The local news crisis is more than a problem of shuttered newsrooms and laid-off journalists. It’s a democracy crisis. And public radio can help fix it. But it needs more money and staff to do that.
Contrary to what some think, US public broadcasters are well-funded. Public radio stations bring in US$1.3 billion in annual revenue – most of it generated from their audience.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation, like South Africa itself, is a symbol of contradictions. While there are bad people who work for it, there are also many good ones.
Research Fellow at the Centre for Media Transition and head of New Narratives, a US-based not-for-profit newsroom and media development organisation working in low income countries., University of Technology Sydney