Public Media

When: Week 7
What: Lecture 7
Who: Dr. Bruce Redman


The lecture this week was about Public Media. Overall, the lecture was intriguing. One thing I did notice was that Dr. Bruce Redman mentioned the "ABC" a lot more than the other public media broadcasters. He spoke very highly of the "ABC", which I assume is because Dr. Bruce Redman has experience working for the "ABC".

Public Media in Australia

Public Media on an International Level

Public Media in Australia - Community Media

What is Public Media's Role in a Democratic Society?

Dr. Bruce Redman stated that the role of public media in a democratic society is to "support the public and the democratic process". 

Public value is a key element that all public media should contain and is described by the "British Broadcasting Corporation" (BCC) as:

1. Embedding a 'public service ethos

2. Value for license fee money

3. 'Weighing public value against market impact'

4. Public consultation

In Australia, we no longer have a license fee for broadcast stations. In the United Kingdom, a license fee is needed to keep stations like the "BBC", available. In Australia, public consultation is very important to broadcast stations like the "ABC" and "SBS". Public consultation is where a group of individuals, namely people from the general public, express their views and opinions on a stations actions. 

The "SBS", over recent days, has opened their "SBS" radio station to public consultation. Luciana Fraguas stated in an article on the SBS website, that the "SBS" is seeking public consultation so that it can review its radio schedule. 

In 1985, the "Broadcasting Researching Unit" defined public service broadcasting as involving:

• Geographic universality. Public service broadcasting stations should be available to everyone across Australia, no matter where you live.
• Universality of appeal. Public service broadcasting stations should provide for all tastes and interests.
• Public service broadcasting stations should provide special provision for minorities, whether its ethnicity or religion.
• Public broadcasting stations should recognise their special relationship to the sense of national identity and community. In Australia, national identity is all about who we are as Aussies and the indigenous members of our community.  
• Public service broadcasting stations should be distanced from all vested interests, and in particular from those of the government of the day.
• Universality of payment. One main instrument of broadcasting should be directly funded by the corpus of users. 
• Public service broadcasting stations should be structured so as to encourage competition in good programming rather than competition for numbers.
• The public guidelines for broadcasting should liberate rather than restrict broadcasters. 

(http://www.nosuch-research.co.uk/pppp.html)

The ABC

In Australia, there are two major players in public media, the "ABC" and "SBS". The "ABC" has produced a vast range of channels and stations, across television and radio. In Australia, the "ABC" owns four television channels; there is "ABC1" which is available on free-to-air television and there are three digital channels. ABC's three digital television channels include "ABC2", "ABC3" and "ABC News 24". The "ABC" also owns a large number of radio stations. There is "ABC Local Radio", "ABC News Radio", "ABC Radio National", "ABC Classic FM" and "Triple J". The "ABC" also owns three digital radio stations, "ABC Dig Music", "ABC Country" and "ABC Jazz". The ABC also produces some of my favourite television programs, Chris Lilley's "Summer Heights High" and "Angry Boys".

What the ABC Produces

SBS

Dr. Bruce Redman stated that, "SBS" is sometimes described as:

This is because the "SBS" television stations play a lot of world movies and soccer games. Overall, I thought that this statement was hilarious. 

"SBS" owns two television channels, there is "SBS One", which is available on free-to-air television and there is "SBS Two", which is a digital channel. "SBS" also owns the radio station, "SBS Radio". 

What the SBS Produces

The Functions of Public Media

There are four functions of the public media. The four functions include nation building, national heritage, national identity and national conversations. 

Nation Building

Dr. Bruce Redman stated that the function of nation building in public media is to communicate and to unite the whole nation.

National Heritage

National heritage in public media is when a channel or station does a segment or documentary on their nation's history. At the moment, a lot of stations are currently covering the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the "Titanic". Next Wednesday in Australia, the "ABC" and "SBS" will be covering the ANZAC parade.  

National Identity

The function of national identity in public media is to identify who and what we are as a nation, as Australians. The national identity of Australia also includes the indigenous members of our community. 

National Conversations

National conversations in public media includes sporting events and games such as the "State of Origin", "Wimbledon" and the soccer grand final.

Commercialisation of Public Media

Unlike commercial media, public media doesn't make profit from advertising or commercials. The public media generates a large majority of its profit from retail shops and chains. British broadcaster, "BBC", owns an online shop called "BBC worldwide". Similarly, "SBS" owns an online soccer shop called "The World Game Shop" and the "ABC" owns a shop called "The ABC Shop". 

These retail shops and chains sell products that feature content from the broadcaster. "BBC World Wide" and "The ABC Shop" sell DVDs, book, CDs and toys. "The World Game Shop" sells football and supporter gear. 

News - A Key Mechanism of Public Media

During the lecture, Dr. Bruce Redman stated that news is a large part of public media. This is because news is cheap programming and the public want to view it. 

The 'Style' of News

The style of public media is extremely diverse in comparison to commercial media. Public media is seen as very serious and a broadsheet' style. In comparison to commercial media, public media presents news stories about politics and topics of importance, instead of news stories about celebrities and entertainment. Before broadcasting news stories, public media broadcasters check their facts, and they make sure their stories are concise. As a result, public media broadcasters aren't often the ones to break a news story to the public.

Unfortunately, the news style of public media, is often seen as boring, elitist and of limited interest. It can be poorly presented because of a lack of funds and is out of touch. 

Public Media function/communications style

During the lecture, Dr. Bruce Redman described five communication styles used by the public media. 

• The Press - News programs, Q&A programs and current affairs. 
• Entertainment - Programs like, "Angry Boys" on the "ABC" and "Wilfred" on the "SBS".
• Utility - Weather programs and traffic reports. 
• Social - Programs about sport, cooking and DIY. 
• Propaganda - Programs that are thought to be very biased, such as "CCTV" and "Fox News". 

Challenges for Public Media

In the future, public media needs to produce quality programs and better presented news programs. It also needs to become relevant. In contemporary times, Australian broadcast stations aren't catering for a younger audience, and I believe that they are rather boring, they need to be more entertaining. 

Public media needs to engage with the democratic process. This means that it needs to provide programs that give the public a voice, a chance to express their beliefs and opinions. It has to continue to inform the public with accurate, balanced and truthful news and current events, and it needs to be independent. 

I consume a large majority of my news from commercial media programs. Although a lot of their news stories lack relevance, I believe that they are more interesting. They are presented better and they provide news stories that are important to me, celebrity stories and current affairs. Until public media programs can provide this, I intend on sticking to commercial media programs, no matter how 'important', public media claims to be.


PS: My favourite thing that has come from public media is Chris Lilley. Thank you "ABC", there is no question about it, he is a comedic god.