Public Support for Local and Community Media in Three Countries: A Comparative Study

In the discussion of possible solutions to the business crisis facing legacy media, insufficient attention has been paid to existing arrangements that channel public money to media serving marginalised audiences, particularly in Global South countries. Argentina and South Africa are upper middle-income, often turbulent countries that have set up official mechanisms to help fund local and community media. They are here compared with Norway, where such mechanisms are a key, long-standing element in a media system that is often held up as the gold standard of public communication. Three main mechanisms are compared: indirect subsidy, direct subsidy and government advertising. Differences in political and media history and landscape have led to variations in the relative importance of the various mechanisms, the media platforms targeted and the institutional arrangements. It is argued that arrangements for public support must be understood and designed in context, are always politically driven, must be safeguarded against political interference, and should be long-term and redistributive in approach.