public service futures

Andrew Graham’s defence of the public service ethos argues for the social good of not-for-profit media. David Elstein doesn’t disagree with the premise, but with the idea that the BBC is beyond criticism or reform. The debate develops with contributions from leading media theorist Jean Seaton, Steve Barnett and Channel 4’s David Lloyd. Taking in the global lessons from New Zealand, India, Latin America and Italy, the main protagonists move toward a shared vision of the landscape, if little agreement on the priorities.

Wednesday 29th August

Turn on, tune in - pay up?

Todd Gitlin, 29 August 2001

Democracy needs probing and accessible broadcasting news sources which commercial stations are unlikely to provide. David Elstein’s strong case for marketplace virtue remains at the level of potential. But, concludes the media co-editor, the shadow of audience tune-out threatens us all.

Tuesday 28th August

Purpose first, value second - but only if you mean it

David Elstein, 28 August 2001

Social purpose is indeed essential to broadcasting – something ignored in the recent “market farces” of the UK sector. But funding sources and methods are still crucial in judging performance and value when the public’s money is being spent. The emotional preference for the public over the commercial sector inhibits the rational assessment of either.

Wednesday 22nd August

Money can't buy you broadcasting value

Steven Barnett, 22 August 2001

The old David Elstein understood what the new one has seemingly forgotten, that an obsession with cost leads to the worst of both worlds – inefficiency as well as an erosion of the creative spirit. It is time to rethink.

Tuesday 14th August

Neither history nor mystery but reality

David Elstein, 14 August 2001

The core arguments against the way public sector broadcasting operates in the UK are restated by the media section co-editor: excessive cost, inefficiency, and (in the context of a fragmenting audience) anachronism. By the valid criterion of good value for public money, BBC and Channel 4 simply do not cut the mustard.

Wednesday 8th August

The Indian media: a response to Page and Crawley

Maruf Khwaja, 8 August 2001

Those who have endured decades of perverse Bollywood fantasies bombarding their own besieged cultures will point to darker shades cast by India’s pretensions to world power status.

Tuesday 7th August

Hybrid media helps democracy breathe

Silvio Waisbord, 7 August 2001

Latin America has been stony ground for public broadcasting. In the era of privatisation, political timidity in the face of business has facilitated “state capture” by media moguls. But can local, democratic vitality and imaginative use of new technology add diversity to the media landscape?

Sunday 29th July

Brass monkeys

Caspar Melville, 29 July 2001

By the logic of New Labour “Absolutely Fabulous” promotes drunkenness and child abuse, and “Fawlty Towers” is offensive to Britain’s hoteliers.

Wednesday 18th July

Italy's television, Italy's democracy

Paolo Mancini and Daniel C. Hallin, 18 July 2001

Silvio Berlusconi’s victory in the Italian general election returned the TV mogul to political power. But the Italian people were not brainwashed by his television stations. Rather, the skills and resources of his corporate machine allowed him to construct the right wing alliance which now dominates Italian politics.

Tuesday 17th July

New Zealand television picks up the pieces

David Lloyd, 17 July 2001

After the single-channel conformism of the 1970s and the free market typhoon of the 1980s, New Zealand is trying to establish a public service culture in a commercial broadcasting environment. The head of news at Channel 4 went there to learn, advise – and report.

Tuesday 3rd July

Public service television: Bohemian decline and fall

Jan Culik, 3 July 2001

The inner politics of Czech television itself became the news last December, as staff protested another managerial change in the public broadcasting system. But was this a principled challenge to political interference, or a case of programme-makers run wild?

Wednesday 27th June

The real world of public service

Peter Ibbotson, 27 June 2001

While it is attractive to toy with the idea of broadcasting left to a free market it is clear that this cannot maintain diversity of output.

Monday 25th June

Public broadcasting: imperfect but essential

Jean Seaton, 25 June 2001

The British experience shows that the public service model can offer a foundation of excellence across the broadcasting spectrum – as well as keeping us all honest. The story of Independent Television News reveals how commercial invention and imaginative regulation once worked in concert. Can they do so again?

Wednesday 13th June

Bringing oxygen into the magic circle

Richard Collins, 13 June 2001

The debate about public service broadcasting has been conducted in a pre-web frame. The whole argument is being altered by the experiences of new forms of public information as we go digital, says the British Film Institute’s head of education.

Thursday 7th June

Swedish public service - for seniors only?

Tomas Lindbom, 7 June 2001

Public service TV goes hand in hand with established, nationally based political systems. It is the medium for the nation not for the network society.

Wednesday 6th June

Enlightened regulation: the future Indian way?

William Crawley and David Page, 6 June 2001

India’s broadcasting media, driven by advertising and international business, has exploded into diverse life in the last decade. The public broadcasters, once so powerful, are drifting. Is there a role for regulation?

Taxation without representation?

Sam Harman, 6 June 2001

The licence fee for out-of-touch public service: taxation without representation?

Friday 1st June

Not good enough

Roger Graef, 1 June 2001

We need public service broadcasting to be protected more than ever. The commercialisation of the BBC and C4 are reasons to fight for them.

Sunday 20th May

He who pays the piper...

Caspar Melville, 20 May 2001

McKinsey's report on public service funding is an useful read and very supportive of the BBC - I wonder who paid for it?

Saturday 19th May

The public service commonwealth

Paul Evans, 19 May 2001

Public-interest media regulation has never been needed as much as it is today. But let’s not just think globally here: let’s act locally – make the BBC a commonwealth.

Friday 18th May