Broadcasting, Voice, and Accountability : A Public Interest Approach to Policy, Law, and Regulation
The broadcast media, radio and television, have a unique and particular role to play both in enhancing governance and accountability and in giving voice to poor and marginalized communities. Broadcast media, are especially relevant and accessible t...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC: World Bank
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/01/17910210/broadcasting-voice-accountability-public-interest-approach-policy-law-regulation http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15815 |
| Summary: | The broadcast media, radio and
television, have a unique and particular role to play both
in enhancing governance and accountability and in giving
voice to poor and marginalized communities. Broadcast media,
are especially relevant and accessible to remote
communities, cultural and linguistic minorities, the very
poor and illiterate people. Policies, laws, regulations, and
other public actions that govern the broadcast media are
central to play that role, and they form the main focus of
this guide. The guide maps out a public interest approach to
fostering free, independent, and pluralistic broadcast
media. Its objective is to provide guidance on how to design
a policy, legal, and regulatory framework that can
contribute to the achievement of public interest goals such
as transparency of government and accountability to the
people, enhanced quality of and participation in public
debate, and increased opportunities for marginalized groups
to develop and articulate their views. The guide draws from
the experiences of a wide range of countries in all regions
of the world and is illustrated extensively by country-level
examples of policies, laws, and regulations. The guide is
intended as a tool for media reform particularly in
developing and transitional democracies. This guide is
structured as follows: part one offers an overview of the
rationale for a public interest approach and its role in
enhancing governance, development, and voice. Part two
examines the general enabling environment for media and
communications, including standards of freedom of expression
and access to information, the use and misuse of defamation
law, and general content rules that apply to all media,
including print media and journalists. Part three is
dedicated specifically to broadcasting, including the role
of regulatory bodies, broadcast content rules, the
distinctive sectors commonly referred to as public service,
community nonprofit, and commercial private sector
broadcasting, as well as the regulation of broadcast
spectrum and channels. The final section of the guide
presents a research agenda that is intended to address the
lack of relevant and systematic data and information on
broadcasting encountered during the process of researching
and compiling this guide. It concludes by presenting some
options and practical opportunities for development
assistance to support a more coherent approach to reforming
broadcasting in the public interest. |
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