Republic of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and Vice-President Joice Mujuru at Harare International Airport prior to the president's departure for the SADC Summit in Lilongwe, Malawi on August 17, 2013., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
ZBC’s stoic balancing act
September 10, 2013 Opinion & Analysis
Kurai Prosper Masenyama
Zimbabwe Herald
Sunday Mail columnist Garikai Mazara stirred a storm when he launched a blistering attack on public broadcaster the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings and its leadership, particularly Chief Executive Officer Happison Muchechetere, in an open letter published by the paper last week.While Mazara commends the ZBC for broadcasting big events like the Presidential inauguration, he goes on to lament other anomalies like poor news casting, poor picture streaming, poor programming and generally lack of creativity in ZBC’s programmes.
This week the ZBC through its Public Relations executive Sivukile Simango launched a spirited defence pointing to their successful coverage of the referendum, elections, President Mugabe’s inauguration, various national events like Heroes Day celebrations and burial of national heroes and the recently completed United Nations World Tourism Organisation General Assembly.
The Corporation even proceeds to boast of having assisted the Zambian National Broadcasting Corporation in broadcasting events in Livingstone at the closing ceremony of the UNWTO.
Furthermore, the public broadcaster sidestepped any criticism of its purported shortcomings and shifted the blame to Transmedia, its streaming partner.
The public, through comments on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and online news channels, sided with Mazara, tearing the ZBC argument to shreds, even questioning why citizens should continue paying licences for such purported poor broadcasting.
While arguments and counter accusations can flow back and forth between the key protagonists in this heated debate there are some serious questions that need to be interrogated pertaining the role and nature of public service broadcasting in the modern world.
Thus, the following questions are key to the understanding of the unfolding debate so that citizens can arrive at an informed conclusion of the debate:
What is the traditional role of a public service broadcaster worldwide?
What is the specific role of public service broadcasting in post-colonial African countries?
How has globalisation and the liberalisation of the media industry affected the role of public service broadcasting?
Can there be a compromise between public service and commercial broadcasting, especially in post-colonial societies?
We interrogate the above questions to give clarity on the matters raised.
Traditional role of a public service broadcaster
The Wikipedia indicates that the primary mission of public broadcasting is that of public service, speaking to and engaging citizens. The British model of public service broadcasting which has been widely accepted as a universal definition embodies the following principles:
Universal accessibility (geographic)
Universal appeal (general tastes and interests)
Particular attention to minorities
Contribution to sense of national identity and community
Distance from vested interests
Direct funding and universality of payment
Competition in good programming rather than numbers
Guidelines that liberate rather than restrict program-makers
While some of the highlighted principles are subject to debate, it is generally accepted in media studies that a public service broadcaster is guided by these ideals.
This model served the British well in the two world wars and other key activities whereby the nation needed to be united and rallied to a common cause.
Other countries like Australia, Canada, Sweden, Norway and a number of Latin American countries also have strong public service broadcasting networks.
Public Service Broadcasting in Africa
Public service broadcasting has played a significant role in re-shaping post-colonial African societies.
The main goal of the public service broadcaster is to build a strong national identity and to rally nation-building programmes. Thus, public broadcasting was used to rally popular national programmes like “Ujamaa” in Tanzania, land reform in Zimbabwe and even the creation of a post-apartheid South African identity modeled around Nelson Mandela.
Public service broadcasting is still important for Africa and other developing regions.
Public Service radio is still strong in countries such as South Africa, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Congo, Liberia, Sudan, Nigeria and Kenya but in others it has evolved into commercial models, with little informational content.
Public service broadcasters are also better placed to tell the African story, especially against the flurry of global news and images that can spread around the world in seconds.
Public service broadcasters promote diversity and pluralism in a number of ways. Because they are not driven by market pressures, they can produce programmes which cater to a wide variety of tastes and groups, without necessarily requiring commercial viability.
For example, they have an obligation to serve the whole population and often provide services to minority groups, in minority languages, even though viewing statistics may be low. They may also serve diversity by broadcasting programmes which cater to niche markets or which are costly to produce.
They play an important role in promoting programme production at the local and national level, under threat in many countries from high-budget global programming.
Perhaps most importantly, they help ensure that viewers can access quality news programs that include coverage of local, national and international events. The need for trusted information about national and local developments is as crucial as ever, as is the need for programming to celebrate national cultures, explain social change projects, and to offer relevant, quality entertainment for all ages and ethnic groups
The effect of globalization on public service broadcasting
With the dominance of globalisation international corporations without territorial or cultural links are now the main actors in the media market, including those utilising new technologies.
Public service broadcasters are slower to move onto the internet, while commercial companies are expanding in as many sectors as possible, including running newspapers, periodicals, and radio and TV stations, and producing film and music, as well as creating “a more differentiated value chain,” including products like cable and satellite distribution networks.
Thus, there is need to urgently review the traditional role of public service broadcasting and make it more responsive to the dictates of the market while driving national imperatives.
In Conclusion: Whither ZBC?
The ZBC has proved time and again that it can be a seasoned public broadcaster through its excellent beaming of key events like the Referendum, Elections, National Events and major activities like the UNWTO General Assembly. The broadcaster have also consistently told and defended the Zimbabwean story be it on land reform, indigenization or electoral processes.
However, the Corporation needs to balance its strong nationalist credentials with sound programming of popular programs like live sports, music and drama, among others.
While the general thinking in the media fraternity might be that public broadcasting and commercial broadcasting are not compatible, there is a lot of space for performing a balancing act that will create a win-win situation both for the viewers and national interest.
The issue of sustainable funding needs to be fully addressed through a combination of robust programming that brings in advertising revenue and firm collection of license fees.
More critically, public broadcasters need to explore new possibilities for broader participation offered by new technologies.
Kurai Prosper Masenyama’s MA dissertation was on the role of SABCTV in creating a Post-Apartheid National Identity in South Africa.
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