The following message first appeared in the July 22, 2026 edition of our bi-weekly newsletter.
Dear Friends,
This month Americans are celebrating the 250th anniversary of our independence, proclaimed through a declaration of principles that has resulted intheworld’s most enduring democracy. Unfortunately, July also marks the 1-year anniversary of the rescission of federal funding for public media, an action that undermines the free and open exchange of ideas and information across the country.
As we celebrate our democracy, it is important to acknowledge the disruptive power of the commercial-driven media jungle that dominates our world today. It is a jungle that actively fuels many of our societal problems, including mis- and dis-information, polarization and division, social isolation, teen mental health, and even political violence. This jungle has reshaped how we spend our days and changed how we relate to one another as humans and neighbors. A vibrant, future-focused public media system can and should be an essential counterbalance to these forces, engaging people with content that is independent and driven by a mission to connect communities and build trust. But in a media jungle dominated by trillion-dollar companies that repeatedly fail to prioritize the public interest, public media must be scaled and supported to serve that role.
At Public Media Company (PMC), we’ve seen how local media can play a vital role in community life, as a trusted source of news, education, music, and public discourse for people of all ages and backgrounds. We want every community to be connected and enriched by local media, a vision that has driven us for 25 years and informed our work with over 450 public and independent media organizations. It is why we created the Public Media Bridge Fund, Local News Catalyst, and many other collaborative efforts over the years. It’s also why we are involved in so many conversations about the future of public media today.
Even as we work to stabilize, sustain, and strengthen local public media organizations, and the broader system of content producers and national organizations that support them, we are also thinking about how to build upon this important foundation for the future. The rescission, and the subsequent closure of CPB, was a significant setback, but it cannot deter our collective commitment to build the future we want.
This starts with some fundamental questions: What is the vision for and mission of public media for the next 50 years? What are its values and principles? The broader system of public service media–including public media and the many community-rooted and mission-aligned media organizations that have emerged over the past 10-15 years–is a powerful and important force for good in our country, but what is the scale needed to robustly serve our communities and our society into the future? And how do we make that happen? At PMC, we are fully committed to addressing these questions and others in collaboration with national and community leaders across the country. If we want a more connected, just, and peaceful society, this may be the most important work we can do together.
We all have agency over the future that we want for ourselves and our kids, and this includes agency over the role of media in our lives and in our society. The question is not whether we can afford to support public service media, but can we afford not to? If we are a nation that takes democracy seriously, then we have in our hands the opportunity—even the responsibility—to cultivate a robust public service media system for the future and to seriously invest in it. As our country marks 250 years of independence, this may be the most important gift we can give to our kids and future generations.
