| This research is an extreme case study focusing on mission and strategy in a local public broadcasting organization. The study utilizes strategic analysis based upon dialectic theory. It employs a tri-part process of historical construction, trends analysis and situational analysis to study three perspectives of mission in public broadcasting. The first of these is stated mission which is derived from public policy and planning documents which have created and funded public broadcasting. The second is the enacted mission constructed through the historical development of public broadcasting. The third is the emergent mission defined as a praxis which is socially necessary and environmentally legitimate.;Gap analysis between the stated and the enacted missions was utilized to establish an issue agenda consisting of the tensions between the public and the private, the margins and the mainstream, education and entertainment, the economic and the political, and the local and the national. The issue agenda served as an analytic frame in which to examine the past, construct the present, and develop a mission portfolio for the future.;The present research provides an analytic frame and strategic process through which public broadcasting can transform itself into an essential service capable of attracting support from multiple constituencies. Since the theory, process and techniques are applicable to a range of public and not-for-profit organizations, this research is of interest to scholars in not-for-profit studies, strategic management, communications, organizational commications and media studies. |
