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Is broadcasting becoming narrowcasting? by A Sennitt 
When more is actually less Is broadcasting becoming narrowcasting? Commentary by Andy Sennitt 30-03-2006 Although at first glance it may look as if international broadcasting is on the decline, what's happening is actually a bit more complex than that. State-funded international broadcasting is certainly less prominent than it was a decade ago. On the other hand, there are a lot of new voices on the air. Stations that would once have operated as clandestines are now finding it much easier to buy airtime on the same high power international broadcast facilities that carry the government-funded international services. These "new breed" of international broadcasters differ from the traditional international services in that they're usually aimed at a much more specific target audience. Most of them are focused on an individual country, or a linguistic/ethnic group that's located in a relatively small area. A few of these stations operate via Radio Netherlands facilities - for example Voice of the People, Radio Nile, Voice of Tibet and Democratic Voice of Burma. Specialised formats But that's the way broadcasting is going generally - not just international broadcasting but domestic broadcasting as well. There are still networks that attract mass audiences despite the availability of more localised competition. An obvious example is BBC Radio 2, which defies many of the conventional views about formats and instead majors on personalities who can draw in huge audiences for their particular brand of music. But a commercial station trying to play such an eclectic mix of musical genres without the personality presenters wouldn't succeed. Generally speaking, the trend is more and more towards specialisation. Is this a good thing? Well, yes and no. Yes, in the sense that people who like a particular kind of music are now much more likely to find a station playing exactly what they want. In Denmark, public broadcaster Danmarks Radio has set up a whole series of low-cost digital channels that are aimed at fans of a particular musical genre. But no, in the sense that people are becoming less exposed to different types of music, and may never experience the delights of discovering something new that inspires further exploration. Predictability Taking these two trends together, a typical radio listener in the future will be less and less likely to have his or her attention grabbed by something unexpected. I think that's a great pity. It will, in my opinion, exacerbate the problem of different communities around the world becoming isolated from each other. People will not be in a position to judge whether they're being given an accurate picture of another culture by their own local media. Being an international radio listener has come in very handy over the years. Sure there was, and still is, a lot of propaganda from some stations. But by listening to a range of stations over a period of time, you can begin to form a clearer picture of where the truth lies. As I learned more and more about different countries, I became aware of how little some of my friends and acquaintances who didn't listen to international broadcasts actually knew about a lot of issues. And, whereas I might have encountered several differing points of view, they generally just produced the one they'd read in a newspaper. Accents These days, of course, there's a voluminous amount of information about every country in the world on the Internet. Some of it's accurate, some of it isn't. Propaganda is just as rife on the Web as it ever was on shortwave. But I find reading something online far less interesting than hearing it presented by a foreigner with an unusual accent. I'm fascinated by accents, and have always found it one of the most endearing things about international broadcasting. Accents add colour, and make a station stand out from the others. At Radio Netherlands, we often get letters from listeners thanking us for providing a different perspective on a subject. Unfortunately, you can't quantify such things in terms of economic benefits to the country, so these letters of thanks aren't a whole lot of use when arguing the case against budget cuts. But I believe it would be terribly sad if the benefits that I've had as an international radio listener were to be lost for future generations. What do you think? Is broadcasting becoming more like narrowcasting, and will this make dialogue between different cultures more difficult in the future? Let me know your thoughts. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the personal views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Radio Netherlands. |