It could be said that public media are the ‘do gooders’ of the media world. Their mission is simple: serve and engage a public. On the local front we have the ABC and SBS as our Australian representatives. These public media producers dabble in both radio and television production. Internationally, BBC, PBS and TVNZ are just three of a number of public media producers.
To put it
frankly the aforementioned production companies care about us, the viewers,
more than their friends in commercial media do. Public value is at the core of
production and has three main guidelines:
1. Must
embed public service ethos
2. Must
have value for licence fee money
3. Public
value weighs more than media impact
The public
media doesn’t have a biased view either as it should be distanced from all
vested interests and from those of the government. Its primary functions are
nation focused and aim to promote nation building, national heritage, national
identity and ignite national conversations.
In order to
find the profits lost from lack of advertising on their networks and lack of
funding, public media has seen some commercialisation. The ABC Shop, ABC
Commercial and BBC Worldwide are all fine examples.
The most
important element in Public Media is the good old news. And a less biased
version at that!! Public media’s news style is something you either love or
hate. It is typically serious, broadsheet style, reports on importance rather
than interest, quick and unchecked, boring to some, elitist, of limited
interest, poorly presented and out of touch. Some of the issues listed are a
direct result of lack of profit.
Consequently,
public media has a lengthy to do list if it wants to attract more viewers.
THINGS TO DO
·
Produce quality
·
Make themselves relevant
·
Engage with democratic press
·
Inform the public
·
Be independent
It’s a long list and the future
of public media depends on whether the list is completed sooner rather than
later.
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