Journalism-Lecture 7- Public Media

This week's topic for our journalism lecture was Public Media. Some of the topics which were discussed were what is public media, what is it's role in a democratic society, who are the major players, the various functions and challenges media producers may face and some functions of public media.

The definition of public media is essentially to provide media which will serve or engage the public without the intentions of creating a profit. One of the quotes used in the lecture, which I thought creatively summed up the difference between commercial media and public media is by Nigel Milan, the former managing director of the SBS. He states, "the difference between commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting is the difference between consumers and citizens". I really liked this quote because it highlights the difference between the aims of commercial and media broadcasting. The major distributors of public media in Australia are ABC and SBS and their various digital programs and radio programs. 

Both broadcasters are on free-to-air television, radio and online so they are on a multi-platform level. In terms of financial aid, both companies are funded by the Australian Government.  However, the SBS is partially financed by advertisers and sponsorships. In particular, the ABC is operated within a charter which ensures that the ABC remains independent, unbiased and most importantly, representative of Australia. 

Furthermore, the ABC aims to show and share a multiplicity of views. Whereas, the SBS focuses on reflecting the diversity of Australia through a multiplicity of voices. 

There are also examples of public media all over the world for example BBC in England. Basically we learned that every country has their own public and commercial media companies. 

When discussing the role of public media in a democratic society, it aims to broadcast media which is in support of the public and democratic processes. 

One of the things that I was surprised to hear was that the ABC have no resources and barely any extra money so they have to copy the news from the other broadcasters and present it as their own. This is because they simply do not have the funds to report the news properly. 

The ABC was founded in 1929 and was dubbed the 'nation building project'. Ever since then, it has always been a well respected corporation in Australia. It creates shows such as Angry Boys from Chris Lilley, the Australian Story and Hungry Beast. 

On the other hand, SBS was launched in 1980 as a multicultural channel which aimed to reflect the changing nature of Australia. In modern times, SBS has since changed from no advertisements to having about 20% of their funds coming from advertising. Some of their programs include world news and Insight.

I found the challenges that Public Media face on a daily basis really interesting. These include, to produce quality programs worth watching, to make themselves relevant to a large audience, to engage with the democratic process with relation to political opinions, to inform the public of current issues in Australia and finally, to be independent. 

Some of the functions of public media which were mentioned in the lecture were nation building, national heritage, national identity and national conversations. 

I enjoyed this lecture because I was able to see how much the public media relies on funding from either the government or from advertisers. I also really respect ABC and SBS for continuing for this many years producing authentic Australian programs which the nation as a whole can enjoy. Furthermore, I found learning about the history of ABC and SBS and seeing all the programs they produce really insightful. 

I really hope they are able to keep broadcasting programs and keep Australian media genuine and true to our Australian ethos.