Hidden broadcasting agendas

The Malta Independent

Hidden broadcasting agenda

The report published by a Task Force aimed at restructuring PBS does not even come within one mile of finding a truly lasting solution to this problem.

PBS has a public sector culture. Turning it upside down and inside out will not change that. Expecting a public sector service to be run commercially in a liberalised environment is expecting the impossible. Suggesting that business units could be created out of PBS capable of competing` with the private sector services is against broad political policy of allowing maximum space for the private sector as much as it is unlikely to succeed.` So the matter is being approached the wrong way.

Before suggesting any re-structuring the question to be answered is:` Do we still need Public Broadcasting and if in the affirmative what should its objectives be`

Broadcasting Authority as it stands today is an unnecessary ornament in on our plethora of Authorities. In a liberalised scenario why should a State Authority impose on a totally commercial station how much advertising it should package within` its programming` `Does anyone impose any similar limitation on print and electronic media

Commercial stations do not demand anything from their viewers. They send no bills and no fees. They have to turn their brains inside out to ensure that they attract audiences with creative programming which could pull in the necessary advertising revenues to survive commercially. If they exaggerate their advertising content they lose audiences and thus the foundations to sustain their revenues. Content criteria regarding morality or other matters of public interest could be addressed by legislation as the Press Act controls the print media. Self-regulation in broadcasting should be promoted.

So the Broadcasting Authority and any remnants of PBS should be consolidated to form a public service worth keeping. A public service which not only does not compete with the private sector but, if` economically feasible,` would buy in its requirements from the private sector. A public service which would operate a commercial advertising free service focusing on news and current affairs, national events and on cultural content.` In a market where the political parties have strong presence in the media we need a public service which is autonomous and independent of government financial allocations.

So a slimmed-down organisation` to give a truly public service in news, national events` and culture will finance itself from TV` license fees and` if necessary by demanding a royalty on all advertising revenues raked in by all media including the press, radio and TV and the emerging electronic channels.

Hopefully we will not see Grande Fratello on state funded TV. We will feel that our licence fee money is going for a good cause when public broadcasting starts providing real news and cultural content which is otherwise` not sustainable on a pure commercial basis

Clearly such re-organisations create the problem of what to do with surplus employees. But this problem is not peculiar to broadcasting. If anything broadcasting is the tip of the iceberg.` Such over-manning problems throughout the public sector can only be solved through central government initiatives involving massive investment in re-training and re-deployment coupled with incentive schemes to promote growth and private sector employment.

Choosing to focus on the over-manning problem strictly at PBS is a clear manifestation of hidden agendas.