SBS more relevant than ever

In the past few years SBS has been seen to be straying from its multicultural and multilingual charter and becoming increasingly commercialised. Indeed, one wonders why it was necessary to produce an Australian version of Top Gear, no doubt a ratings and advertising dollar winner but with zero relevance to the charter.

However, in the same period SBS has also stepped up its efforts to offer us uniquely Australian productions such as the current documentary series First Australians, the first time ever this country’s history has been told on television from a point of view that validates the Aboriginal perspective. This type of programming is of the essence not just for Aborigines, but for all Australians.

For this kind of programming to have maximum integrative impact it has to be delivered by a universally available, free-to-air national broadcaster. This is where the role of SBS as the national broadcaster with a special multicultural brief is so important. It is also internationally unique and the envy of many countries around the world. SBS regularly receives overseas delegations who wish to learn from this exceptional Australian media organisation. How did it do it?

Crucially, its multicultural charter has also pushed SBS to be a cradle for creativity and innovation. The charter has forced SBS to search for new talent, new stories, new ways of media making. An example was last year’s crime series East West 101, the first ever TV series made in the Western world that features a Muslim detective as a well-rounded, not stereotyped protagonist. So innovative was this series, that it has been sold to both Israel and several Arab countries.

What SBS needs is a strengthening of its vision with which to realise its charter in the coming decades, and the necessary resources to do so. As long as other media organizations in Australia remain unable or unwilling to treat cultural diversity as intrinsic to Australian society, not an exotic add-on or problem, then we need SBS to help us secure Australia’s future as an open and outward looking nation.