Smart TV Users and Interfaces: Who’s in Control?

JOURNAL

Smart TV Users and Interfaces: Who’s in Control? 

Ramon Lobato, Alexa Scarlata, Bruno Schivinski | International Communication Journal  


As smart TVs are flooding the market and increasingly replacing traditional non-connected TVs, very little is known about how smart TVs are used once they were bought.  

Based on the case study of Australia, the authors examined the usage habits of smart TV owners, in particular the agency people have in relation to smart TV apps and interfaces. This study shows how unevenly the ability to customise a smart TV is across society and brings up how these findings could impact the current policy debates about prominence regulation. 

 

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How public service media are changing in the platform era: A comparative study across four European countries

JOURNAL

How public service media are changing in the platform era: A comparative study across four European countries 

Marius Dragomir & Miguel Túñez López | European Journal of Communication  


Public service media (PSM) benefit from certain advantages such as access to public funding and technical infrastructure, as well as a special regulatory framework allowing them to reach almost the entire population. However, this special position in society does not protect them from various challenges to which they are regularly confronted, including economic and political pressures or opposition from privately owned media. In the recent year, the shift to platforms has also brought its series of challenges.  

This research looks into the transformation of four European PSM in response to the pressures related to platformatisation and how they adapt to this new digital landscape while maintaining the core values of PSM. 

 

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Are Public Service Media Innovative? Developing a Tool for Assessing Innovation in Production Processes

JOURNAL

Are Public Service Media Innovative? Developing a Tool for Assessing Innovation in Production Processes 

Mónica López-Golàn, Azhara Cañedo & Olga Blasco-Blasco | International Journal of Communication 


As society is going through a time of fast technological evolution, especially when it comes to platformatisation, public service media (PSM) have to rethink their public service mission to include the new needs and demands of their audience while keeping up with technological and digital innovation. However, their independence and their cornerstone role to support a democratic society should not be undermined by this transformation. In this study, the authors looked into the case of the Spanish PSM to assess the state of innovation in PSM production processes and concluded that in a context where PSM corporations are redefining their public value innovation should not be seen as an option but as a reality and  that is should go beyong the technological aspect of innovation.  

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Neither private property nor public service: Critical reflections on the conceptual framework of public service media

JOURNAL

Neither private property nor public service: Critical reflections on the conceptual framework of public service media 

Des Freedman | European Journal of Communication


Public service media has long been seen as a counterweight to the market model, with broad ambitions that involve civic participation, social improvement and knowledge acquisition. This paper, however, argues that at their very best, PSM have improved an otherwise anaemic commercial landscape. But at their worst, they are simply an accessory to state actors and contaminated media markets that reproduce elite power, with structural imbalances built in.   

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Programming Queerness? PSM Remits, Metarepresentational Discourse, and LGBTQ+ Portrayals

JOURNAL

Programming Queerness? PSM Remits, Metarepresentational Discourse, and LGBTQ+ Portrayals 

Florian Vanlee | International Journal of Communication


Public service media (PSM) are often seen as key actors in ensuring greater representation of LGBT+ voices in society. They are also seen as having a role in instigating and shaping domestic depictions of sexual and gender differences through their public remits. But in a critical examination of these remits at three European public broadcasters, this paper argues that these remits have instead discouraged the production of queer-themed (fiction) content in favour of programming with “universal appeal.” It also highlights how their pluralism delegitimises “harmful” portrayals and requires PSMs to actively engage with changing representational norms.  

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The shadowy realm of news avoidance

JOURNAL

The shadowy realm of news avoidance 

Johan Lindell, Zofie Basta, Alexandra Brieger, Sayaka Fukada, Sarah Greiner, Marta Marcora & Christopher Mc Taggart | Nordicom  


In this study, the authors explore a new approach to news avoidance, as “a form of negative social action embedded in a negative social space – a realm of the 

lifeworld filled with non-doings and non-appearance.” By analysing a case study that took place in Sweden during the Covid19 pandemic, where a number of people disconnected from national public service news, the authors demonstrate that avoiders of news from public service media occupy relatively precarious social positions. Their research also showed that a broader negative social space was an influencing element for news avoidance.  

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The European Media Freedom Act: media freedom, freedom of expression and pluralism

REPORT

The European Media Freedom Act: media freedom, freedom of expression and pluralism 

Elda BROGI et al. | Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF), European University Institute (EUI) 


 This study analyses the European Media Freedom Act (EFMA) proposal, providing a political and historical overview of EU policies regarding media and information society at large. The authors looked into the debate around EMFA concerning the EU’s competences on media freedom and pluralism. Based on the analysis of each provision of the Act, the authors conclude with a set of policy recommendations to further strengthen the objectives of the EMFA.  

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The European Media Freedom Act Unpacked

REPORT

The European Media Freedom Act Unpacked  

Mark D. Cole & Christina Etteldorf  |European Audiovisual Observatory  


2024 was a pivotal year in the European Union in terms of legal developments for the media, with the adoption of the European Media Freedom Act (EFMA) aiming to protect media pluralism and independence in the EU. In this report, the authors analyse and explain the intricacies of this new legislative framework, to make it more accessible to a wider audience. It offers an overview of the principal topics addressed in the EMFA and looks into the role of members states in ensuring the application of the new legislation.  

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Different diversities: Policies and practices at three European public service VoD services

JOURNAL

Different diversities: Policies and practices at three European public service VoD services 

Cathrin Bengesser & Jannick Kirk SørensenConvergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies 


Diversity has inherently been linked to public service media (PSM) due to their fundamental ideals of universality and pluralism. PSM have a duty to serve all members of a society and to have a pluralistic and diverse programme offer.  

This article explores the expression of the different perception of diversity in PSM’s legal and policy requirements, in the audits they issue, and more particularly, how diversity is presented on PSM’s VoD platforms. The research looked into the diversity strategies of three major European PSM SVoD, namely BBC iPlayer, the Danish public broadcaster’s DRTV and Germany’s ARD Mediathek. It showed how differently diversity could be conceptualised and exposed in these VoD services. It also uncovered the conflicting relation between public service ideals and the notion of identity-based ‘branded diversity’ of SVoD.  

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How public service media are changing in the platform era: A comparative study across four European countries

JOURNAL

How public service media are changing in the platform era: A comparative study across four European countries

Marius Dragomir & Miguel Túñez López | European Journal of Communication
2024


The platformisation of the public sphere has profoundly reshaped the media landscape, exerting particular pressure on public service media (PSM).

The imperative to uphold PSM’s core values—universality, independence, excellence, diversity, accountability, and innovation—has become increasingly complex amid the shift to digital ecosystems. These principles, essential to PSM’s role in democratic societies, now face additional strains as digital platforms alter traditional models of content distribution and audience engagement.

This article seeks to examine the evolution of PSM in response to these pressures in four European countries: Austria, Romania, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

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