Conformity of public policy and citizens’ attitudes towards the public service media

JOURNAL

Conformity of public policy and citizens’ attitudes towards the public service media

Deimantas Jastramskis | European Journal of Communication
2024


This study takes a look at the structure of public service media (PSM) – ownership, management, funding and accountability – and how it matches with the involvement and perception of citizens on public media. The authors focus on the Lithuanian PSM, LRT, as one of the public media organisations in Europe which has the best conditions for editorial independence. This research shows that there is a disparity between what public policy is aiming for and what citizens want. This study also unveils the fact people want more influence in PSM management and for PSM organisation to be more accountable to society

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Accountability and platforms' governance: the case of online prominence of public service media content

POLICY BRIEF

Accountability and platforms’ governance: the case of online prominence of public service media content

Krisztina Rozgonyi | Internet Policy Review
2023


Public discourse has shifted online, with platforms becoming crucial sources and distributors of information. Public Service Media (PSM) increasingly depends on these platforms to reach a wide audience. However, these platforms control how PSM content is shared and engaged with, using their own algorithms and laws.

This paper explores the need for protections to ensure PSM content is delivered effectively on digital platforms, as part of maintaining media diversity. It examines current and potential policies for giving public value content, or “due prominence,” a special status online. This study also looks at whether current accountability measures are adequate for promoting media pluralism and offers recommendations for future policies focused on public-interest platform governance.

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Public Service Media in Northern Ireland: Prominence and Vulnerability in a Small Media System

REPORT

Public Service Media in Northern Ireland: Prominence and Vulnerability in a Small Media System

Phil Ramsey | Journal of the European Institute for Communication and Culture

2024


This study examines the politically and culturally divided society of Northern Ireland through the lenses of Public Service Media (PSM). PSM, such as the BBC NI, remain at the heart of the small media system of Northern Ireland, along with local media and other media offers from the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland. This research reveals that although public broadcasting is at the centre of the public sphere in Northern Ireland, its status remains vulnerable in relation to the political and cultural situation of the country.

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A public value typology for public service broadcasting in the UK

JOURNAL

A public value typology for public service broadcasting in the UK

Tom Chivers, Stuart Allan | Cultural Trends
2024


The role and importance of public service broadcasting (PSB) are being questioned in today’s digital society. Through the lenses of six values – social, cultural, economic, industrial, representational and civic – this research looks at how PSM create different forms of public value that benefit the audience, policymakers and the creative industry.

It examines the challenges and opportunities for maintaining these values and offers a framework to guide future cultural and media policy discussions about PSB in the UK and beyond.

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Future-Proofing the UK’s Public Service Media

POLICY BRIEF

Future-proofing the UK’s public service media

Catherine Johnson & Dan Martin | PSM AP
2024


The rise of global platforms has brought new challenges that have threatened the legitimacy of public service media and broadcasters. In this context, PSM-AP has carried out a large-scale comparative research project, studying media laws, broadcast contracts and licences, annual reports, and current policy debates. This brief presents the core findings, analysis and recommendations to better support public service media in the UK.

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Towards a Future-Proof Public Service Media?

POLICY BRIEF

Towards a Future-Proof Public Service Media?

Tim Raats, Catalina Iordache & Catherine Johnson | PSM AP
2024


Social and technological advances that appeared in the last few years have brought new challenges for public service media. Radical changes in media use, the advent of streaming services and the dominance of big tech as well as the increasing diversity and polarisation of societies have led to the erosion of trust in traditional media. This policy brief results from the comparative research project analysing ‘Public Service Media in the Age of Platforms’ (PSM AP). It outlines key discoveries and conversations regarding Public Service Media (PSM) and platformisation in several markets in Europe and Canada. Among the recommendations made by the authors, was the emphasis on adopting a digital-first approach while ensuring universality and bridging digital and socio-economic divides.

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The Governance of Artificial Intelligence in Public Service Media

REPORT

The Governance of Artificial Intelligence in Public Service Media: A Comparative Analysis

Colin Porlezza, Laura Pranteddu, and Petra Mazzoni | Federal Office of Communications report
2023


With AI-driven tools becoming pervasive in newsrooms, influencing nearly every aspect of journalism from retrieving information through to production and distribution, this report examines both the opportunities and questions which artificial intelligence raises for public service broadcasters.  

Laws recently introduced in Europe to regulate AI are examined, as well as forms of self-regulation that many broadcasters have introduced to ensure their use of AI holds true to values and ethics as public service broadcasters, to ensure reliability, transparency, diversity and fairness.  

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Traditional broadcasting features in VoD services

REPORT

The reappropriation of time in television: How traditional qualities of broadcast media are being adopted by their video-on-demand services

Julie Münter Lassen l Nordicom
2023


In an increasingly digital media landscape, traditional broadcasters adapt their services to suit the new habits of their audience, who are spending more and more time using digital platforms. But how does it affect the presentation and the scheduling of programmes? Are old broadcasting theories such as immediacy, being live, being daily, and providing event television compatible with the new on-demand services offered by more public broadcasters today?

This study takes a look at these different questions through two different models of Danish Video on-demand services, DRTV and TV2 Play and demonstrates how features of traditional linear television are still key characteristics of SVoD services in Denmark.

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Public Service Media's contribution to Society

REPORT

Public Service Media’s contribution to Society

Manuel Puppis & Christopher Ali l Nordicom
2023


According to the authors, the contribution of Public Service Media (PSM) to society is a concept that has lost its meaning and this is why its legitimacy is being questioned in a context of transnational and fluid media ecosystem.

In this research, the authors take a look at the different perspectives and assessments that Public Service Media could undertake, in order to truly embody and legitimise their mission of a public service. They emphasise the fact that the crisis that PSM are currently facing regarding their role in society is not just a problem of communication with citizens and principal stakeholders. It delves deeper, to its conceptualisation and the fact it is currently tangled up in a neoliberal discourse to maintain its legitimacy. Through the lenses of public value, social integration or even rising technologies, this research rethinks the contribution of PSM to society to recover its initial and essential mission.

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Public Service Media: Bridging Values and Trust

REPORT

Public Service Media: Bridging Values and Trust

Minna Horowitz & Alessandro D’Arma | EBU
2023


Trust is at the core of journalism and the media profession and has been one of the main concerns of recent academic research in media and communication. Public service media have been challenged in the last few years by the rapid rise of new technologies such as social media platforms. With disregard to values such as accountability and accuracy, these platforms and their constant flow of information, has led to a wave of distrust in the news and media institutions. Rather than looking at the erosion of trust induced by surveillance capitalism, this research focuses on the reasons why public service media have generally remained trusted institutions. Built around core values of public service media such as universality, independence, excellence, diversity, accountability and innovation, this study offers new perspectives on the relationship that links trust and public service media.

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