British Influence On U.S. Public Broadcasting Historically

The Carnegie Commission report of 1979, A Public Trust, also discussed PBS’s anglophilic tendency to employ former BBC correspondents and broadcast programs produced by English producers for BBC on PBS, rather than programs produced by noncommercial, unemployed, native-born U.S. producers:

“It is often easier, cheaper, and less risky to acquire programs produced by other broadcasters, particularly those in Great Britain…The effect on American viewers is the impression that public television prefers actors and commentators with British accents.

“…Such problems give rise to accusations of `elitism’ and anglophilia. For the professionals involved in the domestic production industry the problem is more serious. The vast resources of the American creative community are presently underused. Except at the very pinnacle of the field, unemployment is rampant.”

(Downtown 5/8/91)

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