Explaining public service broadcasting entrenched politicization: The case of South Africa’s SABC

Journalism ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 817-834 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Ciaglia
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Analytical Tool ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
The West ◽  
Public Service Broadcasting ◽  
Democratic Regimes ◽  
Media Logic ◽  
Media Systems

Public service broadcasting is the terrain par excellence within today’s media systems on which political power and media logic interact and overlap. This study will argue that public service broadcasting politicization arising in certain democratic regimes cannot be effectively explained if attention is uncritically paid to the same theoretical grounds upon which media scholars rely to study the corresponding phenomenon in the West. By relying on content and legal analysis of the proceedings concerning five terrestrial channels by the Broadcasting Complaint Commission of South Africa between 1994 and 2014, and on three interviews with civil society representatives, the article will discuss the concept of entrenched politicization as a more proper analytical tool to assess subtler forms of media politicization.

scholarly journals Locking Out the Mother Corp: Nationalism and Popular Imaginings of Public Service Broadcasting in the Print News Media

2007 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Public Service ◽  
News Media ◽  
English Language ◽  
Democratic Values ◽  
Public Service Broadcasting ◽  
Print News ◽  
Democratic Principles ◽  
Société Civile ◽  
Media Choices

Abstract: Early promoters of public-service broadcasting (PSB) in Canada emphasized its democratic and nationalist merit. Of these twin pillars, only nationalism appears to still be standing. In this article, the author surveys the vision of PSB that emerged in the national English-language print media during the 2005 CBC/Radio-Canada lockout and suggests that our peculiar brand of multicultural nationalism (which underestimates the divisions within civil society) has subsumed democratic values. Yet, she argues democratic principles—particularly those of access, participation, and publicness—are critically important to defending the relevance of PSB in the current environment of seemingly endless media choices and borderless technology. Résumé : Les premiers promoteurs de la radiotélédiffusion de service public au Canada mettaient l’accent sur ses mérites démocratique et nationaliste. Aujourd’hui, de ces deux piliers, il semble que le mérite nationaliste soit le seul qui tienne bon. Dans cet article, l’auteur analyse la vision de la radiotélédiffusion de service public que l’on retrouve dans la presse écrite nationale de langue anglaise au cours du lock-out de CBC/Radio-Canada en 2005 et elle suggère que notre type spécifique de nationalisme multiculturel (qui sous estime les divisions de la société civile) a englobé les valeurs démocratiques. Toutefois, l’auteur affirme que ces principes démocratiques—en particulier ceux d’accessibilité, de participation et de valeurs publiques—sont extrêmement importants lorsqu’il s’agit de défendre la pertinence de la radiotélédiffusion de service public dans le contexte actuel de soi-disant choix infinis de médias et de technologies sans frontières.

scholarly journals Particularities of media systems in the West Nordic countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (s2) ◽  
pp. 102-123
Author(s):  
Signe Ravn-Højgaard ◽  
Valgerður Jóhannsdóttir ◽  
Ragnar Karlsson ◽  
Rógvi Olavson ◽  
Heini í Skorini
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Nordic Countries ◽  
Faroe Islands ◽  
Cultural Institutions ◽  
The West ◽  
Media System ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Systems

Abstract This study compares the media systems of the West Nordic countries, namely the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. All three countries are democratic welfare states with considerable institutional transfer from the larger Nordic countries. It is argued that the West Nordic media systems fit into the “Nordic model” when it comes to the perception of media as cultural institutions as well as the central role of public service media. On the other hand, the micro-size of the media systems in the West Nordic countries makes them vulnerable, and makes editorial independence more difficult compared with their larger Nordic neighbours. In particular, media outlets within these micro-size media systems seem more susceptible to clientelism, and journalists seem more inclined towards self-censorship. This article highlights how interplay between small size and distinct local factors shape the media system in each of the West Nordic countries.

Civil society coalitions as pathways to PSB reform in Southern Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-158
Author(s):  
Winston Mano ◽  
Viola C. Milton
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Public Broadcasting ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Programme Outcomes

Democracy requires open public service broadcasting (PSB) institutions that constantly interact with active informed citizens. This article posits that a more proactive network of civil society across Southern Africa can produce an impact on PSB institutions in these countries enhancing reform and accountability to the public. We enter this topic by identifying pathways towards increased cooperation among public service broadcasters, civil society coalitions and other stakeholders in South Africa and Zimbabwe. The main focus is on the interaction between broadcasters, policy-makers and civil society groups, namely SOS: Support Public Broadcasting in South Africa and the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe, two leading media activist organizations in Southern Africa. The engagement by such networks can deepen public interest and reconnect PSB institutions and PSB staff to the PSB mandate and mission. Civil society coalitions working collaboratively with PSB will engender a context within which a collaboratively defined PSB mission, institutional structure and programme outcomes are constantly foregrounded in the operations and performance of the broadcasters.

‘Europe 1992’: The audiovisual challenge

1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 75-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Servaes
Keyword(s):  
European Community ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Telecommunication Services ◽  
Public Service Broadcasting ◽  
Cultural Considerations ◽  
European Policies ◽  
Balanced Flow ◽  
Total Freedom ◽  
Media Systems ◽  
The One

The article discusses the changing role of the European Community and its impact on national media systems and policies. It claims that the EC-policies advocate total freedom to provide services across borders, and that, therefore, total liberalization may lead to a future cultural synchronization and economic oligopolization of Europe. The main arguments presented are: 1. The national, and especially the European policies regarding telecommunication services in general and broadcasting in particular are based on economic in stead of cultural considerations. This trend will continue after 1992. 2. The public service broadcasting structure and philosophy has undergone major changes throughout the last decades. These changes, initiated by internal as well as external factors, have affected the organizational and finance structures, and the programming of public service broadcasting. 3. It is questionable whether the European policies will be in the advantage of the so-called smaller countries in the European Community, like for instance Belgium or the Netherlands, on the one hand, and whether these policies will be able to secure a free and balanced flow of information, ideas, opinions and cultural activities within the Community on the other hand.

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