Donavon Lucas COM 379 Media Industries Paper #1 February 21, 2012

Lucas 1 Most media in the United States today serves as a product that people consume like electronics and produce. While its marketing efforts may vary slightly, many times the product cannot effectively reach certain demographics and parts of the nation. Public media has tried to be the service that makes sure everyone is represented in the daily media. In the book Understanding Media Industries the authors, Timothy Havens and Amanda Lotz, point out that the best way to determine the difference between these commercial and non-commercial media is to focus on the mandates of each. The authors say that, The differences between these mandates emerge through considering three questions: who pays for media, whom does it serve and what determines success (Havens, Lotz 31). Using these questions can give great insight into the purpose of publicly broadcast media. Who pays for the media, is the first question because it makes it easy to know the sole purpose of a medium. NPRs All Things Considered and PBSs Newshour are great examples to answer this and the other questions. As NPRs website states, NPR's revenue comes primarily from fees paid by our member stations, contributions from corporate sponsors, institutional foundation grants, gifts from major donors, and fees paid by users of The Public Radio Satellite System. (npr.org, support) The same is mentioned on PBS website. Through their programming each show has various commercial spots that mention the importance of the public supporting these media. Also, at the beginning and end of the PBS programming it will clearly state who funded that program.

Lucas 2 The Knight Foundation is one of Newshours main sponsors (pbs.org/newshour); aside form public donations and gives a transparency that is not present with mainstream news media sources. By stating your funding sources, public broadcasting gives its audience a sense that they have no hidden agendas and are there to represent all the people of the US. If the public is the main source of funding, then NPR and PBS should obviously serve, the general public of the US as a whole. Havens and Lotz say that, you - as a citizen of the country pay for media service, and in return, the media system is charged with serving you (Havens, Lotz 33). The programs above clearly state similar bites throughout their program, so that means that they are there for the citizen. The hard part then is determining if they do this successfully. The authors again state that in order to determine success, the programs need to be analyzed for the effectiveness with which the peoples needs are served. (Haven, Lotz 39). The two programs used to answer this mandate question were both broadcast on February 17, 2012. The first program to determine if it was successful is Newshour. Compared to commercial news media, it is easy to see the visual and audio differences. The news anchors and correspondents are not pretty or overdressed. The tone of their voice is very calming and monotonous. Jeffery Brown and Judith Woodruff are the main anchors and are white. Ray Suarez, a Latino, is one of the correspondents from this particular broadcast, who happened to cover Iran. Hari Sreenivasan is a co-anchor who briefly goes over the days news. Sreenivasan not only is Indian born but his demeanor while on camera is simple and straight. Like many of his co-workers, he gives the news

Lucas 3 straight, with little bias and hype, unlike is commercial media counterparts. This broadcast focused on the recent visit of Chinas Vice President, Irans desire to work with the west again and a tribute to frequently featured peer who had passed in Syria. In the China segment, Brown presents the thoughts of Chinese VP Xi Jinping, while at the same time showing clips of President Obamas varying thoughts and the thoughts of Republican hopefuls Mitt Romeny and Rick Santorum. All of which are given very similar airtime. (Brown, Feb. 17, 2012) Newshour overall tries to get as much unbiased and bi-partisanship coverage in their hour long program, which can fairly represent their audience. The first segment of All Things Considered jumps right into the success that NPR and the program have at achieving this portion of the mandate. Ari Shapiro discusses the recent change in the Republican Primary in its campaign in Michigan. Michigan is Romneys birth state and Shapiro shows how this doesnt mean as much as it once did. He focuses on the success Santorum is having on the poles there. Instead of focusing on the numbers and figures, he actually goes out and interviews people of various parts of Michigan that represent these figures and gets their thoughts. This ideal later rolls over into Joanna Kakissis piece on the Greek middle class shrinking. The majority of this piece is spent interviewing citizens who are probably counterparts of NPRs listeners, instead of focusing on Politicians views or some sort of lobbyist like their commercial counterparts. This is just one form in which NPR is successfully demonstrating that it never forgets who it serves and what the peoples needs are.

Lucas 4 US media as whole may just be another consumer product but public broadcasting is the product that still has a non-commercial mandate that serves the people. This media does its best to serve and represent all. Upon comparing and analyzing the questions Haven and Lotz gave to determine mandate, NPR and PBS are prime examples of noncommercial media.

Lucas 5 Works Cited Block, Melissa, Robert Siegel, Ari Shapiro, David Folkenflik, George Bodarky, and Joanna Kakissis. "February 17, 2012." All Things Considered. NPR. KCRW, Santa Monica, CA, 17 Feb. 2012. Radio. Brown, Jeffery, Judith Woodruff, Hari Sreenivasan, and Ray Suarez. "Friday, February 17, 2012." PBS Newshour. PBS. KOCE, CA, 17 Feb. 2012. Television. Havens, Timothy, and Amanda D. Lotz. "2: Media Industry Mandates." Understanding Media Industries. 1st ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2012. 27-45. Print.