For over thirty years, Public Media Center was a national nonprofit public interest communications agency based in San Francisco that helped numerous social change and advocacy organizations with a range of media, marketing, public relations and advertising.
Founded in 1974 and led by President and CEO Herb Chao Gunther, Public Media Center provided support to hundreds of nonprofit organizations engaged in a myriad of issues and purposes, and varying in size and complexity. PMC's clients included government agencies, foundation-supported programs, major social service providers, large national advocacy organizations, ad hoc grass-roots efforts, and small community-based agencies.
Known for being hard-hitting, educational and visually striking, PMC’s campaigns advocating for social change worldwide helped citizen activists shape the public agenda and reform powerful institutions.
PMC specialized in campaigns centered on environmental protection, social justice, consumer education, reproductive health and rights, health care access, AIDS education, human and civil rights, corporate responsibility, media fairness, and voter education. PMC searched for opportunities to assert democratic ideas and values and, by working closely with different issue-based groups, actively engaged in re-setting the national agenda. PMC also worked with many grassroots coalitions forming new organizations focused on critical issues and, in many cases, took a leadership role in creating these organizations.
Creative Director Jonathan Polansky wrote hundreds of Public Media Center’s most memorable ads, and a team of talented designers and producers brought them to life. See the PMC Viewbook here for more information and examples.
A partial list of organizations PMC worked with included:
ENVIRONMENT:
The Adirondack Council
Alaska Wilderness League
Appalachian Mountain Club
American Oceans Campaign
California League of Conservation Voters
Californians for Pesticide Reform
Citizens' Coalition Against the Plutonium Fast Breeder Reactor (Japan)
Citizens to Protect Maine's Future
Clearcut Education Project
Community Alliance of Family Farmers Foundation
Consumers' Union of the United States
Dodge Foundation
Earth Island Institute
Earth Island Institute Sea Turtle Restoration Project
Earth Island Institute Endangered Species Project
Earth Island Institute Blue Water Network
Ecotrust
Friends of the Urban Forest
Food and Water
Forest Guardians
Foundation for Ecology and Development
Global Village, Beijing, China
Goldman Environmental Foundation
GrassRoots Recycling Network
Greenpeace
Highlands Coalition
International Forum on Globalization
Japan Tropical Forest Action Network (JATAN)
Japanese Citizens Concerned About Plutonium
Japan's Save the Ozone Network
Marine Conservation Biology Institute
Methyl Bromide Alternatives Network (MBAN)
Multinational Monitor
Max and Anna Levinson Foundation
Natural Resources Defense Council
Oxfam International
Ozone Action
Pesticide Action Network
The Sierra Club
S.W. Center for Biological Diversity
Southwest Forest Alliance
David Suzuki Foundation (Climate Change Initiative)
The Utility Reform Network (TURN)
Zero Cut Coalition
The Wilderness Society
PUBLIC HEALTH:
American Cancer Society
American Heart Association
American Lung Association
Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights
California Nurses Association
California Endowment (Violence Prevention Initiative, Sacramento)
California Endowment Community Health Investment Program
Community Action to Fight Asthma
Consumers for Quality Care
Haight Ashbury Free Clinic
Public Health Institute
University of California (Berkeley) Wellness Guide
University of California (Berkeley) School of Public Health
University of California (San Francisco) School of Medicine
Western Consortium for Public Health
Whirlwind (Wheelchairs International)
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS:
California Reproductive Health Association
California State Department of Health (Breast and Cervical Cancer
Control Program)
California State Department of Health (Office of Family Planning)
The California Wellness Foundation Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative
Catholic Referendum Movement
Catholics for Free Choice
Center for Health and Social Policy
China Family Planning Association (China)
China Population Welfare Foundation, Beijing, China
Ford Foundation (U.S.A. and Beijing)
New Generation Health Center
Oxfam International
Packard Foundation
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Planned Parenthood Golden Gate
Planned Parenthood Los Angeles
Planned Parenthood of New York City
AIDS Advocacy, Education & Prevention:
AIDS Action Council
AIDS National Interfaith Network
AIDS Project East Bay
China AIDS Network
Ford Foundation (AIDS-Homophobia Project)
Gay Men's Health Crisis
Mothers' Voices
World Health Organization (Beijing)
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM & MEDIA ACCOUNTABILITY:
American Prospect magazine
Center for Investigative Reporting
Cultural Environment Movement
DoubleTake magazine (Center for Documentary Studies, Duke
University)
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)
KPFA Listener-Sponsored Radio
Institute for Alternative Journalism
Media and Democracy Project
The Nation magazine
EDUCATION, SOCIAL JUSTICE & CIVIL RIGHTS:
Association of American Medical Colleges
Aztec Harvests (U.S.A.- Mexico)
Bay Area Social Services Consortium
California Coalition for Children
California Faculty Association
California Food Policy Advocates
Center for Commercial Free Education (UNPLUG)
Californians Against Utility Taxes (CUT)
Center for Gender Equality
Center for Study of Responsive Law (Ralph Nader)
Children and the Environment Initiative
Child Support Reform Initiative
Fair Share Network
Food First
Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights
Haight Ashbury Food Program
Learning in the Real World
Levi Strauss Foundation Project Change
Low Income Housing Fund
Oaks Project
Pile Drivers Union Local 34
Private Industry Council, S.F.
Proposition 103 Enforcement Project
Proposition 188: Get the Facts
Public Communications Centre (Dublin, Ireland)
Schumann Foundation
Voter Qualified Initiative
Women Emerging Against Violent Environments