July 9, 2008 

As Bhutan moves to western-styled democracy where governments are now formed by political parties, there is the need to redefine the role of the public service media

There are many conclusions one could draw from the government’s budget allocation of Nu 4 million for the five independent media while BBS alone got a whopping Nu 221 million.  One could either agree with Bhutan Times headline that the government’s support to the independent media, for its important role in the nascent democracy, is ‘more hype than action’.  Or one could be more optimistic that at least this government has allocated Nu 4 million while in the past, there was nothing.  In between these two schools of thought lie all the other arguments and contradictions.

To start with, a large part of the budget allocated to BBS is project-tied – a project that was approved in 2004 and is currently being implemented, which is the construction of the national TV center.  And hence, as much as the figure may contradict the DPT government’s recent statements on their support to the independent media, they had no hand in actually allocating this astronomical sum.  And so, the bigger question or the issue is - what is the role of the public service media in the changing political scenario of our country?  What should be the ‘status” of the public service media?

As a long time public service broadcaster myself, there is no doubt on the need or the existence of BBS.  What can be argued, however, is how it gets funded and what role should it should play in the changing media scenario.  If one looks at the history of BBS and Kuensel, these two agencies came into being to fulfill the development communication needs of the government in the early years of the planned development period.  Kuensel started out as an ‘official gazette’ in 1967 while BBS started as a Radio NYAB (National Youth Association of Bhutan) in 1973.  Kuensel evolved as the national newspaper in 1986 serving the literate population while BBS went on to serve the illiterate section with programming centered on health, education, culture, rural development etc.  In 1992, a royal decree moved both BBS and Kuensel out of the civil service. In short, the two public service media have evolved with changing times.

As Bhutan moves to western-styled democracy with political parties now bidding to form the government every five years, there is the need to, once more, redefine the role of the two agencies - simply because the power structure has changed.  We now have an elected ruling government and an opposition.  If BBS continues to receive its funding from the government, sooner or later, there is a danger that it becomes a pawn to the political party in power.  That means with every change of the party in power, the post of the managing director could become a game of musical chair.  It may not happen now but definitely it will happen in future.  It is happening in many countries around us.  And this is not what I would wish for a national broadcaster.  Not as a citizen.  Not as a former employee.  One way out of this imminent danger would be for this parliament to pass a resolution so that no matter which party is in power in future, the state fund is guaranteed through an ‘endowment fund’ with no strings or conditions attached.  This is how they do in the UK with BBC.  Let’s not use the word ‘subsidy’.  It has negative connotations.  In fact it was this word that sparked the current debate in the National Council. 

When we talk about government support to the private media, people misunderstand as free-gifts and hand-outs.  We are not asking for these things.  Neither are we seeking blank cheques or financial bailouts.  Any individual venturing into business does a commercial viability of the project.  It would be stupid for someone to be not doing this.  Where I was stupid was to think that I would be operating in a free-market.  Hence, what we are asking for is to let the commercial media to compete in a free-market regime.  But not to pitch fully-funded donor-supported Goliaths against small and upcoming private media firms that can hardly pay salaries to their employees at the end of each month.  That is a sin.  We are also asking for access to resources that are provided to achieve certain national objectives – like promotion of Dzongkha, civic education, consolidation of democracy, mass awareness campaigns, organization of public events and entertainment which are better serviced by the private sector.  There is some ray of hope shining in the horizon, though.  The Cabinet’s decision to include all the mainstream media in the PM’s upcoming visit to India is a welcome development.  The commitment made by the information minister that there will be equal access to information for all media agencies would be almost a godsend.  And yes, Nu 4 million is better than nothing.

To conclude, no one is jealous about the Nu 221 million for BBS.  In fact they should get even more if all those money could be translated into good public service broadcasting. Yes, a good public service broadcast with no commercials and TV spots.  Leave the commercials to commercial broadcasters and cable operators.  Concentrate on documenting the dying culture and tradition, traditional folk songs that are fading away and service those 69% of people who still need developmental programming.  Perhaps my former colleagues wouldn’t agree.  But the present amorphous status of BBS is neither adding to the credibility of the BBS as a media agency nor is it helping the growth of the independent media industry. 

We say we learn from the mistakes or best practices of others.  So here is a proposal.  How about BBS striving to be like NHK that is considered the ‘mother’ of all stations in Japan?  A channel that is more credible than the Japanese judicial system and a station where every broadcaster dreams of working.  BBS could be a company that leads, and not impedes, the development of the media industry in the country, an agency that is respected by the media fraternity and regarded by the public. 

 

Dorji Wangchuk

is the managing director of Centennial Radio and guest columnist to Bhutan Times 

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