The role of State-funded broadcasters is being re-examined in many countries in light of recent developments such as the growth in the number of private broadcasters, satellite and cable technology, digital television and what has come to be known as technological convergence. Ironically, there is even greater need than ever for public service broadcasting as these market-driven developments have promoted ownership concentration and globalisation with adverse implications for diversity and quality national programming. Silvio Berlusconi single-handedly dominates the private sector in Italy, CNN broadcasts standardised fare around the world while the impact of Rupert Murdoch's far-flung satellite television empire on media pluralism has often been lamented.
Public service broadcasting, which may be distinguished from the State-controlled broadcasters that still exist in many countries, can help to maintain diversity in light of these developments and play an important role in fulfilling the public's right to know. Freedom of expression, as guaranteed by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, includes the right not only to seek and impart information and ideas, but also the right to receive them. This has been held to require States to take positive measures to ensure the existence of an environment, in which a pluralistic media can flourish, providing information from a wide variety of sources to citizens. An independent, adequately funded and accountable public service broadcaster is a crucial component of that environment.
Public service broadcasters promote diversity and pluralism in a number of ways. Because they are not driven by market pressures, they can produce programmes which cater to a wide variety of tastes and groups, without necessarily requiring commercial viability. For example, they have an obligation to serve the whole population and often provide services to minority groups, in minority languages, even though viewing statistics may be low. They may also serve diversity by broadcasting programmes which cater to niche markets or which are costly to produce. They play an important role in promoting programme production at the local and national level, under threat in many countries from high-budget global programming. Perhaps most importantly, they help ensure that viewers can access quality news programmes that include coverage of local, national and international events.
While promoting diversity is perhaps the overriding goal, three interrelated tensions have largely defined the nature and structure of public service broadcasters. These tensions are the overarching requirement of independence from government, the principle that public broadcasters must be accountable to the public and the need for adequate, stable funding to allow for quality programming.
Independence has both formal and informal implications. Formally, independence requires a guarantee of freedom from government interference in respect of governing bodies, usually a Board of Directors and/or a broadcast regulatory authority. The laws establishing these bodies should explicitly provide for such independence. In practice, independence may be promoted in a number of ways, including open, transparent appointment procedures which no single political party can dominate, strong tenure protection for members once appointed, conflict of interest rules and the imposition of professional and/or representative requirements for membership.
Appointment procedures vary from one country to another but processes which involve broad consultation with the public, an open nominations procedure and input from all-party legislative bodies are common. Editorial independence and institutional autonomy are also important. These concepts refer to the right of professional staff and management to make day-to-day decisions regarding matters such as programme production and scheduling, presentation of news and current affairs and the organisation of the activities of the broadcaster free of interference from even a Board of Directors. The proper role of the Board is to exercise a general oversight function, making recommendations, for example, regarding overall programme strategy or the prevalence of a certain type of programming, for example, sports. Editorial independence provides another layer of insulation from potential government interference while preserving the general oversight functions of the Board. The importance of informal threats to independence cannot be over-estimated.
This is particularly the case given the long history of government interference in many countries and an often prevailing sense that the government has a right to control or influence public broadcasters since they rely on public funding. Adequate protection from informal censorship or interference requires, among other things, a commitment on the part of government to respect independence, an understanding by members of governing bodies that they represent the public good and not a particular party or groups that may have promoted their appointment, a commitment to maintaining inde-pendence even in the face of threats by staff and active monitoring of and reporting on threats to independence by civil society and other media.
As noted above, the Board should promote accountability through oversight rather than through interference in day-to-day operations. In some countries, like the United Kingdom, advisory bodies representing different regions assist the Board by providing regional input and feedback. In general, these advisory bodies have no formal powers but their recommendations obviously carry a certain weight. Legislators are also given some role in many countries, through the submission of an annual report to Parliament. This provides an opportunity for open debate about the performance of the broadcaster. Obviously legislators retain ultimate authority to pass laws regulating the broadcaster, subject only to human rights guarantees.
Another important way of promoting accountability is through a complaints mechanism, run by either the broadcaster itself or some external authority or both. Any external authority should be independent of government. The relevant body is empowered to receive complaints from the public which it then assesses in relation to an agreed or established code of conduct. Such codes may establish standards relating to impartiality, decency, unfair treatment, privacy, violence and so on. Most complaints bodies have the power to order that their decisions be broadcast by an offending station and some even have the power to levy fines.
There are three main sources of funding for public broadcasters, a license fee, funding from government revenues and commercial sources of funding such as advertising or selling programmes. All have their pros and cons and in many countries a combination of two or even all three is in place. The license fee, which is generally only levied on television users, is relatively immune from political control, although the government usually retains control over rate increases. A partial remedy is to peg the fee to inflation. One problem with license fees is that they may discourage poorer users from buying televisions. Licenses may also put pressure on public broadcasters to compete with private stations for popularity as users demand programming of wide appeal so as to "get their money's worth".
Government funding poses an obvious threat to independence but this can be mitigated by guarantees, for example governing the rate, a link to inflation and requiring a public process before implementing any changes. On the other hand, government funding may prove more flexible than a simple fee structure and in some cases may even promote stability. Commercial funding is free of government influence but, as has been noted, excessive commercialisation clearly undermines the whole rationale of public broadcasters. In many countries, the proportion of funds that may be raised in this manner is limited, for example to 25% of total revenues.
Guiding Principles for Public Service Broadcasters
From the above, six broad guiding principles can be gleaned. These are:
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