Public Service Broadcasting
Dr. Mrinal Chatterjee
NOVEMBER 12, is observed as the
Public Service Broadcasting Day in India to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi’s maiden
visit to All India Radio (AIR) studio. On November 12, 1947, Gandhi spoke on
radio to the refugees from Pakistan, stationed at the camp at Kurukshetra. It
was Gandhi’s first and last visit to the studio of AIR. He was a communicator
par excellence. He had always emphasised on the service and advocacy aspect of
media, two important pillars of public service broadcasting.
What is
Public Service Broadcasting?
Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) is
the broadcasting made, financed and controlled by the public, for the public.
It is neither commercial nor state-owned. It is supposed to be free from
political interference and pressure from commercial forces. Through PSB,
citizens are informed, educated and also entertained. When guaranteed with
pluralism, programming diversity, editorial independence, appropriate funding,
accountability and transparency, PSB can serve as a cornerstone of democracy.
Genesis of
PSB
Public service broadcasting is based
on the principles of universality of service, diversity of programming,
provision for minority audiences including the disadvantaged, sustaining an
informed electorate and cultural and educational enrichment. The concept was
conceived and fostered within an overarching ideal of cultural and intellectual
enlightenment of society. The roots of public service broadcasting are
generally traced to documents prepared in support of the establishment of the
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) by Royal Charter on January 1, 1927.
This corporation grew out of recommendations of the Crawford Committee
appointed by the British postmaster general in August 1925. Included in those
recommendations was the creation of a public corporation, which would serve as
a trustee for the national interest in broadcasting. It was expected that as
public trustee, the corporation would emphasise serious, educational and
cultural programming that would elevate the level of intellectual and aesthetic
tastes of the audience. The conception of the BBC was that it would be
insulated from both political and commercial influence. Therefore, the
corporation was a creation of the crown rather than Parliament and funding to
support the venture was determined to be derived from license fees on radio
(and later television) receivers rather than advertising. Within the governance
of national authorities, public service broadcasting was recreated across
western European democracies and beyond, in various forms. At the core of each
was a commitment to operate radio and television services in public interest.
The principal paradigm adopted to accomplish this mission was the establishment
of a state-owned broadcasting system that either functioned as a monopoly or at
least as the dominant broadcasting institution. Funding came in the form of
license fees, taxes or similar noncommercial options. Examples of these
organisations include the Netherlands Broadcasting Foundation, Danish
Broadcasting Corporation, Radiodiffusion Television Francaise, Swedish
Television Company, Radiotelevisione Italiana, Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation and Australian Broadcasting Corporation. While the ideals on which
these and other systems were based suggested services that were characterised
by universality and diversity, there were notable violations of these ideals,
especially in Germany, France and Italy. In some cases the state-owned
broadcasting system became the political mouthpiece for whoever was in power.
Such abuse of the broadcasting institutions’ mandate made public service
broadcasting the subject of frequent political debates.
How is it
different from commercial broadcasting?
Public service broadcasting, differs
from broadcasting for purely commercial or political reasons because of its
specific remit, which is essentially to operate independently of those holding
economic and political power. Its agenda is different. Its objective is public
service. It provides the whole society with information, culture, education and
entertainment; it enhances social, political and cultural citizenship and
promotes social cohesion.
Status of
public service broadcasting
Michael Tracey (1998) writes that
though public broadcasting is arguably the single most important social,
cultural and journalistic institution of the 20th century, in the past 15 years
it has been assaulted politically, ideologically, technologically and is
everywhere in retreat.
Relevance of
PSB now
Critiques of American communications
policy underscored concerns about the evils of commercialisation and the
influence of the open marketplaces. Studies pointed to the loss of minority
voices, a steady decline in programmes for segmented populations and a
demystification of the illusion of unlimited programme choices introduced by
the new television delivery systems of 500 channel cable networks and direct
broadcast satellites. Content analyses revealed programme duplication, not
diversity and the question of just how far commercial broadcasters would
venture away from the well-proven formulae and formats, was getting public
attention. A concerned electorate was beginning to ask whether the wide scale
transformation of telecommunications was not without considerable risk that
turning over the electronic sources of culture, education and political
discourse to the ever-shifting forces of the commercial marketplace might have
profound negative consequences. By the mid-1990s, telecommunications policy
issues ranged from invasion of privacy, depictions of violence on television,
the manufacturing of parent-controlled TV sets, revisions in technological
standards to finding new funding alternatives to sustain public service
broadcasting in some form. These issues were also firmly embedded in the public
discourse. The environment of electronic communications was in a state of flux
as the new technologies vied for a piece of a quickly expanding and constantly
evolving marketplaces. PSB were reassessing their missions and were building
new alliances with book publishers, computer software manufacturers and
commercial production houses. In the United States, public radio and television
stations were experimenting with enhanced underwriting messages that looked and
sounded more and more like conventional advertising. The relative success of
these and other new ventures worldwide was still unknown. Whether public
service broadcasting will continue well into the 21st century remains a topic
for robust debate.
Almost the same situation prevailed
in India. With the proliferation of cable and satellite television from late
80s, market-driven content began to gain prominence. Mainstream media tried to
cater to the want of paying public and not to their need. This created a
situation, where it is difficult to find a sane voice amidst cacophony. PSB is
and will always be relevant and required as a watchdog of democracy. Since PSB
does not a have a commercial or political agenda, it is typically universal in
terms of content and access; it guarantees editorial independence and
impartiality; it provides a benchmark of quality; it offers a variety of
programmes and services catering for the needs of all groups in society and is
publicly accountable. It is a safeguard against bulldozing of minority voices
and stereotyping of programmes.
But PSB has to look at the changing
taste and need of the public it wants to serve. Changes in programming style
and format may have to be introduced to meet the requirements of the 21st
century. But the principles remain. Reasons for that are not difficult to find.
It is challenged by political and economic interests, by increasing competition
from commercial media, by media concentrations and by financial difficulties.
But the main reason is the widening gulf between the need and want of the
public. PSB tries to provide need and commercial services try to provide the
want. Obviously PSB finds less viewers in normal times. When viewership gains
importance to decide funding- PSB is in a fix. Technology also played a part in
reducing the importance of PSB. Spectrum scarcity was no longer there.
Deregulation of communication industries was a necessary prerequisite to the
breakdown of international trade barriers and the shift towards increased
privatisation brought new players into what had been a closed system. The growing
appeal of economic directives derived from consumer preferences favoured the
substitution of the American market forces model for the long—standing public
trustee model that had been the backbone of public service broadcasting.
However, the trend will end up full
circle. People will get fed up with relentless bombardment of triviality and
ultimately will carve for substance, that matters, that relates to their real
need and not some manufactured wants.
References
Books
Public Service Broadcasting in the
Age of Globalization Edited by Indrajit Banerjee, Kalinga Seneviratne
http://books.google.co.in/books?id=8bwlvxicNw0C&pg=PA149&lpg=PA149&dq=public+service+broadcasting+in+india&source=bl&ots=nnNkTw4Wjr&sig=zJKhTwBaCqp1gjpxLPU4HVhPspQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=EcN8UqeTJYGFrgeWnoDIBw&sqi=2&ved=0CEUQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=public%20service%20broadcasting%20in%20india&f=false
Articles
Website
http://www.psbt.org/general/more
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