

Carnegie Commission on the Future of Public Broadcasting. A Public Trust: The Report of the Carnegie Commission on the Future of Public Broadcasting. New York: Bantam Books, 1979.

• BCAST REF HE 8700.8 .C37 1979
• 384.574 C (NAB Books)

Cater, Douglass and Michael J. Nyhan, eds. The Future of Public Broadcasting. New York: Praeger, 1976.

• BCAST REF HE 8700.8 .F87
• 384.574 C (NAB Books)

Collins, David. "The Shaky Marriage of Theatre and Television," Television Quarterly, Vol. XVI, No. 1 (Spring 1979): 73-78. Periodicals

Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Office of Educational Activities. Patterns of Performance: Public Broadcasting and Education 1974-1976. Washington, DC: Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 1977.

• BCAST REF LB 1044.8 .C37
• 371.335 P (NAB Books)

Day, James.  The Vanishing Vision: The Inside Story of Public Television. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1995. NPBA REF HE 8700.79 .U6 D39

Grossman, Lawrence K.

• "Proposal for a Grand Alliance," Television Quarterly, Vol. XVII, No. III (Fall 1980): 7-14. Periodicals
• "Why Not the Best?" Television Quarterly, Vol. XIV, No. IV (Winter 1977-1978): 53-57. Periodicals

Lee, S. Young. Status Report of Public Broadcasting 1980. Washington, DC: Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 1981.

• NPBA REF HE 8689.8 .S7 1980
• LAB Collection: 384.574 C (NAB Books)

Macy, John W. To Irrigate a Wasteland: The Struggle to Shape a Public Television System in the United States. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974.

• BCAST REF HE 8700.8 .M33
• 384.575 M (NAB Books)

Rowland, Willard. The Challenges to Public-Service Broadcasting. West Berlin: Aspen Institute Berlin, 1986.

• NPBA Collection: NPBA REF HE 8689.7 .P82 C42 1986
• LAB Collection: 791.574 R (NAB Books)

Task Force on Long-Range Financing for Public Broadcasting. Report of the Task Force on Long-Range Financing for Public Broadcasting. Washington, DC: Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 1983. NPBA REF PN 1992.8 .P8 C65 1973

Twentieth Century Fund. Quality Time? The Report of the Twentieth Century Fund Task Force on Public Television. New York: The Twentieth Century Fund Press, 1993.

• NPBA Collection:NPBA REF HE 8700.79 .U6 S66 1993
• LAB Collection: 384.575 S (NAB Books)

Westin, Av. "An Open Memorandum to Mr. John W. Macy, Jr., President, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting," Television Quarterly, Vol. VIII, No. 2 (Spring 1969): 31-46. Periodicals

By Request

Andersen, Kurt. "How Necessary is PBS?" Time, July 26, 1993, p. 75. Folder: 764

"Busy Week for Public Broadcasting on the Hill/Eight Picked by Ford for the CPB Board/Hook Charges Failure by Public Broadcasting, Inaction by Minorities." Broadcasting, March 24, 1975: 23-25. Folder: 039

Day, James.  "More Than Meets the Eye: America's Reticent Affairs with Public Television." 1990. on shelf

DeMartino, Nick. "Exploring the Public Air: The Programming Structure of Public Broadcasting." TeleVisions, Vol. 3, No. 3 (August/September 1975): 1+. Folder: 119

Dorfman, Ron. "John Douglas Callaway is the Best There is, Yes!" The Chicagoan, August 1974. Folder: 123

"Duggan: New Kid on the Block." Broadcasting and Cable, January 31, 1994: 16-22 Folder: 592

Duscha, Julia.   "Public TV: why still a stepchild?"  Columbia Journalism Review, November/December 1971: 8-14. Folder: 128

Frank, Karen. "Angling for the Airwaves." Videography. November 1978. Folder: 624

Grove, Lloyd. "Public TV's Landslide Loss." The Washington Post. July 11, 1991. Folder: 629

Kitman, Marvin. "An Unconventional Pairing." New York Newsday. August 12, 1991. Folder: 628

Knafo, Robert. "Making PBS Worth Watching" Connoisseur, 1989. Folder: 225

Koughan, Martin. "The Fall and Rise of Public Television." Channels, May/June 1983. Folder: 223

Landay, Jerry. "The Cradle of PBS." Illinois Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Winter 1991): 34-41. Folder: 047

MacNeil, Robert. "Is Anybody Watching?" Washingtonian Magazine, October 1973: 55-61ff. Folder: 703

O'Connor, John J. "Will a 'Fourth Network' Work?" The New York Times, July 11, 1971. Folder: 761

"PBS Drums Up Nearly $5 Million in Drive," Broadcasting, March 24, 1975. Folder: 345

"PBS Mounts Counteroffensive." Broadcasting, November 4, 1972. Folder: 346

Project Education Newsletter. Vol. 2, No. 1 (June 1992). Serials

Project Literary U.S. Youth PLUS: Resource and Activity Kit. 1988. Folder: 738

Public Broadcasting Service

• Facts About PBS. 1988, 1991. Folder: 358
• PBS Newsletter. 1974-1976. Serials
• Public Television Library Catalog of Programs. January 1974. Folder: 740

Radosh, Ronald. "Love in the Cold War." Heterodoxy, Vol. 1, No. 1 (April 1992): 15. Folder: 702.

Schwarzwalder, John C. "Public Broadcasting Must Clean House." TV Guide. September 30, 1972 / Letters. TV Guide. November 4, 1972. Folder: 617

Shales, Tom. "Home Grown Video: Television Eases into the '80s at the No-Nuke Rally." The Washington Post. May 17, 1979. Folder: 621

Related Collections in Other Repositories:

• Robert MacNeil Papers

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