In a presentation I did recently at a conference, I was asked to lay out some of the essential things to consider when trying to change a State broadcaster in to a public broadcaster. Here are some of the key considerations:

Funding

Getting a funding system that does nto leave teh public broadacster at the whim of one government Minister or at the bottom of government's economic prioriites and therefore subject to constant cuts is critical. It needs to be a reliable source of funding that allows the orgasniation to plan ahead effectively. Uncertainty leads to a lack of long term planning.
2. Advertising
Should a public broadcaster run advertising or not? Arguably, if a public broadcaster is going to benefit from public money and have a stable formula for that funding, then it should not carry advertising as well. That will leave a commercial space in the market for competition to grow up. Commercial operators will move in and challenge the public broadcaster’s potential monopoly. Competition is very important in the media. It keeps everyone on their toes and tends to push quality up and regulation should encourage it.
 
3. Transparency:
Being committed to an open relationship with audiences is also very important. If a broadcaster is going to receive public money in some shape or form, it must have an obligation to explain itself to the people who fund it. Ultimately all public money will in the long term come from the general public. So the broadcaster must have guidelines that define how it intends to operate:
4. Guidelines not Rules
Editorial and commercial guidelines are needed to guide staff and managers and they should emerge from experience. All of these should be out in the public domain, so audiences can see what it is trying to achieve and understand the principles that underpin its decision making. This lays out the playing field for journalists and public alike. It enables decision making to be explained properly. People may not agree with those decisions but at least they will be able to track them back to a published set of standards which can be debated.
4. Guidelines not rules: Guidelines and not rules because rules tend to be rigid and in a changing world rigid rules can prove to be inappropriate. What is and is not socially acceptable changes. People’s attitudes to key issues like sex, money, democracy, security – all the stuff that touches us on a daily basis – change and shift. As societies continually develop, tolerance to the way things are communicated develops too. So you cannot make quality decisions by sticking to rigid rules, when so much changes from year to year. What you can do is set out some useful guidelines and principles and say that you will make decisions that are informed by them.
5. Training:
If you agree that guidelines are better than rules – then the quality of training that is provided becomes really critical. You need to exercise sound judgement to interpret guidelines and you need effective training for the people who have to do that.
 
Setting up an operational structure that devolves responsibility in a clear way is important but you also have to let staff exercise that responsibility without undue interference. Staff will need support at times and they must be trained when to ask for it. But unless Editors feel they can get on with the job, confident in their training and their guiding sense of public purpose.
 
6. Culture:
A lot of this adds up to creating a strong and creative working environment or culture. A healthy culture will support the devolution of responsibility and will have a strong commitment to quality training but it will also foster a management style that feels inclusive. It is a style that depends on taking staff with you by persuasion rather than simply dictating what should be done. A healthy culture encourages debate so that a consensus grows up in the public sector. On the whole, better decisions are made if you openly debate difficult issues. In open debate you will hear views you may not have already considered. Even if you end up with your first thought being your last thought – you will at least know what objections exist and you can take those in to consideration in the way you communicate the decision.
7. Leadership in depth.
Key to creating the right culture is of course leadership. You need the right person at the top who displays the values you want in the organisation as a whole.  You also need leadership pin depth – at every level. Having a truly competitive approach to recruitment will ensure that people of calibre are recruited. Even the best will need training in the core values that underpin a great organisation. Ideally it is a good idea to promote the best internal talent. They will have the respect of their colleagues, who will have seen the quality of their work and that will reinforce the very values and qualities you want to see in the output.
 
If this is done consistently – the organisation ends up with leadership in depth and quality decision making.
8.  Regulation:
I do not think that any of this can be achieved unless the broadcaster is independent of government. It has to be run and operated by media professionals. It can be held to account by an independent body that can monitor its plans and ambitions but the people on that body have to be under a strong obligation to be independent and act in the best interests of the viewing public and defend the broadcaster from unwarranted attacks. None of this means that parliament cannot call on the leaders of public broadcasters to explain their policies and actions. But it does mean that politicians should not interfere in the day to day running of the business
Conclusion:
Whatever environment you work in, being a journalist is no easy task. Creating an environment where independent journalism can be pursued is very challenging. There is undoubtedly something powerful in the concept of a public as opposed to a State broadcaster operating in “the public interest”. It should transcend both party politics and commercial interests and can help guide those who want to see the media develop further.  If you work in the public sector - whether you ar a doctor or a teacher, you should be working in the public interest and finding ways to empower every individual in society to develop and grow. There is no reason why quality journlism cannot emerge from the public sector if it is set up and managed well.   

6. Devolution of responsibility

If you train effectively you can better devolve responsibility.

Jerry Timmins, Managing Director GMT Media Ltd