Is it all about the money?

Commercial and public media. These were the two topics discussed this week during my JN1001 journalism and society class. It is a requirement of all students to write a blog which covers the lecture, tutorial and discussion content.

So what is commercial and public media? Commercial media disregards the quality of their stories and instead broadcasts interesting events that will generate public interest. Within our reading this week, David Salter (2007, p. 23) explains that "commercial television only provides its audience with 'what they want' when it suits the bottom line". However, public media is more reliable and informative delivering current news. The main difference between the two medias is that commercial is profit driven, whereas public may drive profit its main purpose is to serve the public which sounds boring if you ask me.  

 © https://theconversation.com/topics/convergence

Some examples of commercial media's major players are: Win, Southern Cross Broadcasting, Seven West Media, Nine Entertainment, Ten, Telstra, Optus and Austar. As for public media their major players include: SBS, SBS Two, ABC 2, ABC 3, ABC News, ABC Classic FM, ABC Local Radio and ABC Radio National. Commercial media aim on generating audiences (consumers) by creating attractive programs.

The real question I believe a lot of people would like to know is commercial or public media attracting more public interest. In my opinion, I thoroughly enjoy consuming commercial media, though this may be due to what shows I was brought up watch. Never was our TV in the lounge room showing any public media of any kind. Commercial media are selective with what stories they want to show their audience, which is most probably why I like reading or watching the weird and wacky news stories that are making the headlines. Within the lecture, my group came to a mutual decision in saying that both commercial and public media may be producing interesting stories, but "it's all about the money".

Next week our class will be discussing convergence in the media. I wonder what interesting information and discussions will arise from this topic, we will just have to wait and see.

Reference

Salter, D. (2007). Welcome to the bazaar. The media we deserve: underachievement in the fourth estate (pp. 17-36). Melbourne, Victoria: Melbourne University Press Ltd.