Purpose (last assessment 2023) GapFill

When studying the purpose of media products, it is worth looking at the content produced by the BBC (the British  BeamBreaking NewsBandwidthBroadcasting Corporation) – the BBC produces a vast range of media products, with a vast range of purposes, for the British people to consume. As the country’s largest and  slickestoldestmost ambitiousyoungest national broadcaster, the corporation is responsible for providing  public innovationfinancial securitycommunity benefitpublic service. The corporation is funded by the British people and, therefore, is owned by the British people. According to the corporation’s founder, this responsibility gives the BBC three overriding purposes –  inspirationprofiteducationcritical acclaim, information,  personal affirmationinnovationsocial interactionentertainment. These aims are considered more important than the purpose of profit; therefore, there is no  evening broadcastingfundingadvertisingdrama to interrupt the BBC’s content – this is mainly what differentiates the BBC from  public servicerichercheapercommercial broadcasters such as ITV and Sky.

Despite there being three overriding purposes of the BBC’s content, it is worth exploring some of the other aims behind various BBC texts:

• The corporation is under increasing pressure to create television dramas that can compete with  home videostreamingDigital Downloadpublicly funded services such as Netflix and Amazon – it can compete by continuing to create shows such as Killing Eve and Bodyguard, which are high quality. Shows such as these aren’t made just to provide entertainment and escapism; they are also made for the purpose of  social interactionaffirming personal identityprofitcritical acclaim.
• The BBC’s Natural History Unit has been highly successful in producing programmes such as The Blue Planet and Planet Earth, in which production teams manage to capture the most extraordinary natural environments using pioneering camera equipment. These programmes offer information but they are also made for the purposes of  community benefit and critical acclaimentertainment and personal affirmationinspiration and advocacyinnovation and experimentation.
• Due to its status as a broadcaster owned by the British people, the BBC is obliged to be entirely impartial and unbiased, particularly when it comes to British politics. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that any BBC text would be made for the purpose of  social interactioninformationcommunity benefitadvocacy.