Essay on Public Service Broadcasting Within The Plural Society

Recent and historical events throughout television history have demanded a redefinition of the medium in contemporary culture. Throughout its history television has predominantly relied upon industry practices established early in the 1960s, however, the turn of the century has produced such divergence from these practices that some scholars are defining it as an entirely new era of television. Lotz, for example, employs the term ‘post-network’, an indication of televisions separation from earlier dominant network practices (9). For the most part, Lotz and scholars alike agree that this transition has stemmed from changes in the industrial norms of producing, financing, and distributing television, as well new introductions to the industry such as the arrival of digital technologies. This essay will agree with these scholars, arguing that significant changes to the Western television industry has resulted in a new, distinctive era of television culture.

In response to the rise of television and the competition from commercial broadcasting, BBC urged to an intellectual shift in the understanding of its role and the purpose of public service. It had to reinvent itself in order to maintain an independent service, and protect it from the political and commercial pressure. Sir Ian Jacob, the Director-General from 1952 to 1960 almost outlined every notable step of the BBC’s reinvention in the next two decades. Firstly, Jacob (1954, cited in Tracey, 1998: 9) claimed that public service broadcasting should be ‘best available in every field’, and allow the public to make the choice rather than making choice for them. The BBC was expected to consistently fulfill

Over the centuries, the media has played a significant role in the shaping of societies across the globe. This is especially true of developed nations where media access is readily available to the average citizen. The media has contributed to the creation of ideologies and ideals within a society. The media has such an effect on social life, that a simple as a news story has the power to shake a nation. Because of this, governments around the world have made it their duty to be active in the regulation and control of media access in their countries. The media however, has quickly become dominated by major mega companies who own numerous television, radio and movie companies both nationally and

Through the course of its development, there have been controversial discussions about the role of non-profit educational broadcasting within media industries for long time. Nonetheless, the continuous discussions about the role of the educational broadcasting led to create decentralized non-profit media sector that is known as public broadcasting today in the

There is no doubt that the proliferation of digital media has placed great stress on the already fragile status of public service broadcasting (Miragliotta and Errington, 2012). The convergent media environment alongside restraints on funding and skeptic views regarding their necessity have posed great challenges altering the role of public service broadcasters in the 21st century. However, there are many signs pointing toward a renewed government commitment within the Australian sector, to suggest that what the digital revolution has brought is not only challenges but also opportunities (Spigelman, 2013). By examining the recent movements of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in addition to specific reference of the Special Broadcasting Company (SBS) this essay shall seek to address the current debate surrounding the necessity of public service broadcasters in the 21st century.

The BBC was born in 1926 when the British Broadcasting Company became the British Broadcasting Corporation. The UK government took control of the BBC and formed it into a Public Service Broadcaster. This meant that the BBC had formed an agreement that they would provide programming that would educate as well as entertain the British Public. The BBC had complete control over the industry until other terrestrial broadcasters started in the 1950’s and 60’s, beginning with ITV. The USA’s own version of public service broadcasters began in 1952 with The Entertainment Television and Radio Centre which through time and ownership handovers became the Public Broadcasting Service they have today. Today there are questions being raised over the public

Commercial institutions try to combat the power of the BBC by becoming larger and creating vertical integration. This is where an institution has shares or owns each part of the production and distribution process. For example: Warner Bros Entertainment calls itself a fully integrated broad based entertainment company which owns film studios and the means to distribute the films as well as some of the cinemas in which they are shown. Warner Bros in itself is part of an even bigger conglomerate called Time Warner which is a huge media conglomerate institution which uses horizontal

The Public Occurences was the first ingenuous attempt to report news to the public. This informed people on current issues, enabling them to form their own opinions about politics. Since 1690, the media’s approach to reporting news stories has shifted. Instead of offering people the truth, forms of media like television often distort political affairs to align with their own political agendas. With the shift in the media’s tactics of tackling current events, the public’s perception of the media has transformed. Back in 1690, any form of media was a blessing because it kept the public cognizant. Today, people take for granted a constant flow of information because it is so readily available. Overall, the incessant and

The importance of television’s impact to spread news and awareness, which was always debatable, has become controversial. The substantial influence of television has sparked the controversy over the potential impact of this trend on spreading news and awareness over the years. It can be agreed that television is an effective method to transmit news, but some people claim the opposite. This essay will elaborate on how effective television can be to transmit news and how it is simply an entertainment tool after this, a logical conclusion will be deduced.

In the early 20th century, the BBC didn’t follow the small steps of the other televised services. The British Broadcasting Corporation made its own path during its gradual progress throughout the 20th century. "The British Broadcasting company started life in 1922...However by 1922, public opinion, as well as the spectacular growth and popularity of radio…. Thus, the BBC was born," the BBC says. In this case, the British Broadcasting Corporation came to life by the public's ideas. So as the BBC grew so did the public's outlook of the company. Even so as the

The whole project involves expanding new media services in alliance with Public Service Broadcasters, enriching infinite online content and the management of quality and innovation as well as dealing with the relationship with traditional broadcasters. The Strategy is quite optimistic with PSBs and positively utilizes traditional premium broadcasting tools without turnover of them. Flew (2011: 215) proposes that although last century the literature were frustrated by the impact of “dissolution such as channel proliferation, limited public funding and the loss of clear mission,” now we can see the world is giving opportunities for “context’s reinvention and media convergence and multiplatform content delivery.” Importantly, creative Research and Development and new technology are experiencing the space opened by PSBs. The ABC‘s Innovation Division of the Strategy is designed to transferring ABC content to multiplatforms, connecting a broader range of key audiences, and nurturing a good partnership with other innovation

Finally the public television is used as an example to describe the peculiarities of the media and the political economy of the media.

The public sphere involves the institutions and practices of mass public communication, which have a direct attitude on the practices and institutions of democratic politics. The public sphere shows to have a diverse amount of perspectives and this benefits societies as it allows an infinite number of questions to be asked and answered. This essay will explain that diversity in the public sphere by arguing that democratic societies rely on a diversity of viewpoints and that more arguments that are presented and discussed benefit the public sphere. This essay will also argue that diversity justifies policies of radical impartiality and that risks can arise from this reporting policy.

The media has become a privatised market. One of the biggest names involved is Rupert Murdoch, the owner of sky and the worlds largest media mogul. Privatised media in the UK is expected to grow by 3.2% between 2015 and 2019 to £66.9bn (Gentle, S, 2015). These numbers are enticing for the the British economy if we agree with the “trickle down” approach that the British government under Prime minister Thatcher adopted in the 1980s. However if we are to adopt a sceptic approach to privatised media then we are directed towards the content that privatised media produces. With on sole owner it is made much easier to manipulate the content that the media groups and corporations are broadcasting and producing. One great example off this is Rupert Murdoch and the coverage of the 1992 UK general election when the sun printed self proclaimed victory for the conservative party with the headline “it was the sun wot won it”. Media content, legitimacy certainly is a consequences of private ownership. But it is well known that money brings power, and owning a media firm is a prime example of this.

The British media has contributed to spreading elements of national identity but how has national identity influenced the British media? When it comes to the BBC, it has been closely defined in regards to servicing the British population as a whole, and this common link that everyone is supposed to be able to enjoy serves as yet another facet of national identity. Because of its founding principles of public service broadcasting, the BBC's identity was grounded in the idea