Lecture #7: Public Media

This week's lecture was focused around public media, which I really enjoyed. As a child, I grew up in rural Queensland meaning that I listened to a hell of a lot of ABC Local Radio and Radio National. We also watched a lot of ABC shows, like George Negus and Catalyst. One thing I really like about public media, which was also mentioned in the lecture, is that importance of news is  prioritised over interest. Don't get me wrong, I am a junkie for trashy gossip news - but I reserve a space in my heart for news stations which can communicate the hard facts that are actually relevant to current affairs. And i'm not alone - 41% of Australians get their news from the ABC. This was summed up well on one of the lecture slides - Public Media is Media that is in support of public and democratic processes.

Public Media should have Public Value, and its mission ought to be to serve or engage the public. These statements from Professor Redman resonated well with me - especially the sentiment regarding Public Value. It seems important that above all else, what the audience of public media values should impact upon content the most. Public value was defined clearly as embedding a public service ethos, value for licence fee money, weighing public value against market impact, and public consultation.

So I don't know what else I can say about Public Media. I know there's more to discuss, because we spent an hour on it in our lecture. Basically, though, I really love how genuine Public Media comes across. Triple J is like a best mate, ABC is like that one teacher who you can't help but love, and SBS is that friend who just knows a bit of everything. And I adore it.