Testimony

presented to the

Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

by

**Chris Boskin**

for nomination to the Board of Directors

Corporation for Public Broadcasting

401 Ninth Street, NW

Washington, DC 20004

\(202\) 879-9600

[www.cpb.org](http://www.cpb.org/)

September 21, 2006

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, thank you very much for the
opportunity to appear before you today to discuss my nomination to the
board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.  I would also like to
express my gratitude to President Bush for nominating me to the board,
and for giving me this opportunity to serve the public. 

I come to CPB as a product of diverse experiences. As the child of a
Navy officer, I grew up all over the country, and was constantly exposed
to new people and places. During my 30-year career in magazine
publishing, I have been engaged in responding to social, cultural,
economic, and technological trends that are reshaping the media
landscape and offering audiences more options and information sources
than ever.

And I come to CPB with the experience of six years on the board of one
of the nation's flagship public broadcasting stations, KQED in Northern
California.

I am so proud of the service that KQED provides to the people of
Northern California. Its programming -- including PBS shows, NPR
programs and KQED productions -- reflects the core mission of public
broadcasting by inspiring, informing, educating, and entertaining the
people of Northern California as well as people all over America. 

Here's one great example: On June 15, 2006, President Bush set aside
nearly 140,000 square miles as the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine
National Monument -- the largest protected marine area in the world.
This decision was inspired in part by the KQED-produced documentary
"Jean-Michel Cousteau: Ocean Adventures \"'Voyage to Kure,'**\"** which
the president viewed shortly before its April, 2006 debut on PBS.

But public broadcasting's efforts to reach people does not end with the
broadcast. For KQED, located as it is in California -- a state I often
say is like a Whitman's Sampler, with a little bit of everything -- that
means being able to reach out to people of every background and every
walk of life.

At KQED, we use the power of media to foster learning and offer
resources to everyone from preschoolers to adult learners, especially
finding ways to reach the underserved communities throughout the Bay
Area. 

KQED Hands on Literacy, which currently receives funding from CPB, is a
Ready to Learn Grant providing both staff training and more than 20,000
children's books a year to community partners, serving low-income and
non-English speaking families.

The KQED Media Literacy Project supports teachers and educators all over
the Bay Area as they encourage students to think critically about the
powerful images, words, and sounds which saturate contemporary culture.

We deal with broad issues of aging with programs like "The Golden Road"
which addresses safe driving for senior citizens, and a Medicare Part D
special, which answers commonly-asked questions about this complex
health care plan and offers additional resources to those viewers with
specific questions and concerns.

KQED is an excellent illustration of how public broadcasting can reach
out to serve a community with unique needs. It has been doing so for 52
years. And fortunately, it is not alone; stations from Alaska and
Arizona to Maine and Florida and everywhere in between are reaching out
in the ways most valuable to the people they serve.

One last point. KQED's community believes in what we are doing -- and
proves it by its generous support. Over half of our funding comes from
direct member contributions, and KQED is one of the nation's most
watched public television stations.

For the millions of Americans who do not have access to the 500-channel
universe created by cable and satellite -- and for the millions of us
who do -- there must continue to be a place for outstanding programming
that reaches out to the unserved and underserved; that offers a range of
perspectives and viewpoints; and that educates, entertains, informs, and
inspires us to change the world. That is the core mission of public
broadcasting, and the one I would work to advance as a member of the CPB
Board of Directors.

I would consider it an honor to serve on this distinguished board and to
continue to bring my experiences to public broadcasting.

Thank you and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.