Distributed public service broadcasting as an alternative model for public service broadcasting in South Africa

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to motivate a new model for South African public service broadcasting, namely, distributed public service broadcasting. The motivation is done against the background of a description of the changed and converged new media environment brought about by technological developments with new production, content and distribution challenges and with interactivity as the new foundation of communicator-audience relationships. It is argued that the new media environment requires new thinking about public service broadcasting (PSB). The need for a new model is further motivated against the background of the continued governance, managerial and financial problems the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has experienced for more than a decade, leading to a new but controversial Public Service Broadcasting Bill (2009/2010) in an attempt to address the problems. It is argued that the problems will not be resolved. Instead, a new broadcasting model should be considered. It should, however, be emphasised that distributed public service broadcasting as a new model is only introduced in this article. Detail about the model is the topic of additional research that still needs to be done. Finally, the article should be read against the background of what was at the time of writing in 2010 a number of serious governmental threats against freedom of expression with, inter alia, a controversial Bill on the Protection of Information and a Media Appeals Tribunal, all of which contributed further to the threat of the autonomy of the public broadcaster and making the consideration of a new broadcasting model even more urgent. The above topics are addressed in separate parts of the article dealing with context, problems besetting South African public service broadcasting, past and present efforts to address the problems, a motivation for why a new model is needed with the focus on the new converged and digitised media environment, new thinking about regulation, the changed nature of social responsibility, a semiotic motivation, and a brief introduction to what distributed public service broadcasting could entail.