Publicly owned media is becoming a rarity now.

There are no newspapers in the public sector,

and few in the co-operative sector. The New Media is entirely private. Public ownership and

control exists only in the audiovisual media. Public ownership of the media is often criticized by

media experts as an outdated notion. Yet the role of the public media becomes apparent to an

observer without much difficulty. In a democratic country, in the hands of a welfare state the

public media can be an effective institution for the dissemination of information, for cultural

integration and for public participation in media productions. Occasional relapses and

appropriations apart, the public media in India has lived up to its declared objectives.

Considering the crucial role played by audiovisual media in public life, it is relevant to look at

the ways in which audiovisual media in the public sector can serve the interests of the people.

This is especially considerable in a multi-cultural, multi-lingual country like India. It requires a

committed audiovisual media to project the cultural diversity of a country, something which the

commercial private media is not expected to do, unless it has an agenda in such projection. The

audiovisual media in the public sector is perfectly suited to this purpose. It can judiciously air

programmes produced in different regions of the country, by different linguistic communities,

and offer representative programmes relating to various sections of society, especially the

marginalized sections.

The media in the public sector plays a crucial role in education. Educational programmes are

aired by the private commercial media only when it can gather advertisements. Programmes

prepared by the premier educational agencies in the Country have been aired by Doordarshan
with wide viewership. The programmes prepared by the UGC and the Educational Multi-media

Research Centre based in Pune also deserve special mention. Language learning classes are

another important service provided by the public media. Classes in Hindi and English are

offered by AIR stations across the country. Occasionally one regional language centre offers

lessons in another regional language too. AIR Ahmedabad used to offer lessons in Malayalam.

It is a truism that only the public media can undertake such regional or nation-wide

programmes while ensuring quality and effectiveness. It must also be noted that the resource

persons who are involved in the production of such programmes often hold responsible

positions in public institutions and have high profile public lives. Quite often the educational

programmes aired by private channels and radio networks serve the interests of business

houses that have invested in education rather than the prospective learners.

Creating public awareness on a variety of issues affecting the people is probably the most

important role public media can perform. This is very significant in issues like literacy, public

health and community medicine. Only the public media can put across to the people the

campaigns and initiatives undertaken by the Government or people’s initiative groups in these

areas. Only public media which is not guided by motives of profit can ensure that their reach

extends to the whole population. Thus messages on issues like public health and sanitation,

avoidance of narcotic drugs, family planning, preventing corruption in public life and fostering

social harmony can reach the whole of the population effectively only through the public

media. Info programmes on vaccination drives and public sanitation drives, and on taking

precautions to prevent or roll back epidemics are best organized by the public media.
A multi-lingual country like India requires massive translation activity in the media. With

eighteen languages recognized by the constitution, twenty four by the Sahitya Akademi, and

several others as significantly large by linguists and policy makers, discourses on culture and

polity can reach all the linguistic communities only through translation. This can only be

undertaken by the public media with prolific funding from the Government. The public media

are probably the best employers of translators in the country. National radio play competitions

by the All India Radio used to attract large numbers of listeners. Apart from broadcast and

telecast of translations of radio plays, short stories, poems and interviews, the national public

television networks in the country have gone in for simultaneous sub-titling and dubbing of

information and entertainment programmes where the regional networks have the choice to

retransmit the version of their choice. Films in regional languages aired by the Doordarshan

come with multiple subtitles. Given the funding and human resources required, only the public

media can successfully undertake more advanced media modes like real-time subtitling or

dubbing. Currently the European Union undertakes massive funding in these modes in the

public sector. With the technology and resource persons available, much more can probably be

done by the public media in the country.

FM Radio networks in the public sector can contribute largely in disaster management, relief

and rescue operations and crime detection by airing precise information that reaches its target

audience promptly. Warnings about cloudbursts, cyclones, heat wave or cold wave conditions,

collecting and disseminating up-to-date information about missing persons, giving descriptions

of wanted criminals are some of the functions that FM radio networks in the public sector can

perform effectively. FM radio is currently gaining in popularity because it does not demand the
kind of attention that television does and can be accessed on the go. Although music is the

main attraction, listeners normally pay attention to news and announcements too. FM radio is

undergoing a massive revival in India as it is in several parts of the world.

Another important function of the public media is to cater to the differently abled and less

privileged sections of society. For a long time Doordarshan was the only channel which telecast

news in sign language. The private media entered the fray much later. Special programmes for

empowering women and marginalized sections of society can be undertaken effectively only by

the public media. Special programmes for farmers on agricultural operations and bulletins on

prices of farm products in the market which commercial channels and networks would dismiss

as of no commercial value are aired by public networks and channels.

It is a truism that only the public media can air programmes catering to small linguistic

minorities, which the private media will deem unprofitable because they cannot attract

revenue from ads. The Kozhikode station of All India Radio has been broadcasting regularly

every day in Mahal, the language spoken in Minicoy in the Lakshadweep islands for more than

fifty years. In fact such programmes go beyond the levels of dissemination of information and

virtually contribute significantly to the cultural productions of linguistic minorities.

The projects on development, social and administrative reform and public welfare initiated by

governments and public institutions and often implemented with people’s participation often

get the coverage they deserve only on public media. Although the public media are often

accused of being the mouthpieces of governments in power, their role in bringing the

conception and implementation of government schemes and measures is highly significant.

They provide the essential information, complete with statistics, which the citizens can monitor

and evaluate.

Unlike the private media, the public media airs, as a matter of routine, programmes for

schoolchildren, college students and the youth. Quite often such programmes spur the

talented children and young men and women to scale greater heights later on. Programmes

like Yuvavani, Calling the Youth, Shishulokam and Balalokam aired by the All India Radio

stations in Kerala are good examples. Music classes are also regularly aired by many AIR

stations. Artists who go on to earn a name in the audiovisual media often begin their careers in

the public media for the steadiness of work and the security of employment they offer.

It has also been observed that the public media is more receptive to obituaries and other

announcements of a private nature handed over at short notice to be aired immediately or in

the next bulletin. It is only unfortunate that the listeners’ move away from the public media

often make such services ineffective.

In conclusion one can say that what distinguishes the public media from the private media is

that its motivation is service rather than profit. It functions with public funding and is, or ought

to be responsible to the people alone. Its role in a multi-cultural country like India is vital. It

has to be nurtured and supported by the people. The public media is an essential arm of

democracy.