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.