A recent documentary by the BBC on the 2002 Gujarat riots has focused on the role of public broadcasting and its future. Relevant questions have been raised over whether the BBC, which is funded through license fees and grants from the British government, was complying with its mandate and charter of impartiality and public service. The issue gains importance in the context of the intense debate in the UK and across Europe on how and why public broadcasting should be funded. In the UK in particular, the BBC has seen substantial cuts to its public funding, resulting in many leaving the service amid allegations of political bias in its editorial approach. In 2020, when its reporting on violence in Delhi in the wake of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) agitation drew strong reactions, I wrote a protest letter to its then Director General; I highlighted the principle that, as vehicles of public diplomacy, it is important that public broadcasters respect the sovereignty of the nations they serve while collaborating across borders for the wider global good. The BBC’s documentary on both the pandemic and the 2020 Delhi riots and its reporting from India was in violation of this principle and tantamount to foreign policy harming relations between the two countries.
Its regression towards click-by journalism and controversial reporting on the domestic politics of other countries has to be seen from the perspective of its funding model. While the BBC is the UK’s public service broadcaster, its global operations are through a commercial entity. With public funding reduced, it is keen to expand its international commercial revenue by injecting itself into controversial topics in other countries. Given its well-documented history of collaboration with agencies of the British state, the line between its public broadcasting and commercial interests is increasingly blurred, calling into question its objectives and editorial agenda.
Its editorial drift is being guided by a larger technological undercurrent. With recent funding cuts and a contentious debate in the UK over the future of the BBC, its head has gone on record on a streaming future for the BBC that could potentially see it move away from broadcasting entirely.
A stark contrast is being drawn for the world’s oldest public broadcaster compared to India’s counterpart, Prasar Bharati, which recently received government approval for funding worth several thousand crores to expand its broadcasting footprint. Yes, it deserves closer examination. A BBC minus Broadcasting would probably be yet another British corporation. Nevertheless, the new demands of the digital age, with audiences moving to digital feeds, are forcing broadcasters such as the BBC to review their place in the media landscape, with entertainment and YouTube in particular on online platforms such as Netflix. and their ability to compete with Amazon and Tik-Tok, among others, for news and user-generated content.
This shift away from passive linear viewing to interactive on-demand consumption raises an important question over the continued relevance of broadcasting as a public or private service. We cannot deny the strategic importance of ‘broadcast capability’ as a counterweight to disinformation on the Internet as well as insurance against aggressive attack on the country’s communication infrastructure. With the fragmentation of audiences across apps and platforms and short attention spans, it is also imperative to be able to reach audiences directly from their smart devices in case of emergencies, disasters and crises of significant public interest, as recently was evident during the pandemic. Given the risks to sovereign democracies from the geopolitics of techno-nationalism, where online platforms operating outside their jurisdiction may block access or control algorithms to the detriment of public and national interests, It is important to resume traditional broadcasting.
India is witnessing a steady decline in subscriber base with direct-to-home platforms and is threatening the very existence of local cable operators, hence the need for creative intervention. Just as India completely abandoned digital terrestrial TV in the late 1990s and early 2000s by completely switching from analog terrestrial to satellite and cable, we now have a leap into the future of smart broadcasting. This is an important opportunity to apply. This is possible with the convergence of broadcasting and broadband, leveraging emerging 5G standards and direct-to-mobile (D2M) technologies such as ATSC 3.0 to directly reach smart devices. The moment calls for a public-private initiative in India to reshape broadcasting for a smart convergent future, resulting in a win-win business for both the public broadcaster and private platforms, especially local cable operators. Can be a model.
The BBC’s editorial drift as it contemplates a streaming future minus broadcasting is an early warning to India on the risks to its democracy from the geopolitics of techno-nationalism being played out through internet platforms.
The convergence of 5G and D2M broadcasting will provide an important strategic capability to protect our democracy from foreign influences through the ability to deliver content of national interest directly to citizens on their mobile phones and smart devices.
Shashi Shekhar Vempati is the former CEO of Prasar Bharati.
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