American Archive of Public Broadcasting: Preserving the Voice of the People
Public media serves as a vital mirror of society, capturing the evolving narratives, political shifts, and cultural milestones of the United States. To ensure these records are not lost to time, the American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB) was established as a collaborative effort to digitize and preserve the vast history of US public media content.
The journey toward a centralized archive began in 2007 when the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) started inventorying public media content. By 2013, this effort had identified 2.5 million items, including 40,000 hours of broadcasting. To manage this massive undertaking, an advisory council—featuring prominent figures such as Ken Burns, Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Cokie Roberts—recommended a strategic partnership between WGBH and the Library of Congress to operate the archive.
[ไม่มีภาพประกอบ]Key Facts
- Founding Partnership: Operated through a collaboration between WGBH and the Library of Congress.
- Initial Scale: The first phase focused on digitizing 40,000 hours of radio and TV programs plus 5,000 hours of born-digital content.
- Accessibility: Content is available via a public website and on-site in Boston and Washington, D.C.
- Inventory: 2.5 million items were inventoried by 2013.
The Digitization Process and Public Access
The first phase of the AAPB project, launched in 2013, aimed to secure the legacy of public broadcasting by digitizing tens of thousands of hours of programming. Because much of this content is subject to copyright law (legal protections for original works), the archive developed a specific rights clearance strategy to ensure that as much material as possible could be legally shared with the public.
The archive hosts a diverse array of historical media. Examples include the 1967 audio portrait "The American Town: A Self-Portrait: Durand, Michigan" and a 1962 video featuring Eleanor Roosevelt interviewing President John F. Kennedy and Secretary of Labor Arthur Goldberg regarding the status of women.
Expanding the Scope: Specialized Projects
Beyond its primary collection, the AAPB and its partners have spearheaded several targeted preservation initiatives to fill critical gaps in the historical record.
National Educational Television (NET)
From 1952 to 1972, National Educational Television (NET) was a cornerstone of early public broadcasting. A dedicated project, scheduled for completion in 2018, aimed to catalog between 8,000 and 10,000 NET titles.
PBS NewsHour Digitization
To preserve the history of journalism, the PBS NewsHour Digitization Project has made over 13,500 episodes of PBS NewsHour and its predecessor programs available online, accompanied by transcripts for more than 9,000 shows spanning 1975 to 2015.
Educational Fellowships and Outreach
The Public Broadcasting Preservation Fellowship (PBPF), established in 2018, provides graduate students in non-specialized programs the opportunity to lead digital preservation projects at public broadcasting stations. This model expanded in 2020 through a partnership between WGBH and the University of Alabama's School of Library and Information Studies.
Furthermore, in 2021, the AAPB collaborated with the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS) to launch "Presenting the Past," a podcast series where scholars and archivists discuss significant events documented within the AAPB collections.
Summary of AAPB Initiatives
| Project/Initiative | Focus Area | Key Metric/Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| AAPB Phase One | General Public Media | 45,000 total hours of content |
| NET Cataloging | Early Educational TV (1952-1972) | 8,000–10,000 titles |
| PBS NewsHour Project | Journalism & News | 13,500+ episodes |
| PBPF | Graduate Education | Digital preservation fellowships |
Frequently Asked Questions
Who manages the American Archive of Public Broadcasting?
The archive is operated through a collaboration between WGBH and the Library of Congress, with initial funding and inventory support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
How can the public access the archived materials?
Much of the collection is available through the AAPB website, and materials can also be accessed on-site in Boston and Washington, D.C.
What is the Public Broadcasting Preservation Fellowship?
Launched in 2018, the PBPF supports graduate students in pursuing digital preservation projects at public broadcasting organizations across the United States.
What is the "Presenting the Past" series?
It is a podcast launched in 2021 in collaboration with the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS) that features discussions with experts about topics documented in the AAPB collections.