The market paradigm and the loss of public service broadcasting (television) for development and nation building

Abstract

Can public service broadcasting (PSB) under the pressure of the market approach be saved for development and nation building purposes? Within the context of the ongoing local and international debate about the future of PSB and how to justify it, this article seeks answers to the above question by first of all describing what the market paradigm or approach to the regulation and management of broadcasting entails. Thereafter the approach 's impact on PSB is briefly discussed, followed by an analysis of the impact of the market approach on broadcasting in South Africa. The article concludes by arguing that the dilemma of PSB lies in the inherent paradoxes that arise in the process of trying to merge the cultural and market paradigms in/to broadcasting.