Abstract

Public service media (PSM) are in crisis throughout Europe. As a scenario for research, the two extremes of the background have been chosen: the first, BBC, is at the heart of media system, has become a model for the others and has just finished the particularly delicate challenge of renewal the fundamental law that is to rule over the next ten years; the second is on the periphery of public television, and in the extreme circumstances in Spain that have driven some of the television corporations to extinction, such as Canal 9 -Radiotelevisió Valenciana (RTVV). Using a method based on the use of semi-structured interviews and Delphi, the conception of these media models among their respective audiences is explored. 

Abstract

The currently dominant model of scientific production in the field of communications research exhibits an over standardization of mainly empirical research, which is overwhelmingly carried out using quantitative techniques based on simple statistical analysis, in many cases limiting the presented results to an interpretation of the available data. This paper presents an innovative proposal in the field, designed as a new strategy for scientific dissemination and presentation. It puts forward the objective of building three composite indicators that, applied to European public service media, will allow the assessment of the perception of their social value, independence, and management efficiency. Moreover, a study that enables a comparative vision of these three issues in all the countries of the European Union, excluding Malta and Luxemburg, is also proposed. This methodology represents an innovation because it thoroughly explains the process and justifies the validity of the documentary sources used to facilitate their reproduction or questioning. It also reinforces the discussion of the results with the evaluation of the indicators’ robustness before deciding which of them is most appropriate on each occasion for comparing the results using a multicriteria decision analysis technique, the Technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (Topis) method, proposed by Hwang and Yoon (1981). The results attest that synthetic indicators are an innovative, original, and validatable methodological tool that can contribute to the progress of research in the field of the communications sciences.

Abstract

This article analyses the response of European Public Service Media to the crisis caused by Covid-19, especially the impact of the pandemic on Europe’s major public broadcasters, with a particular focus on technical and professional constraints, alterations in audience volume and habits, production strategies, type of broadcast content and journalists’ routines. The research is based on public information from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and 19 in-depth, structured interviews with a convenience sample of innovation and strategy managers from public broadcasters in Austria (ORF),  Belgium (VRT and RTBF), Denmark (DR), Finland (YLE), France (France TV), Germany (ARD and ZDF), Great Britain (BBC), Ireland (RTÉ), Italy (RAI), Netherlands (NPO), Portugal (RTP), Spain (RTVE),  Sweden (SVT), Switzerland (RTS) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The results indicate that the corporate projection of PSM was increased by emphasising their role as essential services and their defence of the values that characterise them. The pandemic forced the adaptation of programme production from technical standards to an emotional approach, accelerating a formal hybridisation with native online contents. Dependence on software grew and newsmaking processes were altered towards ‘remote journalism’. Changes are drawn that may be maintained in the future.

Abstract

The different governance models of the European public service broadcasters reflect the centralized structural political power of the country centralized in each of their States or regions, lacking normative changes to ensure and reinforce their independence, trust and legitimacy. The recent controversies around RTVE and RAI are two examples of how the governance of these organizations reflect the power structures of the society.  None of the three models that characterize the European configuration presents young and communication-related profiles. Most of their board members are still men aged over 50, and even over 65, professionally linked to legal or economic backgrounds. The study is completed with an analysis of the professionalism of governance bodies, an essential requirement to eliminate systems based on partisan quotas.

Abstract

As artificial intelligence (AI) gains space in the media, public broadcasters are testing and experimenting with these technologies to raise their services to the new standards of the audiovisual ecosystem. From algorithms that help recommend the most suitable content for users, to others that detect news and automate some of the tasks of journalists, these tools are increasingly present in public audiovisual corporations. The data were obtained from semi-structured in-depth interviews with a convenience sample of 15 corporations from 12 countries. The results reflect a heterogeneous application of artificial intelligence in corporations, oriented towards the automatic creation of content from structured data, the improvement of audience interaction through chatbots, and personalisation or verification. The implementation of these technologies also poses major challenges. Firstly, the economic cost of adapting these systems to each corporation and the difficulties in hiring experts to develop AI solutions prevent a complete deployment of these tools in public broadcasters. As main conclusions, we have understood that AI as a “culture” is believed to be vital for the public audiovisual services of the future, although its application is still far from being a standard and generally does not occupy a relevant strategic position in the innovation departments of corporations.