Sunday, August 30, 2015

The Irony of Public Newscaster

"... it has been said that democ­racy is the worst form of Gov­ern­ment except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time ..."

Winston Churchill
Like a good joke, that has more than a little bit of truth to it. We certainly do get the governments we deserve. The more I get to know my fellow voter, the less surprised I am. The more I observe politicians, the more I despair that this is not going to end well.

As a card-carrying capitalist (which means cutthroat competition, creative destruction, and yes, wealth inequality), I find myself appalled at the efficiency of a typical government agency. Just imagine any free market business going up against a similarly resourced government agency ... it would hardly be a fair fight. Humans respond to incentives and government departments and employees don't face competitive pressures that threaten their very survival. That makes a difference.

It is safe to say I'm not a huge fan of most democratically elected governments, nor do I find that most government bodies can be accused of exuding competence.

So it strikes me as a great irony where I go for my TV news. For as long as I can remember, it has been either the BBC, the CBC, or the ABC (the "A" for Australian, not Amurican). I am as much of a conspiracy theorist as the next guy (1984, The Matrix, ...), and as explained, generally hold everything governmental in very low esteem, but have you watched a private news show in last 10 years? God what awful stuff. Chitchat, sensationalist drivel, right-wing propaganda mandated by the owner of the station, and sport (which, for me, rates below the chitchat and drivel). Now I'm not saying there isn't room for improvement on the public broadcasters news programs -- far from it -- but so long as I've got a mute button handy for the sports, I still find them worth watching when I'm in the mood.

I wonder what Orwell would think. I figger he got it 180 degrees wrong.

The developed world is controlled by the rich, and the rich like to control public opinion. Controlling the media is a part of controlling public opinion, so it should come as no surprise that public broadcasters are not favourite projects of the world's power brokers. In fact, public broadcasters are facing existential threats in both Canada and Australia, and are definitely under attack in the UK. And - shock! - Mitt Romney promised to slash PBS funding should he be successful in his Oval Office quest. Surely there is no need for publicly funded news rooms anymore - Fox and CNN have us covered.

In huge, sparsely populated countries like Canada and Australia, public broadcasters serve two purposes. One is supplying programming that is not dictated by advertising. I think it is hard to overestimate the importance of national programming that is free to examine issues of little interest to business, or even in conflict with business (Go, Catalyst, go!). Without a free press, there is no democracy, and I don't consider private media to be free. Secondly, public broadcasters provide programming relevant to rural areas that simply is uneconomic for private companies. I think this second role is critical for maintaining the social and cultural fabric of a sprawling land like Australia.

I am a fan of capitalism, and I am a fan of democracy. But asking to have both, at the same time, is a tall order. Lately, the former has been getting its way to the detriment of the latter. And we only have ourselves to blame.

Long live the public broadcaster.