ASIAN Media Information and Communication Centre (1999)
Public Service Broadcasting in Asia: Surviving in the New Information Age, AMIC, Singapore, 168pp. ISBN 9971 905 744
Reviewed by Pieter Wessels
Commonwealth Journalists' Association, Australia
This is a compilation of mostly well-researched and referenced articles on public service broadcasting in Asia and is crucial to any understanding of what is happening in the region. It covers Pakistan to the Philippines, Japan to Indonesia and most places in between. More importantly, it puts into print much of what has been said about public service broadcasting in recent years.
The biggest concern is the comparison with commercial broadcasting, followed by worries about where public service broadcasting will go in the new digital media age. These concerns led to this book, says AMIC Secretary- General Vijay Menon in his introduction. He concludes that the developing rural economies of Asia still need public service broadcasting and, because they need it, public service broadcasting is not likely to die out in Asia.
Asian Broadcasting Union head Hugh Leonard defines public service broadcasting as “programming transmitted in the interests of the public… programming that provides some sort of service to the public”.
Perhaps the most important article in this compilation is by Marc Raboy of the University of Montreal in his long, readable and referenced paper, The World Situation of Public Service Broadcasting. Then Hugh Leonard narrows the view to an Asian focus with a paper on The Challenge of Public Service Broadcasting. His plea for new programming, entertaining programs and a role for radio in the face of the new technology is passionate. Also passionate is Akiyoshi Kobayashi, President of NHK International, in his Part 1 paper on public service television worldwide. He ends with a plea: “Television is too important a medium to leave its future in the hands of those interested only in making money.”
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