The Historical Mission And Realstic Dilemma Of American Public Television

The United States is the only country whose commercial broadcastingemerged earlier than public broadcasting in the world. Compared withEurope, the purpose of the United States'establishing public broadcastingis to correct and supplement the ills of private media. But, just as Americanscholar Machesney said, in the past decade, one of the most prominentfeatures of the development of radio and television is the weakness ofpublic service system in the global. Revolutionary changes incommunication technology and commercial television competition are twokey factors leading to this change.This article use the content analysis, text analysis, literature andcomparative research method to made the necessity and importance ofpubic television to construction of public sphere clear by analyzing thehistorical mission and the realistic dilemma of the American publictelevision, and it would also view the prospects of the American PublicTelevision. The author believes that the American public television, despitethe multiple realistic odds, can keep its survival and development space, and continue to benefit the people of the United States and create somevaluable experience on diversity of the world's media all over the worldthrough a series of reform measures.This study will not only help people grasp public television's uniquepurport and law of development profoundly, deepen the content andenhance the character of television studies, but also offer some inspirationand reference for the development of the socialist cultural undertakings,and provide basis to the Chinese government for decision making todevelop public service broadcasting policy.