State Broadcasting Companies - Relic or Asset?
RTÉ – It’s one of those things the Irish love to hate. To say that the state broadcaster has a questionable reputation here in Ireland would be an understatement. Many people just simply hate it, revile it. And it’s not just RTÉ either. Whether it’s BBC in the UK, ORF in Austria, or ARD, ZDF, and the regional public broadcasters in Germany, the amount of vitriol directed against them is almost unbelievable, and has grown immensely over the last few years. The fact that all these broadcasters finance themselves through a TV license fee of some sort while also taking in millions with advertising deals may be one explanation, but it certainly does not explain the sheer volume. Where does that come from, and why did the state get involved in broadcasting in the first place? To explain that, we’ll have to go all the way back to the dawn of the 20th century. When the first reliable wireless voice transmission came around, it was nothing short of a miracle, especially since nothing of ...