But even if public television isn't beholden to advertisers, it's still true that all money comes with strings. Governments have time and again meddled in public television's affairs, from Nixon's attempt to quash public affairs altogether to congressional phone calls to P.O.V. after Tongues Untied aired. That makes big business the most influential agenda-setter in public television programming. Corporations use public television to reach audiences suspicious of advertising. Public television woos corporations with the promise of burnishing their image.
Related organizations go further.
Corporations have no interest in attaching their names to something controversial or low-rated. Marc Weiss, executive producer of P.O.V., the premier national showcase for independent documentaries, recalls scouring the corporate community for donations. Finally Lands' End, the large mail-order firm, expressed interest. But then executives viewed one of the more controversial programs in the nthology series. Even the eminently respectable Bill Moyer has seen corporate backers back away from hard-hitting pieces.