Page 108 - Communication and Citizenship Journalism and the Public Sphere

BEYOND BALANCED PLURALISM 97

and in programme content. The formation of individual and public
opinion was not merely activated by
news broadcasts, political commentaries or series on past, present
and future political problems, but also by radio or television
plays, musical presentations or entertainment broadcasts. 10
In a decision in 1981, the Court accepted the principle of private
11
commercial broadcasting as long as the legislators also enforced these
standards in the private sector. It was on this basis that the conservative
Länder started to introduce private broadcasting legislation in 1984. But
even conservative broadcasting policy was not aiming for pure
‘deregulation’; the 1981 decision was felt to have opened the barriers
without dropping them altogether. 12
13
The Court’s decision in 1986 was fundamental for the restructuring
of German broadcasting into a dual system, which combines public-
service and private commercial structures. It was necessary to continue
to regulate for pluralism for three reasons. First, the technologies of
cable, satellite and low-power terrestrial broadcasting, all of which
provided the technical basis for private broadcasting, did not yet
guarantee universal reception. Second, the economics of the market
were only likely to permit the development of a very limited number of
new stations, especially in television where entry costs were still high;
and the press sector, which was used as a model, had not proved a good
example for a liberal broadcasting system, as it had serious
concentration problems. And third, pending EC legislation made it
likely that foreign satellite signals would tend to depress quality. The
Court therefore set the following guidelines for the regulators to
respect, and elaborated them in its 1987 decision. 14

• The public-service system, but not individual corporations, was to be
the ‘cornerstone’ of German broadcasting. Because of its specific
organizational set-up and programme remit, it represented the
pluralist forces of West German society. It was therefore assigned
the task of providing ‘the functions of broadcasting that are essential
for the democratic order and cultural life in the Federal Republic’. Its
duty was ‘the provision of basic services’ (Grundversorgung), i.e. to
supply comprehensive programme services. These included not just
political and informative elements, but also entertainment, music,
sport and education, as well as universal geographical coverage. 15