Our Mission

Supporting our members to build and promote trust in public media worldwide

What is the Public Media Alliance? 

The Public Media Alliance is the largest global association of public service media organisations.

We have a specific remit to support and advocate for the role and importance of these organisations – otherwise known as public service broadcasters – in society and democracy.

We are a non-profit organisation and funded by public broadcasters like the BBC and their equivalent organisations worldwide such as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the South African Broadcasting Corporation.

Founded in 1945, the organisation today has a global membership, offering members an equal opportunity to exchange ideas, views and best practice in public media. Our vision is a world where the public can continue to access free, independent, engaging and representative national and international media wherever they are.

We support and work with these organisations to improve standards, train journalists, and fight their corner if they face pressure from governments, funding issues or even attacks on their reporters.

Our diverse work also includes facilitating knowledge and travel exchanges for media workers, contributing to research, training and workshops for our members worldwide.

‘PMA’s most important role is advocacy. We support and promote the values of public media and the necessity of press freedom as challenges like media capture, political interference in the media and disinformation grow worldwide.

At a time of growing nationalism, populism and disinformation, protecting the core values of public media has never been so important.

These fundamental values underpin informed democracy and allow public media organisations to hold power to account on behalf of the public who pay for it via a tax or licence fee. These values include editorial independence, accuracy, transparency, impartiality, independent regulation, diversity and universality.

The core function of PSM is to therefore support an informed, connected and engaged electorate by providing verified news and current affairs, free of political, partisan or commercial influences.

Our aim is to build consensus, stand together and advocate a united global voice for public service media

The Public Media Alliance exists to support public broadcasters and integrated digital media organisations with a public service remit. Our focus is the shared public media space.

The provision of such a space – that is trusted, independent and credible – via broadcast, digital or internet platforms is a central pillar of public service broadcasting/media. And the PMA provides a key forum for exchange of views, ideas and experiences of key thinkers, decision-makers, practitioners, senior managers and academics working in the field of PSB/M internationally.

We are the only global membership organisation to focus specifically on PSM, with all members – regardless of their nation’s size or location – having full and equal membership. But PSM around the world is facing huge challenges, most notably, diminishing funding and the effects of digital convergence. However PSMs are often best placed to act as a vital trusted source of information in a competitive and sometimes distorted media space.

We work to identify, research and champion common themes in PSM and provide forums for debate and networking. We also act as a bridge between the academic and public debate around PSM and its changing role. We do this practically through running training, symposiums, exchange programmes, publishing research and reviewing the research of others. We are also working to create appropriate benchmarks for PSM.

Find out more
The Public Media Alliance started life as the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (CBA), founded in February 1945 at an event called the Commonwealth Broadcasting Conference.

Held in London, the inaugural conference brought together representatives from several broadcasters that had cooperated closely in reporting World War II.

The CBA began with six members, and by 1974 had adopted a charter, and the membership met every two years in different parts of the Commonwealth. Membership was restricted to public service broadcasters in Commonwealth countries, but in 1995 it was broadened to allow commercial companies with a PSB commitment and PSBs from countries outside the Commonwealth to join as affiliates.

In 2014, the membership of the CBA unanimously voted for the organisation to become known as the Public Media Alliance, and to allow full and equal membership of PSBs from any country in the world.

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Staff & Membership

The Public Media Alliance is a membership association of 50+ TV and radio broadcasting organisations with a public service remit.

Members also include broadcast-related organisations such as regulators and broadcast technology companies. The Alliance stretches across 54 countries – in both hemispheres and all continents. You can find out more about our diverse membership here.

We are a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee, with a UK-based staff.

The Alliance is governed by a President and geographically representational international Board – all experienced broadcasters and media leaders drawn from our member organisations. The board is elected for a two-year term via an online election. 

Board

The PMA membership elects a new Board every two years.

The new board came into effect on 1 November 2021. Paul Thompson was welcomed as President for a third term, alongside new Vice Presidents Odette Campbell and Dr Frank-Dieter Freiling.

Click here to find out more about our current Board of Trustees.