Remarks by Cheryl Halpern

CPB Board of Directors Meeting

Washington, DC
September 26, 2005

REMARKS AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY

Thank you, Ken. I want to thank the board for their support.

I come to this position after many years working on public broadcasting issues. And in all those years, I have come to know many stakeholders – station employees and managers, corporate supporters, foundations, educators, and viewers. They all believe, as I do, that public broadcasting is a trust. When we do our jobs right, we can do things no other network can do:

We can educate, enlighten, and inspire. We can help teach a child to read, and bring history alive. We can be a classroom . . . a concert hall . . . a gourmet kitchen . . . or the most interesting yard sale you've ever seen. Most of all, we can be a special place, on the channel lineup and on the radio dial, where people of all views, of all backgrounds, can find something interesting.

I am proud of the Corporation's success in winning the Ready to Learn grant from the Department of Education. This demonstrates the quality work done at our member stations every day. By Year 5 of this grant, we will be reaching more than 100 low-income communities across the Nation with quality programming that will help reduce illiteracy, improve school performance, and make America a stronger, smarter place.

When we do our jobs right, we represent the best of America's values. We educate, we question, we explore, and we innovate. Where else on a cable lineup can you find Trisha Yearwood, a show about training spies, and NerdTV, all on the same network?

The reason we have this kind of diversity in our programming is because we want a diverse audience – and we want to serve all of America. But just as we aspire to these high ideals, we must also confront basic challenges.

The Corporation faces a continuous battle for funding – and our needs in coming years are only going to be larger, as we seek to digitize our offerings. Digital technology is changing media – and we must be part of this revolution.

I hope to forge broad-based financial support for public broadcasting – not just on Capitol Hill, but in our state capitals, and in our major cities. Local support for public broadcasting remains strong – and we must build from the grassroots level up. I intend to put a spotlight on the excellent work done by local affiliates of public broadcasting. And we will build on that strength.

The Corporation must have the confidence of the public. Part of that comes from the care we take with taxpayer dollars. We have taken steps to develop better internal controls over how money is spent and where it is spent.

And while we have discovered some areas where we need to improve controls, we have already accomplished a great deal. I will push for even more accountability and financial transparency, so that we can assure the public that a dollar sent to the Corporation will be spent to improve public broadcasting.

The Corporation has an opportunity to greatly increase the reach and effectiveness of its programming for children. I intend to support improvements in the quality of programming for children who are beyond the pre-school years, and target more efforts to pre-teen and early-teen youths. Many parents are right to be concerned about the kind of television their children see every day. We need to offer our children entertainment that's not exploitative.

I am proud of the journalism carried by public broadcasting, and I will work to see that the standards set by our best journalists will be followed across all levels of our news programming.

We will continue to maintain the two ombudsman positions to serve as the primary address for concerns about the quality of our news shows. These two ombudsmen will help the Corporation respond responsibly to legitimate complaints. We have a duty to provide the public an explanation for the kind of work we do – and we must honor the principles clearly stated in our charter: To encourage objective and balanced programming.

I know we can meet these challenges, because I've seen how loyal and committed employees of public television and radio stations across this nation put in long hours to serve their communities. And I've seen how public broadcasting makes a difference.

In my work with the Words Can Heal program in Los Angeles and Chicago, I saw how schoolchildren can learn lasting lessons about the power of words – to do good, instead of harm.

The Sesame Workshop showed me how we can teach cultural understanding and appreciation to children caught up in one of the world's most ancient and most difficult conflicts.

And I will never forget the role Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe played in keeping alive the light of freedom for those living under oppression – and now, those former prison nations have taken their place in the family of free people.

Our goal, whether it's in our support of educational children's television, insightful features and documentaries, or entertainment that sparkles, is to make public broadcasting a haven for the mind, and for the spirit.

We have an opportunity each day to give the American public a better choice. They expect great things from us. And I hope we deliver. Thank you.