Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom

proposed that “all state and
government controlled broadcasters
should be transformed into public
service broadcasters.” The ACB
fur<strong>the</strong>r said that <strong>the</strong>se broadcasters
should “be made accountable to all
strata of <strong>the</strong> people as represented
by an independent board”, and
thaty <strong>the</strong>y should serve <strong>the</strong> overall
public interest. As such, <strong>the</strong>y should
also avoid one-sided reporting and
programming in regard to religion,
political belief, culture, race and
gender.
“Never<strong>the</strong>less, what
remains valid is
<strong>the</strong> idea that state
broadcasting is <strong>the</strong>
opposite of public
service broadcasting.”
To facilitate this transformation,
<strong>the</strong> ACB called for independent
regulators to protect <strong>the</strong> public
service broadcasters against interference.
In addition, it said <strong>the</strong>re
should also be a clearly defined
mandate for public broadcasters,
guaranteed editorial independence
and adequate and secure funding
that is not subject to manipulation.
The Charter also called for free
and equitable access of o<strong>the</strong>r
broadcasters to <strong>the</strong> transmission
infrastructure that most state
broadcasters hi<strong>the</strong>rto controlled.
Finally, it urged that <strong>the</strong>re should be
programming quotas to protect and
promote local content industries.
Ano<strong>the</strong>r ten <strong>years</strong> later, in 2011,
<strong>the</strong> ACB positions on public
broadcasting are worth revisiting,
so as to recognise, for example,
<strong>the</strong> advent of mobile telephony
in combination with computing
technology and its promise of
innovations. In taking stock of <strong>the</strong>
most pressing regulatory concerns
158 | Media in Africa - 2011
and <strong>the</strong> identity of public service
broadcasting today, <strong>the</strong> following
questions can be posed:
• Should public service be seen
as a total institution, or should
regulation promote <strong>the</strong> kind of
content that meets <strong>the</strong> criteria
for public service broadcasting,
regardless of what media
organisation offers it?
• Should we, in defining <strong>the</strong>
mandate of public service
broadcasting, not take cognisance
of growing regional
blocs such as <strong>the</strong> East African
Community, SADC etc?
• What about local, ethnic and/or
religious identities?
• What mechanisms should we
put in place to ensure that
<strong>the</strong> bodies to which <strong>the</strong>se
broadcasters report are truly
independent in constitution
and operation?
“Should public
service be seen as a
total institution, or
should regulation
promote <strong>the</strong> kind of
content that meets
<strong>the</strong> criteria for public
service broadcasting,
regardless of what
media organisation
offers it?”
It can fur<strong>the</strong>r be queried whe<strong>the</strong>r
<strong>the</strong> state is still seen as <strong>the</strong> greatest
threat to independence, or whe<strong>the</strong>r
<strong>the</strong> market should be regarded with
equal caution. In a fiercely competitive,
globalised and commercialised
environment, where <strong>the</strong> very notion
of spectrum scarcity is contested
and <strong>the</strong> number of stations is set to
burgeon, what are <strong>the</strong> most appropriate
funding mechanisms?
Is it time, given <strong>the</strong> changes in <strong>the</strong>
broadcast environment to consider,
as South Africa has begun doing,
whe<strong>the</strong>r direct tax revenue ra<strong>the</strong>r
than advertising should ensure <strong>the</strong>
sustenance of <strong>the</strong> public service
broadcaster?
Lastly, with more and more Africans
having greater and faster access to
more information than <strong>the</strong>y need
or want, <strong>the</strong> issue today is also how
public service programming and
presentation can re-invent itself to
remain relevant to <strong>the</strong> multi-media
era.