Lecture 7 - Public Media

This week it was public media's turn in the limelight. After last week's sobering statistics about the concentrated state of Australia's media, I was looking forward to learning about the other side of news - the one which is not susceptible to bias, commercialism and, quite frankly, rubbish sensationalist stories.

ABC NEWS to the rescue!

I must admit that I don't consume much public media. On the rare occurrence when I do turn on the T.V, the flashy lights and sweet sounds of commercial stations suck me in all too quickly. However, despite not consuming it directly, I strongly support the idea of a media 'owned by the people, for the people'. I think this is important to note, that the government does not directly hold any power or control over these public channels, that they are held in common with the people. I was always curious as to the extent of input of any current government. As Bruce succinctly mentioned, public media is at it's best and most balanced when the government is unhappy with the content. While it does not solve the debate surrounding what is in the public interest, it certainty eliminates many external influences on the news we receive from commercial partners of media outlets.

However, while having a station held in common with the people is incredibly worthwhile, is this simply an ideal - how much can the government control our news stations? Through funding and legislation, one could argue that the government has too great of an ability to influence our media. Despite this, in reality, public media in Australia is far from propaganda.

Public media functions to promote national identity, heritage and nation building and serves as a platform for national conversations. As commercial media becomes more and more sensationalist, long-form investigative journalism is kept alive nearly solely through public media. Investigative journalism is so incredibly important to a functional society that the many cases solved by journalists are by now jumping around your head!

The news style of public media is often what repels people who, instead, flock to other commercial channels for their news and entertainment. Public media is, generally:

• 'serious’
• ‘broadsheet’ style
• importance over interest
• considered, not quick and unchecked.

Which is often interpreted by the public as being:

• ‘boring’ 
• élitist
• of limited interest 
• poorly presented 
• out of touch.

With these less-than-flattering opinions, what's on the horrizon for Australia's public media? There are challenges facing both public and commercial media, with increasing pressure to stay relevant, informative and of a high quality, however, being publicly funded, perhaps expectations to stay independent and non-bias are higher for public media - it is scrutinised far more than it's commercial sibling. The future of public media will, in some part, be decided by funding. Not only the limited amount given by tight-arse politician, but whether the ABC will follow the BBC and SBS funding scheme, making the broadcaster a 'hybrid' between public and commercial funding.

Either way, I desperately hope the public media stands the test of time, and continues to uphold its strong ethics for the future. It will be interesting to follow!