Mon, Sep 27, 2004 page3

• Purge political influence from the media: expert

  Hansjurgen Rosenbauer, president of the International Public Television Conference and a member of the Broadcasting Commission for Berlin and Brandenburg, was one of the international experts invited by the Government Information Office to share their own country's experience in public broadcasting at an international symposium last week. `Taipei Times' staff reporter Ko Shu-ling caught up with Rosenbauer after the symposium to find out if there is a future for public service television here

  • /
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  Taipei Times: You mentioned earlier in your speech that the biggest challenge public service television faces in the future is adequate funding and independence from party politics. How can public television disassociate itself from bureaucrats and politicians when some of their funding comes from the government?

  Hansjurgen Rosenbauer: There are certain things that the broadcaster and the government have to do, including setting the amount you, the audience, have to pay. After that has been decided, the government has nothing to do with your financing any more. It means we're responsible to the people who pay for us and we have to give them the programming they want.

  

  Hansjurgen Rosenbauer, president of the International Public Television Conference and a member of the Broadcasting Commission of Berlin and Brandenburg, shared his views and Germany's experience on the state of public broadcasting.

  PHOTO COURTESY OF PUBLIC TELEVISION SERVICE

  There's always, in a democracy some sort of a check-up system to make sure that public service television doesn't take money and spend it on building, I don't know what ... swimming pools.

  In my country, and I think it's a good model, every four years, the amount that has to be paid [by the viewer] is reviewed by an independent body of controllers. They then say to the government whether it is enough or too much. That's a very good way of checking. That's why we have some political influence but it's very limited.

  TT: According to Taiwan's Broadcasting and Television Law (廣電法), the government and political parties are no longer allowed to own stakes in television or radio stations and are required to dispose of their stakes in media outlets before Dec. 26 this year. Under the Government Information Offices's (GIO) plan, two of the government-owned terrestrial TV stations would be integrated with four other TV stations into a privately-run public service TV group. What do you think of the plan and do you foresee any problems in the future?

  Rosenbauer: I listened to the proposal and I find it a little difficult for me to understand how it's going to work. The idea that a political party owns a TV station is very foreign to me because political parties should not be allowed to own such a powerful tool.

  I think it's OK if you're running a newspaper, but if you're running a television station and to get your revenues from commercials, then this is actually taking the airwaves away from the public. [The airwaves] are not owned by a party or a company, but they are owned by all of us. This very complicated ownership structure may lead to the restructuring the media scene.

  If I can recommend anything, I think there should be a clear-cut division. There should be public media, which are controlled by a public body in which politicians should not have a majority. There should be commercial stations, which are strictly commercial. They are owned privately and can make as much money as possible, but of course they should stick to the laws, including not broadcasting pornography, hate programs or things like that.

  TT: What are your thoughts on the whether integrated public TV groups should be allowed to run commercials?

  Rosenbauer: We have the same thing in Germany and in other parts of Europe. As long as the group channels are not completely depending on commercials, I think you can have a very healthy mix.

  The BBC has no commercials at all. We are allowed in Germany to run during the weekdays 20 minutes [of commercials], but only before prime time in order to make sure that in the evening you can watch a movie or a news program without commercial interruptions.

  I'm not against that mix, but you have to be careful that you don't become just another commercial station.

  TT: What percentage of commercials do you think would be reasonable?

  Rosenbauer: It depends on how much money you can ask the audience to pay. If you have an economy that is bad, you cannot ask people to pay, say, NT$500 a month because it's a lot of money for some people. I think a maximum of maybe 20 to 25 percent of income from commercials is OK.

  TT: Do you think state or party-owned broadcasters should be driven out of the broadcasting industry altogether?

  Rosenbauer: I think political parties should not have access to such a powerful medium and the government should stay away from it. They may make rules or regulations that make clear how stations should be operated but leave it to self-control. So the answer is definitely no, political parties and the government should not own television stations.

  TT: The Broadcasting and Television Law also bans foreign or Chinese investors from owning local media outlets or assuming key positions in the media. What are your thoughts on this?

  Rosenbauer: In Germany, there is no limit to the investment of foreign companies. A major commercial television chain in Germany has just been bought by an American group. In the US, foreigners cannot buy an American television company. I think you have to decide according to the specific situation.

  TT: You mentioned earlier in your speech that there's no free market for public service TV. Could you elaborate more on this?

  Rosenbauer: There cannot be a free market for public television because I consider public television as part of our national heritage and culture. So you should not put your national culture on the market.

  You cannot ask whether it's too expensive or can we afford it. So when we get money for the programs, we spend the money on the programs. In the free market, we have to follow market forces and that becomes very expensive.

  TT: Many people have cast doubt on the future of public service TV. Do you think public service TV can make money? Is it possible for public service TV to become a cash cow?

  Rosenbauer: First of all, it should not be a cash cow. It can be a cash cow if the government gives licenses to public televisions that are run by the state and there's no commercial competition. It is only possible if you bar foreign satellite programs from coming into the country but how do you do that? So I think every country has to decide how important public service television is for them and not look at it as a cash cow.

  TT: You mentioned in your speech that it's hard for public service TV to attract young age groups. In your view how can public service TV attract younger viewers?

  Rosenbauer: If you want to attract a younger audience, you have to give them the feeling that they can get something from your channel that they don't get anywhere else. You have to make programs that deal with their problems.

  Two of the genres that young audience would watch are drama, movies and sports. I think it's money well spent if you show major sports events on national television channels and drama series or movies that are interesting to young people.

  In Germany, we start attracting young audience to watch the children's channel so they get used to watching public television and not just cartoons made in Japan or the US.

  Another genre for young people is information-oriented, newscast and good investigative programs. If you only have an entertainment section, then people don't take you seriously.

  TT: Everybody is talking about digital television. Exactly what are their benefits and disadvantages?

  Rosenbauer: The most simple answer to the advantages of digital television is better quality and transmission. Secondly, you can broadcast many more programs for a cheaper price because of compression of the information. (The decrease of program costs means) you have more money left for the programs.

  I don't see any disadvantages really. I think it's a beautiful opportunity to have a wider variety of programs and channels and I'm all in favor of competition by the way. We need competition between public and private stations. If you don't have public television to set certain standards, then you don't know what the standards are.

  We have the experience (in Germany) that commercial television gets better if you have good public television because then the audience learns how it is to watch a movie without interruption and how to watch a good newscast program that doesn't concentrate on catastrophes and who kills whose husband and how.
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Chinese influencer’s residency revoked

  • 2

    MAC condemns entertainers’ China posts

  • 3

    Use of mobile devices to be forbidden in schools

  • 4

    Immigration agency to revoke residence permit of Chinese influencer

  • 5

    Microsoft retires Skype, internet call pioneer 曾擁數億用戶！通訊軟體Skype微軟宣布退役