BROADCASTING SYSTEMS

Broadcasting systems The broadcaster and the government Most observers recognize that no broadcast organization can be wholly independent of government, for all of them must be licensed in accordance with international agreements. Although broadcasters in democratic countries pride themselves on their freedom in respect to their governments, they are not always free of stockholder or advertiser pressure, nor are producers and editors truly independent if senior executives, under pressure from whatever source, interfere with their editorial functions. Independence, therefore, is a relative term when it is applied to broadcasting. In a monograph that was written for the European Broadcasting Union, broadcasting systems are classified under four headings: state-operated, those that work under the establishment of a public corporation or authority, those whose systems are a partnership blend of public authorities and private interests, and those under private management. A brief summary of these systems provides an indication of the complex variations that have arisen. State operation Grouped under this heading are broadcasting systems that are operated by a government department or delegated to an administration, perhaps with a legal personality and even possibly independent in financial and administrative matters, but subject to the government and not essentially autonomous. Under this heading came the systems in most Communist countries. In the Soviet Union a special committee was set up in 1957 to be in charge of Soviet radio and television under the direct authority of the U.S.S.R. Council of Ministers. Similar arrangements were made in Czechoslovakia and Poland, except that the committees were given a legal personality. Romania had delegated broadcasting to a committee attached to the Council of Ministers. All-India Radio is a department of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Similar arrangements are common in countries that were colonies but have gained their independence since World War II.