Media Studies Essay
Media Studies Essay
THE FUNCTION OF THE MEDIA IN SOUTH AFRICA
Executive Summary
Following the high financial distress of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) that has placed the broadcaster at risk of shutting down, this report discusses the role of the broadcaster in South African society. The role justification aims to seek financial support to bail out SABC of the financial distress and prevent it from shutting down. This report presents a strategy describing the steps SABC needs to take to overcome the current challenges and make it more competitive as other streaming sites, such as Netflix, dominate the market. The functions of the SABC in the media and South African society include education, being a source of information/information dissemination, entertainment, preserving cultural diversity, and depicting a reflection of the society. The libertarian, authoritarian normative media theories support the saving of the SABC. The uses and gratification media affect theory justifies the importance of SABC to its audiences. Therefore, the broadcasting corporation is worth saving through financial rescue.
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The Core Function of SABC in the media and the South African Society
The SABC is a public broadcaster founded in 1936 by the government of South Africa and is among the largest government-owned enterprises in the nation. The broadcaster currently has 19 radio stations and six televisions that broadcast to the general public. Being one of the largest broadcasting corporations and reaching an extensive audience across the entire nation, SABC plays a significant role in the media and South African society. Among the functions the broadcaster plays in the media and society include education and awareness, information dissemination, entertainment, culture/cultural diversity preservation, and reflecting current issues in society.
Media Regulation Function
As mentioned earlier, the SABC is an umbrella broadcasting corporation with 19 radio stations and six television stations. Therefore, the corporation is mandated to regulate the type of media that these stations air to their audience. In their book, Teer-Tomaselli et al. (2021) state that state-owned corporations play a significant role in regulating the broadcast media under them. Additionally, the state uses these broadcasters to pass information to the public through state broadcasts. Therefore, the media depends on the direction of the state.
Normative theories of the media support this regulation. These theories concentrate on who owns the press and who controls the media in a country. The authoritarian theory of media stipulates that the authorities have all the rights to permit and control media through licensure to the press and censorship (Aryal, 2023). Moreover, if any media violates the license, the authority has a right to cancel or revoke it. Based on the authoritarian theory, the media’s primary role is serving the state’s interest. In the case of SABC, considering it is a state-owned corporation, the stations are required to support the government agenda and respect the direction of the state under the regulation of SABC. Therefore, SABC controls the media by dictating the content aired in SABC station programs.
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Educational Function
The media plays a significant role in educating the public and creating awareness of different issues in society. The media has been one of the greatest sources of education and awareness creation for the public (Ertuk and Reynolds, 2020). More so, the media not only educates the public but also has educational programs for school learners. For instance, the radio and television stations at SABC air educational programs, documentaries, and other informative content like panel discussions on various subjects. More so, the SABC education channel focuses entirely on educational content for learners across the educational system through programs such as school TV. Therefore, media enhances education in learners and the general public in society.
Information Dissemination Function
The other crucial function of the media in South African society is disseminating information. The broadcasts, television and radio stations, are a primary source of information and news for millions of South Africans. Each station has news programs that report up-to-date news across different spheres of life, thus keeping the public informed on events happening in the local, national, and international regions. Additionally, the SABC media has integrated digital platforms that also disseminate information to the public, hence able to reach a greater audience. For example, each SABC station has handles on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, where news highlights presented in the station are posted to disseminate information to younger populations in society that have shifted to using these platforms more than the television and radio stations.
Entertainment Function
Entertainment is one of the greatest disseminators of culture and cultural learning in the history of humanity, apart from being a way in which individuals or groups enjoy daily life. Through entertainment, individuals are able to ease the hardships of life, escape reality, and live less stressful lives. Therefore, entertainment is an important aspect of the society. Media is the greatest source of entertainment in the current era. Broadcast media, for instance, provides a wide array of entertainment forms through television and radio programs. SABC delivers entertainment to different audiences using entertainment programs that air dramas, music, sports, and cultural shows.
Culture and Cultural Preservation Function
Moyo et al. (2020) note that broadcasting corporations support the role of the media in cultural promotion by preserving culture and cultural heritage. Similarly, the SABC plays a significant role in the reflection and promotion of South African cultural heritage. Most SABC television and radio stations were opened based on different South African languages and cultures. These stations broadcast programs using these indigenous languages, leading to the preservation and promotion of the languages alongside the corresponding traditions and customs.
Reflection of Current Issues in Society
Since the media is a mirror of society, broadcasters reflect current issues in society. Considering that SABC has a significant audience across the county, it is expected to reflect the current issues and events, thus influencing change, shaping societal opinions, and raising awareness on issues that call for change or attention. SABC’s cultural, political, and educational programs and shows are created and produced from the inspiration of current societal issues, thus reflecting the society for awareness creation, correction, guidance, and influencing societal development and progress.
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The libertarian normative theory of the media forms a strong basis for the function of reflecting society through media. According to Aryal (2023), the libertarian theory stipulates that the media should have absolute freedom, operating independently, without control and interference. Based on this theory, the SABC media stations produce programs that reflect the current issues in society, provided the information aligns with SABS’s mission and vision.
The Importance of SABC Media to Its Audiences
Based on the functions of SABC in the media and the South African society discussed above, it is evident that the broadcaster is important. The function shows a need to save it from the risk of shutting down, thus enabling it to continue reflecting current societal issues, preserving culture, entertaining, educating, and disseminating information to its audiences. However, the broadcasting corporation has suffered financial losses, to the point of inability to pay its Sentech monthly installments for more than a year. The financial losses have resulted from the rising competition from stream media like Netflix, which has taken SABC’s considerable audience share.
However, there is potential and a chance for a turn-around if the broadcast corporation gets the needed financial support, thus enabling it to continue playing its role in the media and South African society. Furthermore, it is crucial to continue supplying the public need for media consumption, be it education, entertainment, or information. The uses and gratifications of media effect theory show how the public consumes media. Hsu et al. (2020) state that media consumers use the media to satisfy particular needs and desires, which vary from one consumer to another. Therefore, SABC and its programs have specific consumers in need of their production. For instance, the SABC education station is watched by people in need of educational content. Therefore, the corporation is valuable to its audiences and will have an audience so long as it produces the media consumption needs of the audience.
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Conclusion
SABC has a significant function on the media and the South African Society. The corporation regulates media, is a sphere of influence on society, and preserves the cultural heritage. Additionally, SABC educates, entertains, disseminates information, and reflects current issues of society to facilitate society’s growth and development. The essence of SABC to its audience is also significantly felt. Therefore, the corporation is in a justifiable need of finances to save it. The availability of funds will assist the corporation to offset its debts. Additionally, SABC will be able to create new content that is competitive enough to ensure it secures a considerable audience share. Market research will also be conducted to enhance an understanding of the current audience preferences, thus informing the current and future programs.
Reference List
Aryal, K., 2023. Normative Theories of Mass Media: PMPD Perspective. State, Society and Development: PMPD Perspectives, pp.25-32.
Erturk, E. and Reynolds, G.B., 2020, December. The expanding role of immersive media in education. In International Conference on E-learning (pp. 191-194).
Hsu, C.L., Lin, J.C.C. and Miao, Y.F., 2020. Why are people loyal to livestream channels? The perspectives of uses and gratifications and media richness theories. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 23(5), pp.351–356.
Moyo, D., Mare, A. and Matsilele, T., 2020. Analytics-Driven Journalism: Editorial metrics and the reconfiguration of online news production practices in African newsrooms. In Measurable Journalism (pp. 104-120). Routledge.
Teer-Tomaselli, R.E., Muller, J. and Tomaselli, K.G., 2021. Currents of power: State broadcasting in South Africa.
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I have attached the entire assignment which has 3 parts. Essay, Infographic, and Report titled as follows:— The function of the media in South Africa(Part 1) ;Media Culture(Part 2) and The media as a public Sphere(Part 3), Each is asking for 1500 words(Total of 4500 words all 3 parts) strictly-read instructions please any deviation would lead to a penalty of losing points. The rubric is also included in the instructions with specific marking criteria outlined. Refer to Appendix A for additional specific instructions and guidance. Observe the intellectual integrity and plagiarism rules in the Intellectual Integrity and Property Rights Policy. Write each part independently/individually.EACH PART USE 5 ACADEMIC REFERENCES,P;EASE 1500 WORDS PER EACH PART
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