CPB Board of Directors Meeting
Washington, DC
November 15, 2005
Thank you Madam Chairman.
Through these resolutions, you and the board have reaffirmed the course we are on to strengthen the role and the service of public broadcasting.
This is a serious commitment to updating and improving the governance and operation of CPB.
I believe as we go through this process together, board and management, we will achieve an outcome that will inspire both trust and confidence. And I look forward to being part of this dynamic.
We are coming through an arduous process such as many corporations go through in order to implement best practices and promote good corporate governance.
And I believe that good corporate governance is enabled by communication that is timely, and transparent.
So let me communicate that while we at CPB, board, management and all of our colleagues, have been cooperating whole heartedly with both the inspector general and outside counsel, we have, at the same time, continued to focus on CPB's responsibility to strengthen public television and radio for the long term.
For example, during this board meeting we will see again how public broadcasting with CPB's help is continuing to reach out to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, this time children, whose lives and education have been disrupted.
We are continuing to help television and radio stations convert to digital technology – this investment encourages innovation and its promise for better public service.
We have opened the radio community service grants pool for the first time in years, and we are continuing exploration of new and innovative services for underserved audiences.
We are laying the groundwork for innovative programs to teach young people about our country's history and civic values, and we have designed and implemented a grant program that will enable more than 100 local stations reach into their local communities with literacy programs.
Because of an initiative authorized by this board of directors, we are helping local stations increase their financial stability through the second phase of the major giving initiative.
And we continue to encourage diverse voices through funding innovative programming like "Story Corps" and "This I Believe."
Peter Drucker, the modern management guru, died this week at 95 years of age. The greatest lesson I have taken from his counsel is the constant responsibility to create customers or stakeholders.
And through the special committee on public broadcasting awareness we will be able to talk about the depth and breadth of public broadcasting - what it means to so many Americans, our stakeholders.
As we work to respond to the Inspector General's report, both the board and management are united in our commitment to public broadcasting, and in our belief that public broadcasting plays a vital role in American life, both urban and rural - as a connector to community, inspiring, educating and informing.
My commitment to both the board and to all of our stakeholders, our colleagues at CPB, Members of Congress, the media, the public broadcasting community, our strategic partners PBS and NPR and . . . public interest organizations, is management characterized by complete openness and accountability.
The mission is too important to do anything less.