Key Points
- Australia has two publicly funded broadcasters: the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS).
- Taxpayers fund the ABC and the SBS as a public service.
- Public broadcasters are different to state-controlled media.
- Australia also has commercial and community media outlets that raise revenue through advertising or sponsorship.
Freedom of the press and a diverse media landscape are important hallmarks of healthy democracies — where citizens and journalists have the power to express themselves, obtain and publish information without fear of interference or reprisals from the ruling government.
Although press freedom is not guaranteed by the Constitution, Australia ranks in the top 40 countries on the .
Australia has several media outlets, including privately-owned commercial media, and sponsored community networks.
The country also funds two public service broadcasters through tax revenue: these are the (the ABC) and the (the SBS).
Private mainstream media produces content for profit and ratings. They answer to their commercial sponsors and their interests.
In contrast, public broadcasters are accountable to the community that funds them.
Credit: Sompong Sriphet / EyeEm/Getty Images
What is public media?
Public media outlets are a public service. They are mandated to accurately inform society, so their news services should be balanced, trustworthy and editorially independent.
This means public media journalists should be allowed to scrutinise, question or criticise the government and all political parties. Public broadcasters decide what news to report, and how to cover events.
“To be trusted, [public broadcasters] need to be seen to be understanding and dissecting and reporting things in a fair and impartial way. Impartiality is … ultimately about truth, it’s about holding power to account,” CEO Kristian Porter explains.
[Public broadcasters] should be free from government or overt commercial interference. They should have oversight from ideally some sort of independent regulator and provide impartial news and quality content that informs, educates, and entertains all of society.
Other important functions of public media include fostering public debate, and providing a platform for a variety of voices and programming styles that reflect the diverse needs and perspectives of the wider community.
“Public media should also be a reliable source of information in times of emergencies or in crises, and a reliable counter to misinformation and disinformation,” Mr Porter adds.
"They should be universally available, reach diverse audiences, and ultimately inform democracy, particularly at times of election."
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This is contrary to state-sponsored media, which is often found in countries ruled by authoritarian regimes. Although the government also funds these, state-controlled broadcasters act as an arm of government.
“The purpose of that media is to be a voice for whichever government is in control of their society”, former head of the journalism program at University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Professor Wendy Bacon explains.
These types of outlets usually publish government propaganda, populist and nationalistic content.
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Professor Bacon explains that public media must have arrangements in place to guarantee its editorial independence.
“For example, the Minister for Communications [in Australia] does not have direct control over a public broadcaster. Whereas where you’ve got state-controlled media, then the minister would be able to give direct instructions.”
Credit: AAP Image/Joel Carrett
The role of the ABC and SBS in Australia
Australia has two publicly funded broadcasters: the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS).
The ABC is the larger of the two, with dozens of regional and international bureaus, as well as offices and studios in all Australian capital cities.
It has radio stations and TV channels to cater to different audiences and interests. Among them are dedicated TV channels for news and children’s content. The ABC is well known for the quality of its journalism.
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“In recent years that has grown for the ABC. More emergencies, particularly in weather and fires and floods and storms and all those things because of climate change, have ensured that that role is increased,” Gaven Morris, former Director of News, Analysis and Investigations of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, explains.
SBS Radio has close ties to the migrant communities living in Australia. Source: SBS
It offers people from non-English-speaking backgrounds access to information and entertainment from their home countries.
SBS also houses NITV, Australia’s , which showcases content from a First Nations perspective.
The SBS was initially conceived as a radio service to advise migrants on how to access medical services in Australia. It started broadcasting in the mid-1970s as two government-funded and volunteer-run stations in eight languages.
SBS Radio started broadcasting in eight languages in 1975, and now airs original programming in more than 60 languages. Source: SBS
“It is very much targeted to audiences in Australia who speak different languages, and their needs a very broad. The service is designed to help people understand as much as possible about Australia, the way in which things work including our government, our bureaucracy, our school system, our emergency systems and the like, so that people are off to the best possible start,” SBS’s Audio Language Content Director David Hua explains.
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Commercial media in Australia
Commercial outlets are also necessary to guarantee media diversity in democratic countries.
Cassie Derrick is the Director of the Media Section of the Media, Entertainment, and Arts Alliance (MEAA), Australia’s largest union representing journalists from public and commercial media.
She says the role of commercial media is critical.
"It can either be more niche or at least provide a different perspective, and I think that it’s really crucial that people who are in Australia have access to as many different perspectives and as many different approaches to telling stories as possible,” she explains.
Professor Wendy Bacon has worked as a journalist in both public and commercial outlets.
She says although some sections of commercial media do outstanding public interest journalism, most of their content is designed to attract large audiences to raise revenue through advertising.
The whole purpose of that media is to make as much money as possible. That means that the advertisers will only advertise if they feel the content is drawing people towards the program, so they will see the advertisement. It's not a direct relationship, although it can be. We have two very big companies, the biggest being owned by Rupert Murdoch, News Corporation. They have newspapers, they have influence in radio, influence in television...Professor Wendy Bacon
In Australia, there are several privately owned media outlets. A few stand out as dominant conglomerates: NewsCorp, owned by the Murdoch family, Seven West and Nine. These businesses control the domestic commercial newspaper, television, and radio markets.
“Often commercial outlets will be beholden in their editorial values to their owners. And often their owners can help decide what approach reporters will take to certain news topics. In some countries, the commercial press is largely seen to be right wing supporting,” Public Media Alliance CEO Kristian Porter explains.
Some people believe that the concentration of media ownership in Australia affects the quality of election campaign coverage. Source: AAP / Credit: AAP
“One thing that can be quite dangerous is when there is ownership of many media organisations by one owner. And when there is a monopoly, the thing to consider is what would your media landscape look like without a public broadcaster? What would the news look like? Would it be skewed to a certain viewpoint? Rather than there being an organisation like the ABC and SBS available to offer that impartial, trusted voice on behalf of the public? And that’s always the question to ask.”
The Public Media Alliance is the largest global association of public media outlets, which advocates for the core values of public media and journalism. The organisation’s the BBC (the UK’s public broadcaster), PBS and NPR (US public broadcasters) and the ABC and SBS, among others.
