ABSTRACT
The Chicago Sun-Times, like most metropolitan newspapers, had been declining for years in budget, staff, and circulation. The current system of US public broadcasting was created by Congress in 1967. The CPB says public media represents the largest, nonprofit news system in the US, with more than 4,300 journalists based at local stations. The activity since 2009 came after public media came under sharp criticism from “The Reconstruction of American Journalism Report” and a Knight Commission on community information needs, both published in 2009. The Reconstruction report noted that, the stations, which are owned by colleges and universities, nonprofit community groups, and state and local governments, supplement relatively small CPB grants with fund-raising from individual donors, philanthropic foundations, and corporate contributors. While the stations have struggled to do more local and investigative news, their overall business model has sustained them.
