Habermas looked at how new technologies and media products sparked change within the ‘public sphere’ by giving audiences a wider range of knowledge and providing access to elements of culture that were designed for the ‘elite’. In a interview regarding the BBC, Cecil Lewis said that from its emergence, the BBC “opened up new worlds to people”, creating a ‘social cement’ or a shared experience that ‘the masses’ all had access to. Rather than providing ‘populist’ content, the BBC provided alternative ideas and produced diverse content that focused on the development of culture.
Jean Seaton (PSB and Broadcasting)
“broadcasters have often failed to perceive the public interest.”
“the work of broadcasting should be regarded as a public service for a social purpose”
“catering for all sections of the community, reaching all parts of the country”
“to lead public opinion”
“One cause of the collapse… the deterioration in the relationship between the state and broadcasting institutions”
“good broadcasting would reflect the competing demands of a society”
“the only information… which seriously affects producers is knowledge of the size of the audience”
“broadcasters are obliged to negotiate political conflict and not take sides in it”
“commercial broadcasting is based on the sale of audiences to advertisers” – Public Service broadcasting provides something more useful and educational.
Curran and Seaton (Ownership effects)
Media of the “Victorian era” were “engines for social and political change”
“profit -driven motives take precedence over creativity in the world of commercial media”
“peak-time television schedules are dominated by lighter entertainment formats”
“less popular, minority interest products are side-lined”
