CPB and PBS funding

The informal fabric of self-government — trust, shared information, civic association, local journalism, physical community spaces — has hollowed out over the past several decades. 200 US counties have no local newspaper. Civic trust measures at 43%. Universal programs and free elections cannot be sustained on a foundation this weak. CPB and PBS funding, alongside Post Office 2.0 and public-media journalism support, restores this fabric.

Current US federal CPB funding is approximately $1.35 per capita — substantially below peer democracies. The Accord raises CPB funding to a steady-state ceiling of approximately $50 per capita (approximately $16.5 billion per year at current US population), roughly one-third of Nordic per-capita funding.

The ramp is paced by CPB's capacity to absorb and deploy funding — newsroom expansion, production capability, digital distribution — rather than by a fixed schedule. Full ramp projected to reach steady state by approximately Year 7–10.

Editorial independence is guaranteed by statute. The funding comes with a viewpoint diversity mandate but no content prescription — CPB is directed to deploy funding to serve audiences across the American political and cultural spectrum with factually accurate content, but specific structural decisions (network separation, programming, regional production) remain with CPB's professional judgment and public input.

The Accord does not specify what PBS should broadcast. It provides the funding architecture and editorial-independence guarantees that let the institution operate.