A state-related institution which broadcasts TV, radio etc… to provide information, advice, or entertainment to the public without trying to make a profit. Often has no adverts and uses tax from TV licenses to fund their organisation.  It ensures diversity in the media and plurality in news, and creates programming which reflects and examines wider society.

Broadcasting – targets mass audiences

Narrowcasting – targets smaller niche audiences

The BBC

• Lord Reith’s founding principles still shape the BBC
• Grace Goldie saw the potential in broadcasting and enhanced its influence through her journalism
• BBC initially was rejected by many organisations out of fear of new technologies eg sports companies would refuse to let them broadcast their matches/events
• The BBC became the center of everything

Royal Charter

• sets out the BBC’s Object, Mission and Public Purposes
• outlines the Corporation’s governance and regulatory arrangements, including the role and composition of the BBC Board
• Our mission is “to act in the public interest, serving all audiences through the provision of impartial, high-quality and distinctive output and services which inform, educate and entertain”.

Ethos of the BBC:

• “opening up new worlds to people” Cecil Lewis
• looking at opening up (and sustaining) the Great Tradition of progressive Western academic thought
• essentially to inform, educate and educate

Populism – political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups

Paternalism – the policy or practice on the part of people in authority of restricting the freedom and responsibilities of those subordinate to or otherwise dependent on them in their supposed interest

Habermas	defines the public sphere as a virtual or imaginary community which does not necessarily exist in any identifiable space – The BBC changed the nature of modern communication by transforming time and space transformation of the public sphere  created a new public engaged in critical political discussions – the BBC is government owned, paid for by TV licenses, accessible to the entire country, available to the poor, uneducated, lower class – “opening up new worlds to people” Cecil Lewis
Seaton	there has been a ‘deterioration between the state and broadcasting institutions’ early British broadcast reports show ‘there is a consensus that state regulation is the best guarantee of broadcasting independence and accountability’, therefore ‘only the state could license the BBC to be a ‘public corporation acting as a trustee for the national interest” debate surrounding the independence of broadcasting – some argue ‘independence is functional and must be extended to guarantee accountable broadcasting’, others claim ‘ independence poses a serious threat to political institutions, whose control over broadcasting should be strengthened ‘broadcasters have come to see the state as their enemy… Yet broadcasting institutions ultimately depend on the state for their legitimation’
Curran
Livingstone
Chomsky
The Frankfurt School	focus on the negative effects of populism in the culture industries people should spend their time understanding themselves (paternalism)