All of this while major networks struggle to reinvent themselves. It's not just that these sprawling bureaucracies and political machines have to face up to the digital age. Infant democracies face the challenge of protecting public-service media from state control, but for established democracies the influence of the marketplace may pose the greatest risk to public broadcasting's freedom. From International Press Institute The Public Vs. In southern Africa, audience share isn't the problem.
Public broadcasting is the primary way citizens get news and commentary.
But it has also become highly identified with state control. It should provide for a multiplicity of views, take active steps to include minority representation, and become an active sponsor of indigenous culture and content that supports cultural and community interaction. In the wake of recent elections, MMPZ denounced the political and civic affairs coverage of the ZBC as partisan and obstructive of democracy. The Mandate Critics accuse America's public-service media of abandoning their mission. The BBC has a controversial new director-general, restructuring plans which will cut over 1000 jobs, and broadcasting and consumer groups demanding a new, independent regulatory structure.