• civic media sector consists of channel communication linked to organised groups and social networks
• best way to manage the public media sector is to entrust it with a public service organisation
• one problem is that the government can undermine the independence of public broadcasting institutions and restrict the public debate through their channels
• second problem is that public service broadcasting organisations tend to be unduly influenced by the political class
• third problem that can beset public broadcasting is unresponsiveness to popular demand
• everyone including politicians to academics now agree that public communications systems are part of the’cultural industries’
• regulation – free market or state control. Either the organisations have little to none restrictions meaning they can lie and exploit media, however if the government inputs too many rules the media becomes government controlled

• The media can be legitimately held accountable for what they do/do not do
• Articulated?
• Civic media sector – consists of channels of communication linked to groups and social networks
• Social market sector – sustains provision by groups with very limited financial resources
• Conventional market sector – relates to the public as consumers
• Over-entrenchment?
• Buttressed?
• Civil service model – ‘public trustees’ appointed to broadcasting authorities, broadcasters are provided with lots of freedom in reality, to interpret public service guidelines (Curren and Seaton 1996, Tunstall 1993, McNair 1993)
• Regulation – free market? or state control?

Regulation- Free market or state control

Something is in the public interest if it serves the ends of the whole society rather then those of some of society.

Regulation – Free Market? or State Control?

• media should act as a power for the public interest not for the government for their exploitation of humans by carving ideologies in order to profit
• Habernas created the ‘ public sphere ‘ signifying an intertwined network thats global
• Habernas believed that a functioning democracy needed a public voter thatwas infromed and debated on the issues of the day
• government utilizes media to withhold info instead of sharing it
• media is a watchdog
• this watchdog role is said to override in importance all other functions of the media

In short, Jurgan Habermas argued that the media should work for the public’s interest, to inform them with correct information (especially info to do with  the government, authority and control), and not purely in a commercial interest. He believes that in order to have democracy the public must be informed, aware and debate on issues.  He also thinks that the mass media and globalization has reduced the effectiveness of the public sphere – that there are fewer voices discussing the news (concentration of ownership)

“The media ceased to be an agency of empowerment and rationality, and became a further means by which the public was sidelined” – James curran; media and democracy revisited 

‘The private political opinions of the individual become the public opinion of the people as a whole’ – brian mcnair

‘Supplying not only information but also opinion, comment, and criticism’ – brian mcnair  

The public wants a free market when it comes to news, however laws have to be put in place to prevent them from lying and saying really offensive things. But if the government put too many laws in place then the news becomes controlled by the state 

The public sphere is a public space which in the past was hard to reach since because there was little way to communicate with others far away from you. Due to media inventions like the printing press and the subsequent growth of literacy, more people are able to connect with each other to use the media in public interest.

Habermas believed that a functioning democracy needed a public voter base that was informed and debated on the issues of the day. Because of the conglomeration of media companies, the issues were filtered to the people through only a few sources. This is the opposite of plurality, which Habermas believes is a good thing that democracies need to function.

Media Watchdog – The idea that the media should act as a watchdog against the state to inform the people of what the government is doing.

• Habermas describes the public sphere as a “society engaged in critically public debate”
• Habermas has allowed all types of media to become interconnected in some sort of way
• Plurality?
• Democracy?
• Concentration of ownership?
• Media watchdog?

• communication between the media and consumers based around a dominant ideology
• media creates new ideologies
• Habermas – development of early modern capitalism created public debate
• people need to be informed and aware of things to form a democracy
• public space between private domain and the government
• source of public information

DENNIS MCQUAIL:

Mass media in the public interest

• The media can be held accountable for what they do
• something’s in the public interest if it serves the ends of the whole society rather than those of some sectors of the society (Banfield 1955)

JAMES CURRAN:

key concepts in liberal democracy :

• media = public watchdog
• public representative
• source of public information

• Public service broadcasting is unresponsive to popular demand

PSB

regulation – free market? or state control