How do public media organisations maintain a clear vision in a fast changing media landscape? This is one of the key focuses for delegates attending the annual Public Broadcasters International (PBI) conference in Sinaia, Romania.

The event, run back to back with the East-West Media 20:20 event, is being hosted by Radio Romania and PMA has been attending and participating in panels and sessions.

For Mr. Reyoichi Ueda, the new President of NHK in Japan, the following six points provide a clear framework for how a public media organisation sould operate. For NHK the role of a public broadcaster is to:

1. Provide accurate, fair and impartial information- the broadcaster’s role is becoming more important than ever before

2. Promote safety and security of our communities- protect lives and livelihoods as a priority

3. Create high-quality cultural experiences- using cutting edge technology to enhance culture

4. Contribute to education and welfare- generating content that appeals to children and young people. Providing people friendly broadcasting and services- for elderly and people with disabilities. For NHK this includes the development of computer generated animated sign language to accompany programming.

5. Contribute to the development of local communities- with diverse cultures and lifestyles- developing a close network via broadcasting and the internet. This is used to enhance services to local communities

6. Connecting Japan and the world- in today’s world media operations transcend borders

Agreeing and publishing such clear frameworks are becoming increasingly important for public media organisations that need to demonstrate to governments, the public and funders what their central role in democracy is in a world of fragmenting media. The next question is how to promote the value of public media. One neat idea is to highlight these core values to all public media staff, ensuring it is central to the DNA of the content they produce and disseminate.

This is part of our coverage of PBI 2017.  For more updates about the event, follow us on Twitter.