Ensuring your slice of public bandwidth doesn't require that you resort to utopian claims about the teaching value of television. You need not try to prove, for example, that television can replace teachers. It will be enough if you simply impart reliable information about the benefits of public television as a learning tool. Too often, those who seek to make the zero-sum argument that I earlier mentioned have succeeded in isolating these institutions and even turning them into adversaries. You are, after all, a welcome ally.
Public broadcasting has a powerful and valuable brand name.
You have nurtured some of the most creative talent, producers and innovators in television. You have broken new ground in programming for children, minority audiences and the hearing- and visually impaired. You have attracted program underwriters who care about quality, not merely about commercial gain. Once these communities fully understand the overwhelming capacity of the information superhighway and the need, as the Administration's vision statement put it, for quality information to move down that pipeline, your inherent strengths will become more valuable. I urge you to begin thinking and acting now to find those strategic partners and create a broad new coalition in support of public culture.