Towards Indonesia’s integrated broadcast-broadband implementation policy: A comparative analysis of Singapore, Japan and Malaysia

This study aims to provide recommendations to the government on regulating licence, content and data privacy and protection for integrated broadcast-broadband (IBB) operations in Indonesia, by referencing Singapore, Japan and Malaysia as case studies, considering the need for umbrella regulations for IBB implementation. Singapore and Japan were chosen as countries that have deployed IBB since they have been using hybrid broadcast broadband television (HbbTV) and Hybridcast standards, respectively. Malaysia was chosen because it is a neighbouring country that has conducted trials of the IBB service, bundled with its digital terrestrial television (DTT) service. The qualitative data are analysed using a comparative method. The results show that Indonesia needs to immediately revise its existing Broadcasting Law to accommodate DTT implementation, which is the basis for IBB and the expansion of the broadcaster’s TV business. Learning from Singapore, Indonesia could include over-the-top (OTT) content in its ‘Broadcast Behaviour Guidelines’ and ‘Broadcast Programme Standards’. Data privacy and protection requirements for each entity involved in the IBB ecosystem are necessary due to the vulnerability of IBB service user data leakage. In light of this, the ratification of the personal data protection law, as a legal umbrella, needs to be accelerated.

CURRENT AFFAIRS PROGRAMMMES AS PUBLIC RELATIONS TOOL: A STUDY OF EBONYI BROADCASTING CORPORATION (EBBC), ABAKALIKI

The current affairs programmes of broadcast stations are considered as effective public relations tool. They bridge the gap between the government and the governed. They also attract goodwill and patronage for the station. This study focused on how effective current affairs programmes are used in Ebonyi Broadcasting Corporation (EBBC) to foist good image on the station. The survey method was used to get analyzable response from the station’s audience. The study examined the potentials of current affairs as a broadcast programme and how it can be used as a tool of public relations. It specifically sought to determine if current affairs programmes have any effect on the relationship between the audience and any particular broadcast organization; identify the problems that affect the production of current affairs programmes as a public relations tool, and proffer solutions to ineffective current affairs programmes production. It further found out that good current affairs programmes affect station-audience relationship. This is not only because good current affairs programmes induce respect for, interest in and familiarity with the station, but they, more importantly, raise the popularity of the station. Thus these are invaluable resources which every organization craves for as they are also at the root of every good public relations campaign. The study, moreover, discovered that educated adults, mostly civil servants and business men and women listen to EBBC current affairs programmes regularly to know the activities in government (their chief employer and policy maker) and in the society at large. The study however found out that lack of requisite skills, lack of programme materials and lack of touch with station’s environment and needs, and inadequate training of staff are chief among the problems affecting current affair programmes. It therefore recommended among others that broadcast establishments should be professional in their conduct to sustain and retain audience. These they can do by employing professionals in the field as well as carrying out regular training of staff to keep pace with the ever changing trend of audience appeal

Media and educational technology in Nigeria: Managing the broadcast programmes of Radio Nigeria Globe FM towards girl child education

This study was carried out in Shall and Yalwa village areas of Tafawa Balewa and Dass local government areas, respectively, in Bauchi state (Nigeria) with a strong view of determining the efficacy of media in education towards managing girl child issues in Nigeria. An intensive oral interview was employed in data collection from staff of Radio Nigeria Globe FM, as well as the students and staff of schools and the parents from both Shall and Yalwa villages. The study employed a survey design and utilized a documentary approach to obtain data. Descriptive statistics (means, frequency and percentages) and χ2were used in analysing the socio-economic characteristics of the stakeholders in girl child education. The results revealed that 91.2% of the responses hold the opinion that the strategies used by the Radio Nigeria GlobeFM to intervene in girl child education proffered unique and far-reaching benefits in educating the girl child to discover herself and associate with the right group of people, marry the right kind of men, make the right contributions and help men develop sustainable environment. The results also revealed that 61.8% of the responses hold the belief that Radio Nigeria GlobeFM programmes on the Nigerian girl child are much effective, educative and relevance. The study suggested that the adoption of educational technology strategies is a way forward to managing girl child education, which is a progressive approach in Nigeria, there by setting up booster stations and organise village rallies, discussion programmes with women as moderators to serve as role models for young girls, radio links programme to initiates talks with parents and other stakeholders, initiate kiddies programme fashioned after the likes of the world of children and finally strategies for career guidance. Keywords: Broadcast programme, educational technology, girl child, management, media.

Social cohesion, Twitter and far-right politics in Australia: Diversity in the democratic mediasphere

The concept of ‘social cohesion’ has become an orthodoxy in governmental and academic discourse, augmenting the complex of progressive and liberal politics that have formed around the modern, multicultural and globally engaged nation-state. The reinvigoration of far-right politics is challenging this orthodoxy, at least inasmuch as these politics appear to be gaining traction through the strategic manipulation of increasing insecurity within these democratic states. This article examines these challenges conceptually and through an empirical case study. The case study examines the appearance in 2016 of Senator Elect Pauline Hanson on the ABC’s Q&A television programme. The article examines Twitter discourses that were generated around the far-right senator’s appearance on the broadcast programme. The article concludes that ‘social cohesion’ and its role in electoral, participative and deliberative democratic processes is a largely inadequate discursive buttress to the complex of language wars within which the concept is besieged.