WEEK 7

Last week we learnt in great detail about commercial media: the need for advertising, to keep high viewer ratings, and to be profitable like a business. In stark contrast public media is government owned, often tax payer funded, and its ultimate purpose is to serve the public.  Redman’s lecture was informative and interesting, beginning on a humorous note with a video that dissected the clichés of investigative reporting found on the BBC or ABC (for example, a reporter walking closely towards the camera while talking, some unnecessary interviews with everyday citizens, and graphs/charts to support their argument).  I wasn’t sure what the connection was to this week’s topic but it was a good way to settle in to the lecture.  Redman began by recapping last week’s Commercial Media lecture, before moving on to Public Media. I found the first part addressed areas I was already aware of (such as examples of public media stations), though Dr Redman’s bit of trivia that Australian citizens pay 8 cents a day to keep the ABC operating was interesting; I was also unaware that in the early days of television the only station available was the ABC. Redman went on to point out the wide variety of tv shows currently being broadcast, and how the lack of pressure to keep up high rating means left field shows like Chris Lilley’s Angry Boys can continue to be broadcast. 

Dr Redman emphasised that ‘quality’ is the primary drive of public media, not money making.   The ‘to do’ list he put up summarised the principles of public media really well: ie to maintain quality, relevance, and be informative to the public. I found this to be an insightful lecture, and I look forward to next week’s topic on Ethics.