Public Service Broadcasting and the Unique BBC Funding Impact - Essay Example

Public Service Broadcasting and The Unique BBC Funding Impact Journalism refers to the process of collectinginformation from various sources and then presenting it in an informative manner to the general audience. This is a very complicated process concerning the tedious work the relevant individuals undertake before the final information is finally brought forward to the public. Journalism is a career has evolved over the years to be currently a competitive career. The reason behind this is that journalism is closely connected to communication and its various forms. For journalism to be effective, it must fully utilize the available means of communication in order to ensure that the target audience gets the proper information in the right manner, and at the right time (Cobley, 2010:35). Generally, journalism refers to the science of gathering and analyzing information that generates some kind of significance from the public (Hodkison, 2011:39). The BBC Company stands as the pioneer of public service broadcasting systems in the world. Other countries systems gain expertise and knowledge from the analysis of the service’s past and its development to its current statue. This paper seeks to examine the use of journalism and mass media in the public service broadcasting systems, and the current means used to sustain and fund the relevant institutions. In this paper, much focus is on the BBC broadcasting service, and the general conduct of its operations. The current type of journalism possesses numerous results. These include the reporting of general news, politics, sporting, crime, interviews, and economics. Journalism employs numerous avenues of communication, depending on the platform in use (THE BBC TRUST CONCLUSIONS, 2008:16). These include oral, written, or a combination of both forms of communication. This is a very precarious profession. This is because the career involves working on newly happened events. This is because the public is usually more inclined to information regarding recent or currently breaking news regarding various issues, individuals, regions, or natural happenings. Therefore, an individual who is involved in the industry must possess various special qualities. These include being open-minded, intelligent, non-partisan, and ready to adapt in varying situations. In addition, he/she has to control his emotions appropriately, in case he is required to account on tragic situations or calamities while on spot (Cobley, 2010:59). The career also offers generous benefits, including meeting with famous individuals. Nevertheless, these benefits do not come free. A journalist must always be able to think straight and focus perceptively, even in intimidating circumstances. This is a major requirement if one is able to deliver effectively on the current assignment. However, as with all other professions, this career has also drawn heavy criticism from the public. Critics claim that this profession is a unique one because it the individuals involved earn their living through educating the public about information and issues that they personally know nothing about (Hodkison, 2011:84). The most popular and most effective form of journalism happens through mass media. The conduct of journalism through mass media has been heavily influenced by the rapid development of digital expertise. Mass media refers to any avenue whose purpose is to convey mass communique. It refers to the process of conveying a message from one source to a comparatively bigger audience through conveying machines or tools. For ages, constituents of mass media included magazines, television, books, recordings, newspapers, movies, and the internet (Branston, 2006:78). The sustained boom in the field of digital communication knowledge and technique has drawn fervent arguments as to whether to add video, computer games, and cell phones to the group of mass media constituents. In recent times, there has been evidence of advertisers and marketers scheming to exploit the use of satellites to convey relevant messages to the public effectively through their cell phones. They are planning to effect this without prior permission from the public on whether to transmit the messages. In addition, they are also planning to invade and exploit the video games’ field. The field of mass media offers great potential of helping in the developing of peaceful cultures and harmonious integration. However, this depends on the journalism content involved and the means of presentation concerning the different audience brackets (Cobley, 2010:129). Public service broadcasting possesses a broad and widely arguable definition. In one approach, it refers as a mass media network that easily accessible by the public. The public service broadcasting’s main function is to convey a programming network and system with the aim of improving the social order through adequate informing of the target audience. This function also influences the source of funding. This is because, while the private broadcasting services source their funding from the market through advertising, the public sector gets its funding from a number of government-related sources (Curran, 2010:56). These sources include license levies, donations, or state subsidies that emanate from taxes. Though the public service has the mandate to source funds from corporate avenues, stringent rules control the adverts content to an extent that the corporate view it as unattractive avenue of communication. The main origin of the public service broadcasting system was in Britain, when rules drawn by the Crawford Committee in the early 1920s directed the post-master chief to start the British Broadcasting Commission. In Britain, the notion of the public service broadcasting system came up in 1922, when the Post Office formed the British Broadcasting Commission. Initially, the service constituted of a Sacco of radio-set producers (Branston, 2006:167). The main goal of this co-operative was to safeguard the business welfare of the industries that made the broadcasting tools and equipment. The main source of sustaining cash for the service was to be a license charge, which was levied against all individuals who owned a radio-set. Soon after, the war ended, enabling the easy and successful construction of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The continuous improvement of the Commission heavily relied on the repelling of the current market forces and a widespread acknowledging of intervention. In the year 1934, Beveridge, a prominent socialite, brought up a famous argument regarding the commission. He proposed that in a free market, the buyer could only be able to acquire what is on offer, a fact that did not directly indicate that what was on offer was the best or the most efficient (THE BBC TRUST CONCLUSIONS, 2008:24). In addition, he argued that the type of product on offer depends on its particular profit margin potential in comparison with other similar products. The BBC rapidly grew in 1936. This was due to the introduction of the tube, a fact that greatly increased the influence of the service from the initial radio broadcasting. The introduction of the television enabled the service to cement its monopolistic position across the Bitish-broadcasting field (Cobley, 2010:177). The founding pillars of the service put great focus on numerous objectives. These goals included entertaining, informing, providing for all, educating, and public duty. However, this drew much uncertainty on the necessity of responsibility of the involved broadcasters. The public felt that the broadcasters needed to possess high values of non-partisanship in order to undertake their given assignments effectively without succumbing to undue opinionated or other restrictions. The British administration put this matter to rest by granting the service authorities to run the commission independently, but under the parliament stipulated rules. The administration did this with the aim of guaranteeing that the service was directly accountable to parliament, but at the same time, was not under direct parliamentary power and control. Later, in 1991, the Independent Television Commission replaced the then body responsible for regulation of the service (Hodkison, 2011:132). In 1941, the authorities formed the first ever Committee on Broadcasting, which included a Minority Report, which was the work of Selwyn Lloyd. Selwyn, through his report, said that he believed that the only efficient guard against monopoly was the introduction of fervent competition from private and independent sources. He proposed that the audience should possess a chance to choose what they wanted to e listed in the program lists at various times of the day. This was his main reason for supporting the end of the monopolistic nature of the service (Curran, 2010:94). However, the current government, which constituted members of the Labor Party, continued pushing for the continued monopoly of the venture. The first head of the BBC, Reith, also intensely supported the government, as he believed that the introduction of the freedom to choose would bring along mediocrity, a vice he intended to avoid at all costs. In 1924, he publicly railed against the current rumors that implied that the service was availing to the public what it thought was good for them, instead of what they wanted. He stated that most of the audience did not know what they exactly wanted or needed. He upheld the fact that the principal duties and functions of the public service were to educate the public, and influencing the positive training and development of character. However, in the mid 20th century, this notion started causing problems for the commission, particularly after the advent of the war. The general feeling among the public was that the modern war necessitated the introduction and increasing of entertainment programs and music in the service’s programs in order to raise the public’s morale levels. During this period, attempts to introduce private and independent broadcasting services had repeatedly faced heavy opposition, particularly from the current Labor government. However, the electing of a Conservative administration in 1951 radically changed this situation. Immediately after the election, fervent campaigns and lobbying for the introduction of private and commercial television took root. In 1954, after substantial lobbying, this led to the enacting of the Television Act bill (Branston, 2006: 245). This act directed the forming of the Independent Television Authority. The functions included the monitoring of a government structure of market-funded television businesses. This led to the income of the aforementioned ITV. This company only depended on advertising revenue as its source of cash. This factor also led to the starting of BBC2, and, later, Channel four, in 1964 and 1982 respectively. Both channels were to help expand the scope of the various public services on offer, and to serve regions and the material that were previously ignored. Norman Collins, the main man behind this move, believed that the advent of independent broadcasting influenced the change of the BBC from its previous complacent and conservative mode of operation, which was currently obsolete. He argued that, previously, the BBC employees comprised of small-minded middle class bureaucrats who exhibited negligible concern for the needs of the working class population (Secretary of the State, 2006:10). Previously, the publicly funded broadcasting system was acceptable as there was no chance of the introduction of commercial services. However, this had now changed. The rise and development of digital technology now enabled the conveying of multiple channels simultaneously, and in real time. In addition, this change enabled the formation of channels that were specifically tailored to serve single interests, including sports, music, or news. This change also elicited notions pertaining that in the future the audience will only meet the costs of the particular programs they want to watch, using a pay-per-view system. However, this thought generated numerous critical questions concerning its viability. Analysts were asking the fate of the audience that will not be able to cater for the costs of the pay-per-view system. They also questioned the fate of the companies that currently provided generalized viewing services to the audience (Curran, 2010:112). The specialized viewing system still faces intense criticism. This is because in any democratic culture, everyone possesses the right to uninhibited access to information, irrespective of his/her particular class in the prevailing social order. Currently, the BBC gets its operating cash from the public coffers, and does not rely on advertising levies. However, the recent changes occurring in the broadcasting sector have heavily influenced the BBC mode of conduct. The corporation is currently making great efforts to sustain a high number of dedicated and loyal viewers fearing that if a substantial number of the British viewers stop utilizing its services, the government will overrule its current access to license charges. In the early 1990s, pessimists forecast that the advent of heightened use of satellite and cable television would cause the current BBC market share to deplete to a point whereby public support would lose economic meaning (Hodkison, 2011:6). However, though the global public broadcasting market share has substantially reduced, it is still a supportable venture concerning viewer ratings. Preston, a famous critic, revealed that, in 1980, about 70% of European channels were public. The percentage had fallen to about 25% by 1995. However, research focusing on the British viewers revealed that the five significant public channels possessed about 80% of the total audience in the country (Hodkison, 2011:219). The notion of public service is also facing another extinction threat in the form of globalization. Critics are proposing that, with the currently increased advent and support of worldwide globalization, the previous categorization of regions as nations with boundaries is fast losing meaning. They argue that, in the end, the ongoing process of blending and homogenization will render national differentiation and individuality obsolete. This will result to the illegitimacy of the public broadcasting service systems, as they then will not be able to distinguish their target audience accurately. This has led to the emergence of fervent calls from the Liberal public for the privatization of the BBC (Branston, 2006: 397). They advocate that privatization will drastically improve efficiency of the company’s operations. In addition, they claim that a privatization move will lead to a radical expanding on the available programs on the service, and thus increase the availability of choice. This call has attracted significant opposition from the government. The British administration fears that the move would effectively hand a principal tool of democracy to the commercial ventures. The reason behind this is that a survey of the ownership of the commercial broadcasting services in the country revealed that the ownership of numerous companies belong to a small select group of media magnates. As a result, they argue that privatizing the BBC will simply increase conglomeration of the sector in the country, which will result to a media that is partisan and limited in terms of span and variety (Hodkison, 2011:274). Ever since its inception, the BBC has always relied on the license taxes as its principal source of income. The particular charges and conditions stipulated by the license charge have continuously changed over time, and in line with the changes in the relevant technology. By 2003, the license was a mandatory requirement for all homes or families that intended to mount and use equipment that was capable of receiving television signals. The license stipulated that individuals who were over the age of 74 were exempted. In addition, the blind, and partially blind, only footed 50% of the total charge. Otherwise, the public had to pay about 116 pounds per household. According to the law, not paying the fee is criminal, and if one is prosecuted, he/she is liable to pay a fine amounting to about 1,000 pounds, and can even serve some time in prison. However, BBC radio and website access is free (Curran, 2010:187). In my opinion, the current mode of operation of the BBC is obsolete hence; the government should scrap the fee and look for alternative ways to fund the service. The license is cruel since it is still payable notwithstanding whether one watches the channels or not. In addition, its programs are news-based, and thus do not cater for the whole audience. The company should at least administer the license in line with democratic nuance by not imposing payment irrespective of evidenced use. In addition, globalization is fast gaining speed, and, if the BBC does not change its conduct of business, it faces imminent obsolesce (Secretary of the State, 2006:16). The main reason behind my stand on the issue is that analysts have proven that in the coming years, consumers will tend to go for specialized programs. This scenario has been seen in other sectors, where the consumers are now demanding for tailor-made goods that perfectly suit their wants and desires. In addition, news is fast becoming more available in numerous avenues from the internet. Thus, consumers will tend to look for something different in the available channels. The advent of internet-enabled phones and similar gadgets have enabled consumers to access virtually everything while on the move. All these scenarios should be of growing concern to the BBC administration, and serve as a warning bell for them to either change or perish. Bibliography Branston, G. and Stafford, R., 2006. The Media Student’s Book, 4th Edition. London: Routledge. Cobley, P. and Albertazzi, D., 2010. The Media: An Introduction. Harlow: Longman. Curran, J. and Seaton, J., 2010. Power Without Responsibility, 7th Edition. London: Routledge. Hodkison, P., 2011. Media, Culture and Society: An Introduction. London: Sage. Jakubowicz, K. 2007. Public Service Broadcasting: a new beginning, or the beginning of the end? Available from: http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/standardsetting/media/doc/PSB_Anewbeginning_KJ_en.pdf [Accessed 13 April 2012] Secretary of the State. 2006. A public service for all: the BBC in the digital age. Department for culture, media and sport. Available from: http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm67/6763/6763.pdf [Accessed 13 April 2012] THE BBC TRUST CONCLUSIONS. 2008. The economic impact of the BBC on the UK creative and broadcasting sector. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/review_report_research/economic_impact.pdf [Accessed 13 April 2012] The Museum of Broadcast Communications (mbc). Public Service Broadcasting. Available from: http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/P/htmlP/publicservicb/publicserviceb.htm [Accessed 13 April 2012] Read More