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    "title": "Visions of the Future from Leading Thinkers [Binder] [2]",
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        "Records of the Domestic Policy Council (Clinton Administration)",
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    "ocrText": "Page 4\nJanuary 20, 2000\nbuilt upon public property and corporate welfare.\nSecond, the government needs to take proactive steps to encourage a diversity of voices in the marketplace.\nIf it is alright to subsidize and bankroll the largest transnational media corporations, it should be fair game\nto subsidize the small try as well. In particular, the government should establish a strong and viable public\nradio and television system. The current U.S. system provides a viable service to a sliver of the upper-\nmiddle class. but it is increasingly becoming commercialized and far too similar to commercial media.\nWhat we need is a genuine, commercial-free, public broadcasting service that seeks to provide\nentertainment, education and journalism to the entire population. The cost of such a system, including local\nstations and public access and community stations, may run as high as $10 billion per year. But it is well\nworth it. Such a revitalized PBS/NPR would also need to be restructured to permit public review and\noversight at regular intervals, but to also permit editorial autonomy. The BBC has done a superb job of\nfinding such a balance in its 75 year history and we would be wise to learn from them.\nIn addition, such a public broadcasting service would automatically have a web presence so there would be\na viable nonprofit component built into cyberspace.\nBut there is even more that the government can do to encourage a diversity of ideas. Why not, for example,\npermit each American to direct $200 from their federal income tax payments to any certified nonprofit\nmedium of their choice, including websites. This could amount to as much as $30 billion annually (if\neveryone in the nation took part), and it would not involve any government censorship. IL would provide for\na very healthy competition for public support among nonprofit media.\nThird, the government needs to finally get something in return for all those radio and TV licenses and cable\nmonopolies it has granted over the years. I propose that the following two conditions be made for every\nbroadcast license and for every cable TV channel. First, that there be no advertising to children under 12\nyears of age. This is the law in Sweden and it works well. Instead, every broadcaster should set aside time\nfor commercial-free children's programming to by paid for a by a percentage of their revenues and\ncontrolled by artists and educators. We need to begin the process of decommercializing childhood in the\nUnited States. Second, we should abolish the practice of TV political advertising during electoral\ncampaigns. It is a cancer to democracy. It has to go.\nIn combination, these measures would open up noncommercial and nonprofit space in our media system,\nand make the for-profit marketplace more competitive. Our children would have a healthier environment,\nour elections would have more integrity, and our journalism would have more voices. The huge media firms\nwould still exist and prosper, but they would no longer have a virtual monopoly. It would be a much better\nworld than the one we are in today and that we are racing toward in the near future.\nI am a media historian so I know full well how daunting the task of media reform is and would be for you\nto pursue. But that does not lessen its importance. Recall, if you will, President Eisenhower's famous\nwarning about the might of the military-industrial complex shortly before leaving office in 1961. In the\ninformation age, the dominant political and economic power is increasingly gravitating to these massive\nfirms that rule the roost. This is an issue that will only become more grave as time goes by. The time to act\nis now."
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