Testimony of Ernest J. Wilson III Before Congress

Testimony presented to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation for nomination to the Board of Directors Corporation for Public Broadcasting

November 18, 2004

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. I want to express my gratitude for your holding this hearing, and also to the President for nominating me for another term on the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It has been an honor to serve, and I look forward to the opportunity to do more to advance public broadcasting's work for the American people.

When I appeared before you more than four years ago, I noted that it was an exciting time to be part of public broadcasting. As I said then, "Our rapidly changing technology offers new opportunities to expand public broadcasting's educational mission and to reach even more diverse audiences than are already being reached today."

Since then, CPB, with strong support from the board, has worked to take advantage of these opportunities. Let me offer one example that brings all three concerns – education, diversity, and technology – together in one package, Maya and Miguel, a new children's show.

We all know that the demographics of the United States are changing rapidly, with Latinos as the fastest growing group. In the 1990s, the population of Latinos in the United States grew 58 percent. But the impact of this change is even stronger among children: again, during the 90's, Latino children accounted for more than half of the 8.7 million children added to the U.S. population. Clearly, learning to live and work in a multi-lingual, multicultural society must be a priority for all of us.

That is where Maya and Miguel comes in. It is designed to support education goals, and specifically English language acquisition and usage, especially vocabulary. It targets an underserved children's audience – the six-to-eight-year-olds who have "graduated" from Sesame Street. And in keeping with our commitment to technology, the show is accompanied by a content-rich Web site – with all resources available in both English and Spanish. In 2003, with the board's strong support, CPB made a $9 million grant to Maya and Miguel – the largest in CPB's history to a children's multi-media project. The show premiered last month, and I think it is already justifying our confidence.

CPB may be unique in the breadth of its efforts to ensure that public broadcasting reflects the face of the public. The organization funds five separate consortia to ensure cultural diversity in programming. They all support extraordinary films and filmmakers, but I do think it is particularly notable that through the National Black Programming Consortium, CPB recognized the work of three MacArthur "genius" fellows, most recently, Stanley Nelson in 2003.

Such efforts to tap into the technology and talent of the future, however, only hint at the opportunities before us. Digital television and radio, for example, offer the promise not only of better technical quality, but of a range of new services that can offer information and education on an unprecedented scale. CPB is already soliciting proposals that can serve as prototypes for future efforts.

As an educator, I take particular pride in the role CPB plays in advancing the educational goals of all Americans. I have been involved in academia for 30 years, beginning my career as a teacher abroad in the Congo and eventually teaching political science at the University of California, Berkley; the University of Pennsylvania; and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Currently, I am on the faculty at the University of Maryland, College Park.

I also believe that my experience and worldview will continue to be useful as we seek to address the cultural and other issues that challenge us as a nation and a world. My resume includes work with the United States Information Agency (USIA), Radio Free Europe, and Radio Marti'. I also have held numerous positions in the Executive Branch including the National Security Council and in the private sector with the Global Information Infrastructure Commission.

Much of my recent career has been spent researching and analyzing the impact of the global information revolution. I am deeply engaged in studying the educational possibilities of digital technology. I have worked on the subject of the impact of information technology on society with research groups such as RAND and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and lectured at Harvard, George Mason University (GMU) in Virginia, and abroad.

When I came to you four years ago, I said I was a long-time admirer of public broadcasting. My experience on the board since then has only strengthened my high opinion of my colleagues throughout the public broadcasting community. I believe that non-commercial, educational broadcasting is uniquely powerful in its ability to reach so many segments of our population. In recognizing both what unites us and divides us, public broadcasting adds to the strength of our nation. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve on the CPB board, and hope to be able to make a contribution in the future.

Again, I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you, and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you.