Democratising public service broadcasting: The South African Broadcasting Corporation - between politicisation and commercialisation

Despite improvements in technology and the proliferation of broadcasting possibilities, public service broadcasting remains one of the pivotal pillars upon which today's media systems are built and rely. Nevertheless, it continues to face heavy pressure from political, governmental and economic actors. This study will attain two objectives by discussing the results of a content analysis of South African civil society organisations' online archives, a documentary analysis of South African media legislation, and three semi-structured interviews with South Africa's civil society representatives. First, the study will provide and discuss an analytical framework for studying PSB politicisation that considers not only who holds power but also how power is exerted. Second, the study will highlight different ways in which the relationships between regulation and political actors, and between the state and the market, develop within public service broadcasting. More specifically, this study maintains that the state and the market are not always and not necessarily two colliding powers, particularly when attention is paid to the public media system. In fact, under certain circumstances, the state and market can successfully coexist and fruitfully cooperate by emptying the public broadcaster of its true and distinctive value compared to other broadcasters: its publicness.