Journalism and Miscellany Blog: Lecture Seven

"The difference between commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting is the difference between consumers and citizens."

Nigel Milan, former managing director of SBS

Lecture Seven was entitled 'Public Media'. In Australia our public media is comprised of ABC and SBS, with their various television channels and radio stations.

http://www.abc.net.au/

Image source:

http://auses.org.au/blog/news-2/abc-news-solar-sector-under-a-cloud-of-uncertainty-2/attachment/abc-logo-3/

http://www.sbs.com.au/

Image Source:

http://www.publicityqueen.com.au/Queentessentials/July2011/MeettheMedia/DavidAstle

The BBC is my favourite overseas public broadcaster and I learnt in this lecture that in the UK they have to pay a licence fee which goes towards public broadcasting funding. We used to have that here in Australia as well.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/

Public media needs to have 'public value', which is defined by the BBC as:
1. Embedding a 'public service ethos'
2. Value for licence fee money
3. 'Weighing public value against market impact'
4. Public consultation

The ABC was founded in 1929 as a "nation-building" project and it is fully-funded by the government. SBS was founded in 1980 as our multicultural channel and twenty percent of its revenue comes from advertising.

News is a big part of public broadcasting because it is cheap and easy to make compared to other kinds of television. Plus, people want to watch it and therefore advertisers want to advertise on it too.
Forty-one percent of Australians get their news from the ABC and each week 12.6 million Australians tune in to the ABC.

The style of public media tends to be:
- serious
- 'broadsheet' style
- importance over interest
- care and considered, rather than quick and unchecked

Criticisms of public media include accusations of being:
- boring
- elitist
- uninteresting
- poorly presented
- out of touch

Both commercial media and public media have their own challenges. For commercial media it is whether you will make a profit and for public media there are pressures regarding independence.

Here is an opinion piece in The Age by Peter Costello regarding his view on ABC bias:
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/everyones-abc-only-if-you-lean-left-20090825-ey0m.html
Plus two other related links:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-10-21/liberal-mp-sprays-gay-bc-and-lunatic-ideas/2306554
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/abc-dumps-milne-from-insiders-20110903-1jrsa.html

This lecture was a really good overview of public media and I learnt about things like the licencing fee you used to have to pay for public broadcasting in Australia. There is an important place for both commercial and public media in our broadcasting landscape. However, I think having an independent and thriving public media is especially essential because public media has an obligation to act in the public's service.

Personally, ABC1 is my favourite channel and the one I am most likely to watch. My three favourite television programmes made for the ABC would have to be The Chaser's War on Everything, Summer Heights High and The Gruen Transfer. Below are some funny snippets from each.

The Chaser's War on Everything: