Public Service Broadcasting

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Public Service Broadcasting

From the establishment of the BBC in the late 1920s, British audiences were given the opportunity of taking part in a shared national experience and interest. Since that time, an apparent agreement has existed as to the general aims of broadcasting by the BBC which fell under the heading “public service broadcasting.” Although the BBC no longer enjoys a broadcasting monopoly, the promise to provide a mix of programming by which audiences may be educated as well as entertained has been emulated by the other terrestrial broadcasters, beginning with ITV in the 1950s. However, recent years have shown a breakdown to this widespread agreement and the term “public service broadcasting” now seems to exist as more of an amorphous notion than anything with a real concrete description. Perhaps because the term brings with it a number of complexities that serve to hinder the mission of public service broadcasting. How does one determine what someone else should watch? What type of person would be making that decision and does it have the potential to be elitist? Can a single broadcasting entity actually appeal to one mass audience in a society as diverse as Britain’s? And does the concept of this “national interest” even exist at all? It’s questions like these that bring to mind potential problems with the programs broadcast by the BBC and indicate that there is a lot more imbedded in the concept of public service broadcasting than one might assume. For no matter how no matter how much its traditions purport to reach out to create a cohesion for a mass audience, public service broadcasting can also contribute to a very misrepresentative appearance of British society.

One aspect of the television medium that is so unique is its pervasive nature on our lives. For many, it is not only the primary source of entertainment and information, but also of education. Therefore, in a public service sense it is necessary to go beyond merely producing quality programs, even producing quality programs at peak hours that will attract a large audience.

Rather, it also involves providing a focus for those activities which are best regarded as a common experience. Whether it be a the Wedding of Charles and Diana, a World Cup Football match, or news of a fateful event, “television has a unique ability to generate a sense of c...

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...s, rather than the audience that own the station. Its centralized monopoly can serve a censoring body and does not allow all voices in society to have a voice, although the BBC deems itself representative of a national institution. For this reason it cannot be justified to have a mass audience pay for a license fee that may not be catering at all to their interests or culture and perhaps the only way to justify the programming of the BBC is by adopting a method of optional subscription fees. As far as it may have developed since the time of its founding, the BBC still remains somewhat stuck to its original ideals which have made it impossible to become that national institution that it claims to be.

Bibliography:

British Broadcasting Corperation. Our Commitment to You. London: BBC Publications, 1998.

Department of National Heritage. The Future of the BBC. London: Department of National Heritage, 1994.

Green, Damien. A Better BBC: Public Service Broadcasting in the 90s. London: Center for Policy Studies England, 1991.

MacCabe, Colin. The BBC and Public Service Broadcasting. London: Manchester University Press, 1986.

Madison, James. Federalist Paper No. 10

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