Public Broadcasting through the Public Sphere: A Reimagining of Public Service Media in New Zealand

Abstract

During 2013, the New Zealand government heralded the launch of the Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) and Rural Broadband Initiatives (RBI) as significant tools across a range of economic and social policy areas, including the delivery of education and health services and the promotion of development policies for Maori. Conspicuously absent in the associated political discussion was the issue of public service broadcasting and the possibility for internet-based technologies to provide an efficient and cost-effective platform for the production and delivery of non-commercial public service media. The reason for this omission may be due to the governing National Party's historic disregard for public service broadcasting, as demonstrated by its disestablishment of a number of public broadcasting initiatives since 1999. Drawing on a Habermasian theoretical framework and Dan Hind's concept of ‘public commissioning’, the purpose of this article is to outline an alternative system for public service broadcasting based on a series of referenda and on open public debate. I begin by examining the present public broadcasting system and the traditional centrality of the state in governance and gatekeeping issues. I argue that the communicative potential of social media, enabled by universally accessible ultra-fast broadband, could provide an adequate platform for public gatekeeping, with the state having a significantly reduced role. I make the argument that the technological and resourcing mechanisms for such a system already exist, and the required shift in audience culture is already present in the consumption of entertainment and reality TV texts.