This report proposes a framework for understanding the role of charitable
foundations in the area of electronic media policy. To develop such a framework, a
historical analysis of foundation archives, legal, and regulatory texts was
conducted. The principal argument presented in the report is that the most
meaningful way of understanding foundation actions in this area is to see them as
social entrepreneurial efforts.

The paper defines social entrepreneurial efforts as oriented towards two
types of engagement, namely, intervention-oriented efforts and innovationoriented
efforts. Intervention-oriented approaches create social value by targeting
existing media institutions and practices in the context of a regulatory
environment. By contrast, innovation-oriented approaches create social value by
acting in the context of a marketplace environment and creating new media
institutions and practices. These two categories, while not mutually exclusive, are
offered as tools for organizing a complex historical record. Further, the social
entrepreneurial framework is intended to outline a strategic way of thought that
can guide future foundation efforts.

In an effort to better contextualize the actions of foundations in the area of
electronic media, the report includes a graphical timeline of social entrepreneurial
efforts and a supplement providing more detailed descriptions of foundation
actions appearing on the timeline. The timeline and supplement are not intended
to provide a comprehensive overview of foundation efforts. Rather, they highlight some foundation actions that are generally considered the most successful or
important in the area of electronic media policy.

The scope of the report has two important limitations. First, the term
media policy in this report concerns primarily that range of activity that is
commonly referred to as “TV” or “broadcasting.” The focus of the analysis on
broadcasting excludes from review many other important issues, such as the role
of journalism and the First Amendment, privacy, and copyright issues. Further,
issues related to telephony, the Internet and other new media technologies have
been excluded from the project’s consideration. Second, this project does not
carry out a comprehensive review of the actions of charitable foundations in the
period 1946-1996. Rather, it foregrounds the concept of social entrepreneurship in
relation to broadcasting and thus selectively focuses on a vast field with an eye
toward distilling the information so that it will be useful to the non-specialist.

Finally, the project’s design also included a request to a number of media
policy advocates and researchers to review the proposed conceptual framework of
social entrepreneurship in relation to media policy. Nine experts in the field
responded with written comments, which are presented in the report both as brief
summaries and as unabridged text. A response from the author to some of the
major points raised by the commentators is also included.