Editing Public broadcasting (section)

===== History =====
Early public stations were operated by state colleges and universities and were often run as part of the schools' [[Cooperative extension service|cooperative extension services]]. Stations in this era were internally funded, and did not rely on listener contributions to operate, some accepted advertising. Networks such as [[Iowa Public Radio]], [[South Dakota Public Broadcasting|South Dakota Public Radio]], and [[Wisconsin Public Radio]] began under this structure.<ref>{{cite web |date=October 21, 2013 |title=The History of Public Broadcasting |url=https://onlinempa.unc.edu/history-of-public-broadcasting/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826185136/https://onlinempa.unc.edu/history-of-public-broadcasting/ |archive-date=August 26, 2017 |access-date=June 21, 2017 |website=UNC-Chapel Hill Master of Public Administration}}</ref> The concept of a "[[Non-commercial educational|non-commercial, educational]]" station ''per se'' did not show up in U.S. law until 1941, when the [[FM band]] was authorized to begin normal broadcasting.<ref>{{cite web |title=Federal Regulations Title 47, Part 73, §73.501 Channels available for assignment. |url=http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=&SID=d39b27f095e10dca36d354445fd2b649&mc=true&n=sp47.4.73.d&r=SUBPART&ty=HTML#se47.4.73_1513 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170208141114/http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=&SID=d39b27f095e10dca36d354445fd2b649&mc=true&n=sp47.4.73.d&r=SUBPART&ty=HTML#se47.4.73_1513 |archive-date=2017-02-08 |access-date=2016-11-22 |publisher=United States Government}}</ref> [[Houston]]'s [[KUHT]] was the nation's first public television station founded by Dr. John W. Meaney, and signed on the air on May 25, 1953, from the campus of the [[University of Houston]].<ref>{{cite web |title=About Us: 50 Years of HoustonPBS History |url=http://www.houstonpbs.org/site/PageServer?pagename=abt_history |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511081424/http://www.houstonpbs.org/site/PageServer?pagename=abt_history |archive-date=May 11, 2011 |access-date=July 19, 2008 |publisher=KUHT – HoustonPBS}}</ref> In rural areas, it was not uncommon for colleges to operate commercial stations instead (e.g., the [[University of Missouri]]'s [[KOMU]], an [[NBC]]-affiliated television station in [[Columbia, Missouri|Columbia]]). The FCC had reserved almost 250 broadcast frequencies for use as educational television stations in 1953, though by 1960, only 44 stations allocated for educational use had begun operations.<ref>{{cite book |last=Burke |first=John Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FenfjvstLXUC |title=An Historical-Analytical Study of the Legislative and Political Origins of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 |publisher=Ayer Publishing |year=1980 |isbn=0-405-11756-6 |series=Dissertations in Broadcasting |access-date=June 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628045326/https://books.google.com/books?id=FenfjvstLXUC |archive-date=June 28, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Television in the United States |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1513870/Television-in-the-United-States/283623/Educational-TV?anchor=ref1057430 |access-date=June 21, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003032139/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1513870/Television-in-the-United-States/283623/Educational-TV?anchor=ref1057430 |archive-date=October 3, 2013}}</ref>

The passage of the [[Public Broadcasting Act of 1967]] precipitated the development of the current public broadcasting system in the U.S. The legislation established the [[Corporation for Public Broadcasting]] (CPB), a private entity that is charged with facilitating programming diversity among public broadcasters, the development and expansion of non-commercial broadcasting, and providing funding to local stations to help them create programs; the CPB receives funding earmarked by the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] as well as through public and private donations.<ref>{{cite web |title=Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 |url=http://www.cpb.org/files/act/PublicBroadcastingAct1967.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017214200/https://www.cpb.org/files/act/PublicBroadcastingAct1967.pdf |archive-date=October 17, 2017 |access-date=June 21, 2017 |publisher=[[Corporation for Public Broadcasting]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Hellewell |first=Emily |date=November 8, 2012 |title=How Public Radio Scotch-Taped Its Way Into Public Broadcasting Act |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/npr-extra/2012/11/08/164624162/how-public-radio-scotch-taped-its-way-into-public-broadcasting-act |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921121156/http://www.npr.org/sections/npr-extra/2012/11/08/164624162/how-public-radio-scotch-taped-its-way-into-public-broadcasting-act |archive-date=September 21, 2017 |access-date=June 21, 2017 |website=[[NPR]]}}</ref>

Public television and radio in the U.S. have, from the late 1960s onward, dealt with severe criticism from conservative politicians and think-tanks (such as [[The Heritage Foundation]]), which allege that its programming has a [[leftist]] bias and there have been successful attempts to reduce – though not eliminate – funding for public television stations by some state legislatures.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hagey |first=Keach |date=October 23, 2010 |title=Defunding NPR? It's not that easy |url=http://www.politico.com/story/2010/10/defunding-npr-its-not-that-easy-044056 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170717063427/http://www.politico.com/story/2010/10/defunding-npr-its-not-that-easy-044056 |archive-date=July 17, 2017 |access-date=June 20, 2017 |website=[[Politico]] |publisher=[[Capitol News Company]]}}</ref>