Once again we hear the drumbeats to de-fund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), this time from a president who has shamelessly bandied about his ignorance of the value of artistic expression in our rich culture. He evidently does not see (or does not care) that one of the things makes America great is the worldwide emulation of American music, art, theatre, and cinema. We are also the envy of the oppressed inhabitants of the world for the independence of our press and access of all voices to the airwaves.

Ensuring the export of our American artistic culture and the envied access for expression requires our government’s unqualified commitment to those principles.

President Lyndon Johnson recognized this when he signed into law the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, thus creating the CPB. In his words, even though the CPB will receive support from the government, it will be "carefully guarded from government or from party control. It will be free, and it will be independent — and it will belong to all our people."

The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 provides that, in order to receive grants from the CPB, stations must operate responsibly and in harmony with the act’s purposes and the interest of all Americans, without regard to party politics. These safeguards include:

Non-governmental public broadcasters are required to establish a community advisory board, representative of the diverse needs of the communities served, to review programming goals and to advise the station on meeting the community’s specialized educational and cultural needs.

Non-governmental public broadcasters are required to open their board meetings to the public, subject to narrow exceptions for confidential matters.

CPB grants may be made only to "public" television stations and "public" radio stations. These are non-commercial enterprises owned and operated by a governmental agency or nonprofit private corporation, whose operating budgets are largely dependent on charitable contributions from their audiences.

Dedicated broadcast journalists, like many artists, are driven by devotion to their calling, not by the desire to make a lot of money. Achieving outstanding art and independent broadcast journalism requires funding from many sources, not looking for a financial return.

President Johnson cautioned that if control of the CPB were to fall into weak or irresponsible hands, it could generate controversy without understanding; mislead as well as teach; and appeal to passions rather than to reason. He foresaw the face of today’s administration.

We, the governed, must insist that our congressional leadership live up to its obligation to continue support for the greatness of American artistic culture and the strength of its independent broadcasters.

John P. Machen, Baltimore

The writer is a member and former chair of the board of WYPR.