Lecture 2 Public and Commercial Media

Commercial and Public Media… Which is Better?

Commercial Media 

Commercial Media is:

 - For Profit

 - Non Government Funded

 - Needs Success to produce its product

Due to these characteristics of Commercial Media it is understood why it creates media to entertain. Entertainment = Dollars, Dollars = more commercial media. Productions such as Foxtel, NRL, National Geographic and Fox are considered to be dumbing down their content. In a sense they make their news, and other programs more entertaining in order to attract viewers/ listeners. If you look at Southern Cross Ten's show the 7pm Project: a news program that informs it viewers of the daily news through the use of well known comedians David Hughs, Carrie Bickmore, Kitty Flanagan ect. These hosts of the show report the news with a sense of 'taking the micky' out on the current news. Generally this is done through You Tube videos and interviews that are taken out of context to ensure a entertaining moment, essentially dumbing down the current news or not fully informing the public about all the details of what happened more so just the funny moments that occurred during a sometimes serious Australian happening. 

Public Media

Public Media is:

 - Government and tax Payer Funded

"Media whose mission is to serve or engage a Public" (WGBH Educational Foundation Conference) 

Many have the perception that due the Public media such as ABC, BBC, CBS ect being government funded causes these channels to be bias towards the current government. Public Media is supports public and the democratic process, so how can they not be bias? It solely comes down to your own perspective. Unfortunately for Public Media many people will never know for sure because the stereotype is to strong so people will not tune in. However Public Media can afford to have less viewers / ratings than public media, not only there funding but organisations like the ABC and SBS have their own form of commercialisation (online shopping and ordinary shopping). 

Basically if it came down to which form of media is preferable, they both offers different aspects and both lack different aspects.