The formation of the Benton Foundation was announced at the
bicentennial banquet for the
Britannica in 1968. The mission of the Foundation was re-vamped somewhat in 1981 by Charles Benton, but it has always focused on using media for the public good, particularly for educational purposes. Since 2001, Benton is home for the US center for
OneWorld.net, a global information service, search engine, and network of organizations working for sustainable development and human rights. The foundation has been most famous for its championing of
digital access and for demanding public responsibility by mass media. The Benton Foundation has pushed for a national broadband policy at the highest levels of U.S. government. It has also been pushing the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to determine the public interest obligations of digital television broadcasters. Finally, it has sponsored studies that suggest that
concentration of media ownership in a few hands is not in the interests of the United States. Leonard Jay Schrager became new chairman of Benton in 2015 following the death of Benton Foundation Founder and Chairman Charles Benton who died on 29 April 2015. In 2019, the Benton Foundation became the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. Dr. Revati Prasad took over as Executive Director in May of 2025. ==Funding==