CHAPTER THREE
Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four Part One

Chapter Four Part Two

References

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The Public Broadcasting Ideal


Of the different reasons given over the years for government intervention in support of radio and television, the rationale that is most persuasive is that which is based on external benefits.  External benefits arise if there are benefits arising not just to viewers personally but to society as a whole, from people watching or listening to particular kinds of programming.  The argument is that the private sector, without public subsidy or funding, will not operate at their maximum capacity.  Public funding is justified if it supports these benefits [1]. As a result, many countries resorted to Public Service Broadcasting: this type of broadcasting focuses on the importance of culture in a society, the shared set of meanings and feelings that pull people together.  Corcoran[2] defines public service broadcasting as;

“A belief system of a set of institutional practices most clearly epitomised in the BBC, rooted in the optimistic, humanistic enlightenment idea that the world can be made a better, more humane place for everyone and that the national community is important in order to allow the individual to flourish"

 

National broadcasters funded by the government have historically been an important component of the broadcasting sector in most countries as was in the case of Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, which was the only broadcaster in Ghana up until 1995. Even when commercial broadcasting was introduced, the rationale for the continuance of broadcasting that can offer alternative programming to that provided by the commercial sector remained strong.[3]

 

 Governments also use Public Service Broadcasting as a means of regulating the broadcast industry.  The underlying principle for this lies in the fact that it plays a crucial role in ensuring the public's right to receive a wide diversity of information and ideas, a role that the commercial broadcaster is not expected to play. 

 

Public service broadcasting is based on the principles of universality of service, diversity of programming, provision for minority audiences including the disadvantaged, sustaining an informed electorate, and cultural and educational enrichment, especially in developing countries where non-governmental broadcasters are few and lack the capital to expand nationwide and are motivated by personal gain. The concept was conceived and fostered within an overarching ideal of cultural and intellectual enlightenment of society. The roots of public service broadcasting are generally traced to documents prepared in support of the establishment of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) by Royal Charter on 1 January 1927[4].  Public Broadcasting is central to the notion of democracy and is expected to address the need for a democratic culture for everyday life. The first element is the geographic universality of the broadcasts, which means that programs must be available throughout the country to every citizen. Public Service Broadcasting should provide diverse types of content to cater for all interests, tastes and the minorities.

 

Another vital element is its commitment to the development of national identity and community.  This is a traditional commitment of British broadcasters however; it does imply an extremely expensive production of British programs compared with American programs. 

 

The detachment of public service broadcasting from vested interests and the government is also one element which the Commission came up and one with which this study is particularly concerned. Impartiality is very important to broadcasters, especially those in public service broadcasting, yet subscription of broadcasters to particular values, which they see as neutral, sometimes, cannot be avoided and has led to accusations of the public service broadcasters as being the voice of the government in power. These accusations are especially rife in the undemocratic and newly democratic countries of Africa.

 

A common feature of public service broadcasting that it is to be directly funded by the users.  Licensing is a favoured way of public funding. By this the public pay a stipulated amount annually for the right to watch and listen to broadcasts.

As mentioned earlier ,Ghana's broadcasting system was modelled on this ideal.

 

Following deregulation in Africa after the Windhoek[5] conference in which the freedom of the media was agreed upon by all African states, commercial broadcasting was introduced in Ghana in 1994 when Radio Eye[6] was forced to shut down by the government after it started broadcasting without a licence .The first stations to crop up were not surprisingly radio stations followed in 1996 by the television stations. Commercial broadcasting differs from its public counterpart in that although it aims to provide programmes to its audience, it does so in a quest for profit. Profit comes from advertisement and advertisement rates are based on audience figures. The commercial broadcaster therefore seeks to introduce programmes that will guarantee maximum public interest. Sometimes these programmes clash with the ethical and moral ideals of public broadcasting and may only cater for a section of the public leaving others in the lurch. Commercial broadcasters accuse public broadcasters of being conservative and claim that proof that their programmes are more popular defeats the purpose of public service broadcasting. In countries with a mature commercial broadcasting service, there have been calls for the abolition of government support for public service broadcasting as it is a waste of public funds. Calls to abolish the Television licence that only benefits public service broadcasters or to have it shared equally among all stations have been made.

 

Commercial broadcasting does not differ greatly from public service counterparts. This perhaps can be explained by the moral fibre of the society that insists that information in the public domain benefits the society and also because the industry is new. It is thought there are as many social, educational, and health programmes on commercial stations as there are on public ones. Where commercial differs from public, it argues it is providing the public with what they want. Accusations of narrowcasting whereby the commercial broadcaster does not feature diversity have also been levelled; this greatly reduces the external benefit of broadcasting and leaves out sections of the public.

 

 There is also the argument that the advent of commercial broadcasting stimulates competition and makes the public broadcaster deliver. This will then benefit the entire population, as the standards of broadcasting will be raised.

 

As with any liberalisation process, it was feared that the media would take their newfound freedom and run away with it hence the government's initial reluctance to open the airwaves. However to its credit, the broadcast media has managed to remain unbiased politically unlike its print colleague where newspapers publicly support a particular party. Although there have been recent claims by the opposition party National Democratic Congress that it does not get enough coverage on radio and television[7], such allegations are the exception rather than the norm.

 

The government realises the importance of the national broadcasting corporation, (it is usually the first point of call of coup makers) and this is evident from the 24 hour armed guards who man the premises. What commercial broadcasting has done is to demystify broadcasting and change people's impression of the national broadcaster as an arm of the government.

 

Censorship and Regulation

 Broadcasting regulation dates from the inception of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation. The Ghana Broadcasting Decree of 1968 converted the sole national broadcaster into a public corporation.  Regulation at the time was tailor-made for the national broadcaster and was mostly in the form of work ethics and corporation code of conduct. The sector was technically unregulated. As a result, there were no overseer bodies and these meant stations with powerful equipment could take over the frequencies to the detriment of less technologically advanced ones. It became imperative therefore to develop a policy to regulate this new broadcasting industry.  Parliament in 1996 passed the National Communications Authority Act to fill this void. The National Media Policy was therefore developed for all communications (media services, advertising, public relation and wire services). The policy is standard and inline with general United Nations and World Trade Organisation policies.

 

 Among others it stipulates that all media and media services be regarded as a public trust. Public interest therefore is to be paramount in the operation of all media It addresses issues and principles including freedom and independence of the media, media pluralism, cultural impoverishment, marginalisation of local industries, education and development, technological competence, human resources, institutional capacity and universal access. The policy welcomes the advent of liberalisation and all that it entails (cheaper access, global reach) but also warns of the pitfalls (the overwhelming of national production and innovation) and thus stresses the freedom and independence of the media although it admits that the realisation of this is going to be difficult in spite of the legislation. This is because freedom includes freedom from government, from vested interests and from general bias, the enforcement of which is difficult. It also aims to safeguard the pluralism of the media by preventing specialised interest or biased (political parties or religious bodies) stations. It bemoans the impoverishment of local culture and the increasing foreign content on TV.

 

Broadcasters' responsibility include helping with education, promotion and development of technical competence and research. They are to run public affairs programmes and help represent the country's cultural aspirations.

 

The policy provides for majority Ghanaian shareholding, ownership and representation of broadcast media. It forbids the rebroadcast of foreign programmes on fm stations and asks that at least 50% of radio and 30% of TV content be local and at least one local language be used. The policy also acknowledges the import of news as newsmaker and agenda setter. It forbids government intervention of any sort and encourages balance in all stations.

 

Policy also provides for the levying of television licence. Television licences are a flat rate poll tax used in some countries to augment the national broadcaster's revenue. Funding through license fees safeguards a stable income, enabling planning and creativity, and gives the public the service at a low cost. A current licence of three thousand cedis (20 pence) is levied per television annually (equivalent to the price a loaf of bread). Payment is not enforced and considering that there is presently one television to sixty _six people, it is difficult to collect. Even in the off chance of effective collection, not much can be done with this amount compared to the huge costs involved in broadcasting. Corruption is also a factor with collectors embezzling some of the funds. In sum not much is generated[1] by way of television licensing.

 

Reporters are responsible for their stories right until it goes on air.  Because they do not only gather news but edit and usually do the voice-overs as well, they are responsible for the final product.  

Although there is by and large no content regulation, there is no absolute freedom either. Journalists claim they receive queries and as a legacy of regimes are constantly aware of the big brother-like eye watching and are thus pushed to self-censorship. Overall, it is expected that news items broadcast will be prudent, wholesome, and for social benefit, avoiding volatile situations and issues and private broadcasters insist they adhere to this ethic as much as the national broadcasters do.     

The censorship board certifies films for broadcast. They check it for suitability for the audience, it has come down very hard on broadcasters recently and most are now complying by showing appropriate films.

 

This study can therefore assert that the appropriate legal mechanisms have been put in place to help chart the course of press freedom, the media in Ghana is relatively free; there is no notable constraint on their right and freedom of expression. But uncensored freedom can be as problematic as bondage, and the eternal issue of just how much freedom is too much and where to draw the line was anticipated and as a direct response   the National Media Commission was provided for by the national constitution   

.

Its functions are:

(a) To promote and ensure the freedom and independence of the media for mass communication or information;

(b) To take all appropriate measures to ensure the establishment and maintenance of the highest journalistic standards in the mass media, including the investigation, mediation and settlement of complaints made against or by the press or other mass media.

(c) To insulate the state-owned media from governmental control;

(d) To make regulations by constitutional instrument for the registration of newspapers and other publications, except that the regulations shall not provide for the exercise of any direction or control over the professional functions of a person engaged in the production of newspapers or other means of mass communication; and

(e) To perform such other functions as may be prescribed by law not inconsistent with this Constitution.

 

 It is a reputable institution and seems to handle its office well, successfully lobbying for the repeal of the criminal libel law in 2001. The NMC is however funded by the government operated consolidated fund, which indirectly makes it a government organisation although the constitution guarantees its independence. Even they bemoan the lack of funds hence its inability to attract and retain staff[2]. It does look out for journalists as a result of which victimisation and intimidation of journalists no longer seems to be a problem in Ghana.


 

 

 



[1] http://www.american.edu/initeb/qj8944a/privdereg.htm

[2]http://www.africaonline.com/site/Articles/1,3,18747.jsp

 

 


[1] Hoskins, C. et al (1997). Global Television and Film : An Introduction to the Economics of the Business.  Oxford: Clarendon Press

[2]Corcoran, F. The Co-habitation of Public and Private Broadcasting  at http://www.forumonbroadcasting.ie/docs/20020524143547/Farrel%20Corcoran.doc

[3] Mendel, T. (1998). Public Service Broadcasting: Enabling broadcasters to play their role effectively at http://fxi.org.za/Medialaw/public.htm

[4] Avery, R. Public Service Broadcasting at http://www. museum.tv/ archives/ etv/P/ htmlP/ publicservicb/ publicserviceb.htm

[5] http://www.misanet.org/charters/windhoek.html accessed July 2003

[6] http://www.misa.org/windhoekseminar/western3.html

[7] http://www.myjoyonline.com/frontarts.asp?p=3&a=3552


 



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