Friday, October 13, 2006
Media Exercise 3: Public Broadcasting
Group 3: Members
Kevin Cly
Amy Doty
Briana Perkins
Brian Garoutte
Public broadcasting has been spectacular in the United States for its failure to secure a position as a key player in a media system dominated by large, global commercial entities such as News Corporation, Time Warner, Disney etc. Depending on the stakholder, various reasons have been put forward to explain why Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) has been unable to secure a strong audience base and offer a true alternative for the commercial, entertainment driven programming of commercial radio and television providers. Media systems in other countries, particularly the United Kingdom, offer possible ways to address some of these concerns. Your task is to analyze this problem using the following questions to frame your examination:
http://www.cipbonline.org/
http://www.cipbonline.org/howcpbworks.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/
You will need to comment on this post by Friday, October 20 at 5pm. It is important that you log these in as early as possible because your peers will need time review and comment on your responses to the questions.
Kevin Cly
Amy Doty
Briana Perkins
Brian Garoutte
Public broadcasting has been spectacular in the United States for its failure to secure a position as a key player in a media system dominated by large, global commercial entities such as News Corporation, Time Warner, Disney etc. Depending on the stakholder, various reasons have been put forward to explain why Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) has been unable to secure a strong audience base and offer a true alternative for the commercial, entertainment driven programming of commercial radio and television providers. Media systems in other countries, particularly the United Kingdom, offer possible ways to address some of these concerns. Your task is to analyze this problem using the following questions to frame your examination:
- Who are the key stakeholder in US public broadcasting and what is each one's central position on this public resource?
- What factors (historical, regulatory, economic, cultural etc) have impacted on PBS securing a position in the United States media system?
- What structural, management and programming aspects of the BBC could contribute to stengthening PBS, making it a more effective media outlet in the US system?
- In what ways could PBS commercialize its service to make it more competitive and what implications would this have for the organization's key objective as a public broadcaster?
One way of approaching this task is to assign a question to each member of the group. You will need to make sure that you undertake research to support your responses that should be analytical and critical in nature. The following resources will get you started on this exercise.
Resources:http://www.cipbonline.org/
http://www.cipbonline.org/howcpbworks.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/
You will need to comment on this post by Friday, October 20 at 5pm. It is important that you log these in as early as possible because your peers will need time review and comment on your responses to the questions.
Comments:
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Ok I think Jacque has highlighted the key weakness of this media exercise ... that of not addressing the BBC. I see little or no response to question three that addresses the BBC. I'm not sure if Brian was assigned this question because his entry does not have a note saying which question he is responding to. I note the mention of BBC, but there is no indication of addressing the specifics of Question 3, which hold the key to this media exercise and the presentation. Question 3 asks: What structural, management and programming aspects of the BBC could contribute to strengthening PBS ...". BBC has a unique structure for a public broadcaster in that it is financed by the government but has a three-tier management structure that allows it to operate independently, and most importantly securing financial and editorial independence. You need to seek out this information via the website provided and address the question. You will need this information for your presentation because what I want to see is a fine-grain analysis of how the BBC management structure could assist PBS become a larger player in the commercially driven US system.
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