Lecture 7 - Public Media

Lecture 7 was about the public media with particular emphasis on the two main players in Australia: ABC and SBS. For the first ten years of my life the only TV I ever watched was ABC because that was the only channel we picked up (I lived out in the country). I can still remember the first few weeks when we got the other channels like Ten, WIN, Seven and SBS. My mum used to get so annoyed at all the adds. Over time of course my family gradually began to watch more of the commercialized stuff and nowadays we watch ABC a lot less (though this may also be because I'm no longer a kid!) except the odd science program or Australian Story. I do however believe that the ABC and SBS show far more important material than any of the commercial channels and their value to society is far greater.

In the lecture we discovered that public media's main goal is to serve and engage the public. Because it is not driven by the need to create profit the material it gives us is very different. It allows for minority groups, supports the public and democratic processes and has no other vested interest other than its main goal. One of the big questions raised was, if public media isn't funded by advertisers then where does it get the money to function at all? The answer: it is owned by us, the public!

Now I have heard many people say they never watch ABC or SBS because they find it boring. Maybe for a lot of young people reality tv shows, and American sitcoms are more entertaining but surely there must come a time when everyone gets sick of this sort of stuff and wants something they know is real. I think that  this is what makes public media so special. Because it has no agenda it goes where other media doesn't. It was the ABC that brought us the story of exported cattle that created such an upheaval across the country. When stories like these break, stories that have real meaning and get people up and talking and protesting we can see the importance of public media.

I think it is important to note that while commercial media is all about showing us what we want to see most, public media often shows us what we need to see most. I believe both serve a vital purpose in society and have an important role to play. When I think about the different channels I watch, it is a hefty mix of both types and I enjoy both equally for different reasons. But my respect for the public media channels is much greater and I would love to one day join one of them as a journalist!