Radio audience in European minority languages: Important reality and structural correlation
JOURNAL
Radio audience in European minority languages: Important reality and structural correlation
Iñaki Zabaleta-Urkiola, Tania Arriaga-Azkarate, and Aitor Castañeda-Zumeta | European Journal of Communication
This paper looks at the audience of public radio channels in indigenous minority languages across Europe, including examples from Spain, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Researchers found that in areas of high mutual intelligibility – where the language could be understood by most people – audience reach of minority channels were significantly higher than in regions where the language could not be broadly recognized. They also found that these public media organizations proved to be important in cultural preservation and re-energizing the language, allowing for a more diverse group of people to speak the minority language and improving cultural diversity within the broadcasting region. In some areas minority radio outperforms their majority language counterparts, demonstrating their impact and showing large amounts of audience reach, which justifies increased funding and a key role within the public media sphere in countries with indigenous languages that demand representation.
Rationalisation of the news - How AI reshapes and retools the gatekeeping processes of news organisations in the United Kingdom, United States and Germany
JOURNAL
Rationalisation of the news – How AI reshapes and retools the gatekeeping processes of news organisations in the United Kingdom, United States and Germany
Felix M. Simon | New Media & Society
This paper surveys the usage of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the newsroom, along with the ways in which it has re-shaped journalistic practices. Through interviews with publishers based in the United States, UK and Germany, the authors found that AI is increasingly being used to automate basic tasks such as summarization, verification and transcription. This technology is also being used on the business side of newspapers, allowing companies to streamline audience analytics, targeted content and distribution of stories. The study reflects that while it doesn’t fundamentally change journalism, AI systems reshape the news environment, giving greater power to large tech companies such as Google or OpenAI as they control the infrastructure that powers newsrooms. While AI pushes organizations to more efficient practices, it also requires more transparency to avoid allegations of bias or inaccuracies at the hands of automated systems.
Redefining objectivity: Exploring types of evidence by fact-checkers in four European countries
JOURNAL
Redefining objectivity: Exploring types of evidence by fact-checkers in four European countries
Regina Cazzamatta | European Journal of Communication
This article examines the types of evidence used by fact checkers in four European countries – Germany, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. Researchers identified different types of documentational evidence, including statements, documentation and digital forensic tools, using them to identify differences in their usage depending on the country. Their findings showed that in countries with high political polarization, like Spain, digital forensic tools were used more often by fact-checkers to combat disinformation online. Meanwhile, in countries with increased journalistic standards like Germany, fact-checkers combined different approaches to confirm the validity of news. Finally, fact checking performed by public service broadcasters had the highest degree of hard research and complexity, especially in comparison to international news agencies, which frequently relied on denials from interested parties in press releases.
Projections: The Social Internet
REPORT
Projections: The Social Internet
Henry Cooke & Ian Forrester | BBC Research and Development
This report focuses on the BBC, examining how the public broadcaster can use social media to connect with increasingly isolated online audiences. The authors highlight a pronounced shift away from addictive and algorithmic social media platforms like TikTok towards smaller and more private group chats or social spaces. For PSM this means a digital movement away from a large presence on larger social media platforms, into a wider variety of smaller spaces. This shift requires a higher variety of content across more topics, along with embedding themselves into online communities and establishing an engaged and collaborative relationship with their audiences.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Sørensen | Convergence: 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.
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.