SA community TV's 'misery'

A three-day community TV policy workshop currently under way in Boksburg, Gauteng, is looking at ways of putting 'solid' mechanisms in place to save the soul of community TV.

The Department of Communications (DOC), which is hosting the event, has also identified challenges such as licensing framework, higher costs of equipment and to produce local content, spectrum availability, content generation and aggregation, organisational readiness and the need for effective coordination.

Learn from successful countries

Catherine Edwards, of the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) and Phyllis Fong, of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (a version of ICASA), showcased international models and experiences of community TV, in hope that SA will learn valuable lessons from other 'successful' countries.

Edwards said yesterday, Monday, 24 May 2010, that different countries have different funding models for community TV.

In other parts of the world, funding is provided by, among others, national governments, municipalities, provinces, membership fees, direct fundraising, cable subscription, NGOs and advertising, she said.

In SA, however, existing community stations have no soul and have to scramble here and there to hang on for dear life.

TBN (the oldest), Soweto TV, Cape Town TV and Bay TV are currently the only community stations broadcasting in SA. Existing and still-born stations do look from time-to-time to government to lend them a helping hand.

Guarding editorial integrity

However, many experts believe government funding is like a poisoned chalice due to its severe implications on the integrity of editorial content as stations will be too scared to 'bite the hands' that feed them.

Some observers are convinced begging government for help has the danger of turning them into the state's propaganda machines.

But, though Dr Mashilo Boloka, of the DOC, denies this, the situation on the ground says otherwise. Reports say no existing station has so far had the guts to challenge the government's shortcomings, especially around service delivery issues.

Dr Boloka, who believes that community TV has the potential to foster democratic participation, said: "We don't determine the nature of content they put in, but we tell them 'in everything you do, remember we are also a partner."

Finding solutions to prosper

The government agency Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) says in its 2008-2009 annual report that it disbursed R833 652 and R358 900 to support Cape Town TV and Bay TV, respectively.

CEO Lumko Mtimde told Bizcommunity.com the MDDA gave some funding to Soweto TV to add to the assistance it gets from Urban Brew.

"Community TV is about partnership. There is no way you can lock the government out of this process," Dr Boloka said, adding that overall the media need to change its continuous negative perception about government.

Basically, delegates are debating and investigating, among others, the following issues: what is the role of community TV, how to define it, how to fund it, how to licence it, should the government continue to fund it, should Sentech have mercy on community TV stations and charge them a low, preferential rate for signal distribution?

DOC DG, Advocate Mamodupi Mohlala, said regardless of the challenges and tribulations facing community TV, the state is determined to engage with them, and find solutions to assist them to prosper.