If the media oil the wheels of the free enterprise system, and the US media supplies most of the grease, maybe it’s a redundant question. We’re consumers, right? So put away the Che Guevarra T-shirt and get with the programme. Grow up. Look around. The Federal Communications Commission has announced plans to relax cross-ownership laws even further and it’s possible, even likely, that the five dominant players in the global media market will soon become four, or three, orwell, however many, it will be the market deciding. The consumer will make the choice.
Problem is, the consumer doesn’t seem to be a big fan of multinational consolidation right now. Tim Spira’s piece on integrated media going pear-shaped makes the point pretty clearly. People aren’t bashing each other on the head to get AOL Time Warner or Vivendi shares. Then there’s Anton Harber’s piece on South Africa’s experience with the foreign behemoths. Down this end of Africa, looks like there are other things to consider besides the simple matter of ‘more cash needed.’ And what about the little issue of corporate accountability? Do consumers get to decide on that as well? Greg Hamburger, in the article ‘Red Tape: SA Media Fights for Access to Corporate Info,’ suggests not. Left to the consumer, our own media bosses could take all the ‘enronitis’ sick days they wanted, with pay.
As members of the media, maybe it’s okay if we take that T-shirt out of the cupboard at least once a week. Perhaps we could wear it to seminars where government big-wigs have vague debates on whether the media should act in the national interest. We’d get all involved for a day and then go back to the office and worry about real stuff, like the bottom line on our own media brand. For that day, though, we’d be reminded why we got into this deal in the first place. We’d remember that media is about the ‘production of meaning.’
Hopefully, this issue’s cover story leaves the question open. Yes, it’s an inherently worrying scenario when the editorial independence of the SABC is threatened. When certain members of the Department of Communications try to take our public broadcaster back to the dark days of the Nats, it has ominous implications for all of South African media. But our broadcaster is ‘public.’ And the public is peopled by citizens.