Dr. Redman’s week 6 lecture discussing the difference between commercial and public media was an absolute eye opener for me. I didn’t realize that the ABC and SBS were solely government funded, while all other commercial channels such as 7, 9 and 10 are profitable corporations making ridiculous amounts of money. Dr. Redman made a very clear point when he outlined how we, the consumer, are not the customer for commercial media, companies wishing to advertise are. We simply give them the numbers to attract advertisers and to charge more.
I found it very interesting to learn how many media outlets are actually owned by the one company and how many are now not even Australian owned, and while the person or persons who profited from the overseas sale may see this as a positive, it really isn’t good for the Australian economy or the Australian people when our funds are going offshore.
While some would argue that the government funding of public media leaves room for bias and propaganda, I would argue the complete opposite. I mean isn’t it obvious that commercial channels are going to run stories and programs that portray their clientele in a positive light? For example, if a CEO of a major company who advertises on channel 7 is found to be involved in unethical or illegal behavior than channel 7 is not going to run this story - maybe that is why mainstream news is becoming more and more like a gossip segment, where Paris Hilton visiting Sydney makes headlines over much more news worthy stories? This is exactly the point Dr. Redman was making when saying how the results of Commercial Media are ‘dumbing down’ the viewer with tabloids and insignificant rubbish.
So the next time you are writing or producing a story as a Journalist or consuming Commercial Media, remember this statement:
“Comment is free but facts are sacred” - C.P Scott.
No comments:
Post a Comment