Carnegie Commission on the Future of Public Broadcasting Statement on Receiving the Commission's Report.

I am pleased to receive the report of the Carnegie Commission on the Future of Public Broadcasting.

In 1967 the first Carnegie Commission issued a report that set the course for the public broadcasting system. In the intervening 12 years the system has grown into an important part of our Nation's culture. Now a new Carnegie report proposes a new set of long-term directions.

Public broadcasting's immediate future was assured last year by the Public Telecommunications Financing Act, which increased Federal support, strengthened insulation from political control of program content, mandated extension of coverage to areas not now served, and improved the system's structure.

The new Carnegie report provides a focal point for continued work by government and—most importantly—by the system itself. The report will help deal with such long-run issues as the opportunities for multichannel service provided by satellite; the need to increase creative programing for minorities, children, the elderly, and other groups; the responsibilities that may flow from partial deregulation of commercial broadcasting; and the need to increase resources without excessive dependence on Federal spending.

The Carnegie report represents an 18-month effort by a distinguished group of citizens, under the able leadership of William J. McGill, president of Columbia University. It will make an important contribution to the system's long-term development. My administration will study the recommendations with care, along with the proposals being developed in Congress. I look forward to a year of continued advances for public broadcasting.