A broad and brief description of the concept of the public sphere as discussed in the literature. We often refer to the public sphere in everyday speech as the "arena for civil discourse".
PSBs as an Important Element of the Public Sphere
The contributions to the public sphere via public services are caused by PSB competition and also government regulation as in Canada, but it more accurately translates to a combination of both. These reasons help explain why Burri (2015) speaks of PSBs as "the institutional guarantor and instrument of the modern public sphere" (p.8), since they can enhance the contributions of other media to the public sphere beyond their unique contribution.
PSB contributions to the Public Sphere
This is the public interest that Rowland (2013) defines as the Civic Model of the Public Interest. The equalizing force that PSBs bring to the public sphere is also reflected in the mandates of all BPSs.
CBC as a PSB
Many argue that the embrace of American cultural programming is the market failure that caused the CBC to exist in the first place, given that with the arrival of the CBC in the 1930s, American programming was threatening to overwhelm the Canadian airwaves (Conway 2012). In light of this reality, CBCs perform an essential function for the Canadian public sphere by ensuring that it has relevant and diverse programming that reflects its nation. Cases like these demonstrate the CBC's hyper-vulnerability to economic and political pressure and how it departs from the PSB's ideal of independence from the state and the economy.
Moreover, it is debatable how meaningful the increased market revenues are to CBC's ability to serve the public sphere, because private revenue sources continue to be used to serve public purposes, rather than for profit. Manera elaborated on the contradiction of the CBC's cuts, saying: “Cuts of this magnitude should not be implemented without Parliament changing the CBC's mandate.
Issues the differences present
In short, without a stable funding structure, CBC is prone to periods like Stursberg's where there is greater pressure to adopt market dynamics and greater difficulty emphasizing the civic model of public interest that constitutes an ideal PSB. Moreover, it makes matters more worrisome for the rest of Canadian media which is increasingly digital and thus increasingly dependent on the small pool of digital advertising revenue that CBC is also competing for. Overall, both private and public revenue streams are under threat, so it seems more likely that without significant changes to its funding structure, CBC's independence from the economy will diminish, which in turn will have adverse effects across Canadian media.
Put another way, without fundamental changes in Canadian media, the infrastructure that supports the Canadian public sphere will be severely damaged.
PSBs in Digital, or PSB 3.0
In other words, one of the primary purposes of PSB 1.0 was to promote social cohesion and political activity necessary for functional public spheres. This is the cultural context that PSB 3.0 must meaningfully grapple with in order to create an era distinct from PSB 2.0. At the time of the publication of their article in 2010, Jakubowicz spoke of PSB 3.0 as still developing its norms differently from PSB 2.0.
Therefore, if PSM is to create a meaningfully distinct PSB 3.0 era, then it should consider the ways in which broadcasters such as the BBC responded to similar crises in the public sphere during PSB 1.0. Clearly, what is called for by the PSB 3.0 era is to put Golding's idea of a medium with a compelling public sphere philosophy into practice.
Ideal PSM Contributions to the Public Sphere?
With this approach, PSM policy can operationalize a way to revive both political participation and social cohesion by organizing civil institutions collectively by strengthening with resources and giving more prominence to organizations that work in the civil model of public interest. Similar to how Scannell identified that PSBs helped equalize the public sphere, PSM should consider how it can be a force to equalize citizen participation in the public sphere. In other words, there will be a gap in the public sphere generated by platforms like Facebook that mostly cater to certain sets of audiences.
Such a problem is this tendency to be quick to disparage certain technologies over others – and thus their audiences – which the Public Service Media Alliance includes in its mission statement that PSM policies must enable “access to and interaction with free, independent, attractive and relevant content, whether in rural or urban settings, regardless of economic status or access to technology” (Public Service Media Alliance 2018). In other words, PSMs should not look at the technological future with simplistic, one-dimensional visions, but rather maintain diverse technology to ensure mass access to the public sphere.
CBC and the Canadian Public Sphere in the Digital Age
At the same time, the document appears to acknowledge the continued importance of conventional broadcasting by highlighting how Canada has "the largest legacy broadcast. If we were starting over," then-president and CEO Hubert Lacroix told Jokinen, "the smart money would invest everything in digital ." The smart money investments would presumably be put into platforms like Facebook Live, which emerged in 2016 and since 2017, according to a CBC employee, has become "an integral part of our mission." This sentiment is at odds with both the digital policy's recognition of conventional transmission power and its approach to the digital as one that is measured or "conforming to audience behavior" (p.9). In the 2015 election, after A Space for Us All and similar policies from other television networks arrived, the most-watched debate of 2015 "attracted about 3.8 million viewers" because the broadcasters decided to distribute debates only through digital sources (Ibid).
As a result, "The overwhelming majority of English Canadians never saw a leader's debate in the 2015 election, although the debates were accessible to all online" (Ibid). After citing the resilient viewership of conventional subscribers in Canada, he concluded to regulators that "The online world has not caught up with the mass viewership of traditional broadcasting."
How CBC Policies enhance the Canadian public sphere
Here Taylor picks up on a feature that seems to define the continued function that conventional broadcasting will have in the digital age as digital adoption becomes more standard. So what Taylor ultimately portrays about PSB 3.0 in Canada is that CBC contributes to the filtering market failure caused by digital platforms that hold essential news and democratic matters such as election debates. During a recent hearing on this matter, Taylor outlined to industry regulators what the government should consider as it develops strategies for the media environment in the digital age.
Overall, Taylor's analysis of the CBC in the digital space sheds light both on the continued importance of conventional technology in Canada, but also on its relationship to democracy in a way that digital technology does not seem capable of. However, few are calling for a reduced online presence, but if raising awareness of the plight of counterpublics in Canada is to have broad social cohesion outcomes, then there must be an emphasis on providing information and education on indigenous issues for older audiences. who are more likely to consume CBC on television or radio.
Countering Commercial Enclosure
In addition to swinging market dollars, the plan also shows that despite recent reimbursements from the government, the CBC budget will not have any positive net benefit due to inflation until 2022 (p. 16). Therefore, despite the government reimbursement, the CBC remains in the same fiscal place it was in 2014 within a few years, but the fiscal situation could be much worse if there were a continued monopoly presence in Canadian digital media, or if a again the government reduces the appropriations of BNK. It appears that the unsustainable contradictions in the BNK's funding structure are at the core of the BNK's priorities.
The document demonstrates that not only is the CBC's mandate and focus on "championing" Canadian content, but if it received an additional $420 million, it would also translate into 7,200 more Canadian jobs (p.30). All these problems make more difficult the public service commitments essential for an equal and accessible public sphere.
How CBC’s PSB 3.0 hinders the Canadian public sphere
A recent analysis of Facebook's effects on democracy and the media by Siva Vaidhyanathan provides insight here. As a result, Facebook's modus operandi is to "divide the public into cultural and political universes. This is because Facebook essentially operates in the public interest application of the market that targets only the 'relevant' programming or content for users, but the definition his as relevant has no bearing, says Vaidyanathan, "on the useful, enlightening, moral, educational or truthful". p.90); in other words, the way social media platforms like Facebook define relevance does not has no significant relation to the promotion of the mandates of public broadcasters.
Yet all the while, there will be no discussion about the ways in which CBC enables Facebook's anti-democratic activities, namely by "making them richer," Hirsh says, while Facebook is actively eroding democratic values and institutions internationally. This is exactly what Hirsh is trying to do, rather than calling for an end to its relationship with Facebook — although CBC wouldn't be the first major organization to leave Facebook.
Narrowing Political Citizenships in Pursuit of Relevance
All in all, what this suggests is that the most pressing problem with A Space for Us All may not be its targeting of obscure and smaller audiences on digital over conventional audiences, but rather (if and when) audiences shift dominantly to digital methods of media engagement, the plan leaves the CBC subordinate to the will and decisions of actors like Facebook, which have diametrical goals with the CBC but still influence both content and its delivery. There was ample reason for the CBC to televise the election in real time with journalistic oversight, but because of its lack of nuanced adherence to the digital-first strategy, there are signs that the digital strategy is significantly damaging the broadcaster's cachet as a central element in the public sphere. The decision, they said, will do "long-term damage to the CBC and will inevitably erode our standing with our audience and Canadians at large, [because] many of our viewers in the Ottawa region, who either cannot afford Internet access, have" t have easy access to it, or who are not inclined to watch election news broadcasts online, will not be able to see live coverage of the local election results provided by their public broadcaster” (Houpt, 22 Oct. 2018).
In response, management deferred to the CBC digital policy as the rationale for all decisions, saying "We've been operating under a digital-first strategy for almost five years and that's the lens we use when making tough decisions" ( Ibid). Coupled with Hirsh's case, CBC's coverage of the local elections in Ontario confirms the idea that there is a culture within the CBC that sets the logic and goals of A Space for Us All, which continues its mandate and thus its commitment and contribution to the Canadian public sphere.
Improving PSB 3.0 in Canada
If the political will comes, then these are the priorities that should be considered to strengthen Canada's PSB and the public sphere it serves. Similarly, the second priority should consider how its informative and educative roles can be mobilized towards more positive socially cohesive goals for the public sphere. One could foresee, for example, that such an initiative would put PSM at the center to equalize the public sphere.
Moreover, the CBC should have similar motivations for ambitious strategies due to the similar decline of the public sphere today as when public broadcasting receivers were invented. In short, the CBC's current plans for the digital age are insufficient to adequately serve the public sphere.
Bibliography
CBC staff resigns after broadcaster chooses not to broadcast live coverage of Ontario's municipal elections. Retrieved from: http://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/february-2017/the- public-broadcasters-role-in-the-fake-news-era/. PDF.https://shatteredmirror.ca/wpcontent/uploads/theShatteredMirror.pdf Pedwell, T. Half of local television in Canada could be turned off by 2020: report.
The Gaudian.https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/30/nationalise-google-facebook-amazon-data-monopoly-platform-public-interest. Dismantling the Public Airwaves: Shifting Canadian Public Broadcasting to an Online Service. International Communication Journal.
