Public Media

'The difference between commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting is the difference between consumers and citizens" NIGEL MILAN

Entering the realm of public media, we began this weeks lecture by establishing the definition of Public media, which is "media whose mission is to serve or engage a public - it's ultimate purpose must be to serve the public and not to gain a profit in contrast with commercial media. It is a more serious genre of reporting which values importance over interest - Bruce commented that this is why ABC is often the last station to release their news stories. Public media within the Australian media landscape is fronted by organisations such as the ABC and SBS and it's role within a democratic society such as ours is of support of the public and democratic progress.

Personally I found this lecture engaging as I'm all for ABC and SBS related programs and news, being a conscious journalism student, keen to get my fix of the latest, most detailed and unbiased news I often tune in to Triple J or various news programs on the ABC such as Hungry Beast, Catalyst and Compass - the fact that is a form of public media and thus easily accessible makes it even better! Coincidently 41% of Australians join me in my 'tuning-in' to the ABC with 12.6 million Australians viewing ABC TV each week.

Bruce went on to say that public media, essentially should have 'public value,' according to the BBC this includes

• embedding a public service ethos
• value for licence fee money 
• weighing public value against market impact
• public consultation

In accordance with these values the function of public media is to uphold nation building, national heritage, national identity and national conversations.

We then went on to discuss the challenges that public media faces in contemporary society. The predominant hurdle being to retain independence. Whilst the ABC and SBS are not owned by the government, rather held in common by the people they still receive government funding. Thus restricting the degree of independent reporting to avoid 'biting the hand that feeds them.'