Public Service Broadcasting: Markets and ‘Vulnerable Values’ in Broadcast and Print Journalism

Abstract

Broadcasting began life in competition with newspapers, first with radio in the 1920s and then again with television in the late 1940s/early 1950s. Its ability to reach mass audiences, however, prompted the state to make broadcasting comply with certain licence conditions deemed inappropriate for newspapers where a free market was judged a precondition for an independent press. These regulatory obligations have long since been designated 'public service values' and acknowledged as profound influences on the past, present and future of the UK's broadcast ecology and wider media culture; and by politicians, the public and, of course, journalists themselves. According to Blumler (1992a), however, the values of public service broadcasting have become increasingly "vulnerable" in the face of market forces and commercial competition. Consequently, our contribution in this short chapter deals with a very big subject. The Introduction offers a definition of public service, its significance and relevance in the UK setting, arguing for its value as an essential ingredient in any democratic polity and society. The subsequent sections unravel that conversation in the context of broadcast and newspaper journalism and suggest that for news media to remain a formative constituent in democratic life, the market will require some form of regulation to prevent excessive commercial influence on news output.

Making inroads: a critical examination of the ABC’s commitment to local news

“…News media have long been instrumental in the formation of public spheres by promoting informed participation in rational-critical deliberation of democratic politics (Flew and Swift, 2015; Habermas, 1989 [1962]; Hansen, 2015; Lunt and Livingstone, 2013; McNair et al, 2017). Public service media, especially, are exemplified as facilitators of public spheres through their responsibilities in ensuring standards such as representativeness, balance, quality and universalism, and they are more likely than commercial media to supply content of democratic value to advance informed citizenship and civic engagement (Cushion, 2012; Cushion and Franklin, 2015; Flew and Swift, 2015; Garnham, 1990; Keane, 1995). However, in an age of increasing digital civic participation, user-generated content and consumer choice, developing public service content that portrays middle- to upper-class principles in the ‘national interest’ can appear anachronistic and anti-democratic in comparison with what ‘the people’ want (Cushion, 2012).…”

“…While public broadcasters have extended service and content provisions to suit the digital era (prompting a change in terminology from ‘broadcasters’ to public service ‘media’), they also must compete within a diverse communicative landscape (Dahlberg, 2007; Debrett, 2015; Miragliotta and Errington, 2012). Traditional public service values are becoming increasingly vulnerable to market forces and commercial competition in the digital environment (Cushion and Franklin, 2015). This suggests there is a need for a new era in the regulatory obligations of public service media to better accommodate the political interests of diverse societies and facilitate interconnecting spaces for democratic engagement on multiple scales.…”

“…Some regions thrive with an abundance of media voices, but others suffer from changing media ownership, declining resources, consolidations, closures and reductions in locally based staff, which decrease the capacity for investigative journalism into and reporting of local politics (Firmstone, 2016; Hess et al, 2014; Richards, 2014). Moreover, not all local media subscribe to public interest values that seek to deliver the independent political information necessary for the public to exercise democratic accountability (Cushion and Franklin, 2015).…”

Journalism between de-professionalisation and democratisation

“…‘The powers of capital are intent not only to bring about a favourable opinion concerning their products … but also to promote a generalised public opinion which is designed to serve their business interests’ (Tönnies, 1923: 88). Bücher, Tönnies and many critical theorists of the press in the beginning of the 20th century were concerned with quite the same issue of appropriate form of public regulation of the press and journalism as we are concerned a hundred years later, ‘to ensure news and information about public affairs which sustains and nurtures citizen information, understanding and engagement and thereby a democratic polity’ (Cushion and Franklin, 2015: 75).…”

“…The declining public trust in journalists correlates with the changing news agendas, commercialisation of news media and corrosion of public service values (Cushion and Franklin, 2015). By not delivering information necessary for citizens’ democratic surveillance over governments, UK and US journalists are believed to contribute to a growing democratic deficit (Cushion and Franklin, 2015: 72). The low esteem and trust in journalism are attributed to economic dependencies and precarious work of journalists (Ramsperger, 2013).…”