Brought up in an ABC household, I have always been surrounded
by great programming such as Australian Story, Summer Heights High and Q and A.
However, it wasn’t until I saw this week’s lecture that I fully appreciated
everything public media does for our national and local communities. I always enjoyed the lack of advertising and quality of Public Media
programs; what I didn’t realise was that they had such high quality shows because they had no advertisements to
worry about.
I love the way that the ABC in particular involves their
audiences through texting, and social networking sites like Twitter and
Facebook. Because their content is so different from other commercial stations,
public channels need to keep in touch with the younger generation. It also
helps them to figure out what their audience wants; genius!
The YouTube clip below was made by Triple J radio when they
were working towards becoming a national radio station. A lot of good points
are made by the Triple J team about the benefits of a public national radio.
An interesting point made in this video was that a lot of
Australian musicians are discovered via public media. Because public radio is
focussed on Aussies and not on top 40 tracks, it allows them to discover up and
coming artists long before they make the charts. I can see now this also happens in the news. In this case public media supplies a vessel for news stories that may be ignored by
commercial media, due to different ideas on what is in the public’s interest.
National programs like Triple J and ABC News are important
because they unite the nation. All over the country people can request music
that everybody can hear, or vote in polls everybody can see. It makes people feel
a part of something, rather than just receiving information. It also allows
them to experience programming that is based on importance, not ratings. Public
media connects our country, and stops us from becoming an ignorant Australia.
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