Broadcasting Funding In South Africa

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South Africa is currently an economic leader among the continent of Africa (second only to Nigeria in terms of GDP, yet South Africa has a much smaller population). However, within the worldwide context, South Africa has and continues to endure many issues socially, politically and economically. Because of these, the broadcast news system, comprising of television and radio, has endured an interesting and tumultuous past, and most importantly faces a fascinating future in terms their unique funding model. That being said, the models of both television and radio in South Africa leads one to question the effectiveness of the broadcast system in providing news and content that is fair, unbiased and most importantly critical in helping members of the community make informed decisions about their own country. Beginning in 1923, radio was the only form of broadcast news for a number of decades. Initially being founded by South African Railways at this time, several other clubs and broadcasting associations followed suit, being financially dependent on listeners’ licensing fees to access these stations. With the limited coverage capabilities of the independent broadcasters and increasing debts, the government of South Africa granted permission to the Schlesinger organization to incorporate the independent broadcasters and form the African Broadcasting Company in 1927, aiming to move towards commercial viability in the near future. Following further lack of funding and speculation of mismanagement in broadcasting (a pattern of skepticism to be repeated), Prime Minister General Hertzog established the South African Broadcasting Corporation in 1936. John Reith, who was also credited with developing the BBC’s model, developed this new m...

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