Is public service broadcasting a threat to commercial media?

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 808-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helle Sjøvaag ◽  
Truls André Pedersen ◽  
Thomas Owren

This article asks to what extent public service broadcasting’s online news service resembles that of commercial media. The context of this inquiry is claims of ‘out-crowding’ facing public service broadcasters across Europe. In Norway, commercial players in this debate accuse the public service broadcaster, NRK, of being too similar to competitors in the private sector for commercial operators to attain sustainable revenues in the online realm. To ascertain the extent to what these claims are warranted, this article compares NRK’s online content with that of nine commercial competitors in national and local markets, using a hybrid methodological approach combining quantitative content analysis with Latent Dirichlet allocation, analysing in excess of 115,000 documents. Findings show that commercial operators resemble each other more than they do NRK, indicating closer competition in the commercial segment than between the public service broadcaster and market players.

2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lien De Cang ◽  
Katia Segers

How to serve the audience? The Belgian National Radio Institute (N.I.R.) in search of putting into practice the public service remit through its music and audience policy before the era of television (1930-1953). How to serve the audience? The Belgian National Radio Institute (N.I.R.) in search of putting into practice the public service remit through its music and audience policy before the era of television (1930-1953). This article questions in what way the Belgian radio-broadcaster was searching how to put into practice the central public service remit through its music and audience policy from the start of the institute in 1930 till the launch of television in 1953. Departing from a theoretical reflection on the concept of Public Service Broadcasting, this article presents the results of a qualitative content analysis of policy documents (minutes, annual reports) as well as writings of key members of the N.I.R.-staff. It reveals a shared paternalistic vision on the public service remit as well as oppositional views upon the audience and how to serve it.


Journalism ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 781-800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Wahl-Jorgensen ◽  
Mike Berry ◽  
Iñaki Garcia-Blanco ◽  
Lucy Bennett ◽  
Jonathan Cable

This article reconsiders the concepts of balance and impartiality in journalism, in the context of a quantitative content analysis of sourcing patterns in BBC news programming on radio, television and online in 2007 and 2012. Impartiality is the cornerstone of principles of public service broadcasting at the BBC and other broadcasters modelled on it. However, the article suggests that in the case of the BBC, it is principally put into practice through juxtaposing the positions of the two main political parties – Conservative and Labour. On this basis, the article develops the idea of the ‘paradigm of impartiality-as-balance.’ This paradigm prevails despite the news organisation’s commitment to representing a broader range of opinion. The paradigm of impartiality-as-balance means that only a narrow range of views and voices are heard on the most contentious and important issues. Further, it results in reporting that focuses on party-political conflict, to the detriment of a journalism which provides much-needed context.


2001 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeanette Steemers

Abstract: This paper considers the debate in the U.K. and Germany about the continued justification for publicly funded public service broadcasting in an apparently converging media and communications environment. It examines the public broadcasters' responses, which increasingly encompass a broad range of expansionary and commercial strategies. These strategies bring them into conflict with commercial players and policymakers who would like to see a more restricted form of publicly funded provision. In both countries the questioning of public service broadcasting's distinctive publicly funded role is growing as commercial media become both more dominant and confident, and this questioning is reinforced by the difficulties in defining the public service remit and securing sufficient funding for its fulfilment. Résumé: Cet article considère le débat en Grande-Bretagne et en Allemagne sur le besoin de continuer à subventionner la radiodiffusion du service public dans un environnement où médias et communications sont apparemment en train de converger. L'article examine comment les radiodiffuseurs publics réagissent devant cette convergence. Leurs réactions englobent de plus en plus un large éventail de stratégies expansionnistes et commerciales qui mènent à des conflits avec le secteur privé et le législateur. Ceux-ci d'ailleurs préfèreraient que le gouvernement subventionne un éventail d'activités plus restreint. Ainsi, de plus en plus dans les deux pays, à mesure que les radiodiffuseurs privés deviennent plus dominants et confiants, on met en question le rôle des radiodiffuseurs du service public subventionnés par le gouvernement. En outre, certaines difficultés viennent renforcer cette mise en question : celle de définir quelles sont les fonctions actuelles du service public et celle d'obtenir des fonds suffisants pour l'aider à remplir ces fonctions.


Author(s):  
Sven Stollfuß

This article investigates how platformisation changes the practices of content production and distribution through the case of the web series, Druck (tr. Pressure (2018–), for the public service content network ‘funk’ (ARD and ZDF). An analysis of the German adaptation of the Norwegian television and web series Skam (tr. Shame) (NRK3, 2015–2017) shows how public service broadcasting (PSB) in Germany is changing due to the influence of social media. To reach a younger audience, PSB has to meet them on third-party platforms. Consequently, PSB must provide content that fits the mobile media environment of social media.


2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Dhoest ◽  
Hilde Van den Bulck ◽  
Heidi Vandebosch ◽  
Myrte Dierckx

The public broadcasting remit in the eyes of the audience: survey research into the future role of Flemish public service broadcasting The public broadcasting remit in the eyes of the audience: survey research into the future role of Flemish public service broadcasting In view of the discussion about the future position of public service broadcasting, this research investigates the expectations of Flemings regarding their public service broadcasting institution VRT. Based on the current task description of the VRT, a survey was effectuated among a representative sample of Flemings (N=1565). Questions were asked about the content (broad or complementary to commercial broadcasting), audience (broad or niche) and distinctive nature of public service broadcasting. The analysis shows that, overall, Flemings are in favour of a broad public service broadcasting institution with a strong focus on entertainment (besides information), oriented towards a broad audience. At the same time, they believe the institution should distinguish itself from its competitors, through quality, social responsibility, cultural identity and (particularly creative) innovation, among other things. Cluster analysis shows that the call to prioritize culture and education over entertainment, which dominates public debate, is representative of only a minority (20%) of highly educated Flemings.


2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-152
Author(s):  
Novian Anata Putra

Every society is flooded by Information in the Internet era. News sites as one of the sources of information are now numerous. However, do these bits of information worth to be trusted fully? Through quantitative content analysis, the researcher tried to examine one of the news sites based on religion (Islamic hardliners), VOA-Islam, in reporting Basuki Tjahaja Purnama a.k.a Ahok, which incidentally is a non-Muslim Chinese descent. Using Jurgen Westerstahl’s objectivity approach (1983), found the fact that the news presented by VOA-Islam does not contain elements of balance, even most of it shows a negative tendency, cornered Ahok as a central figure in DKI Jakarta. In fact, from the dimensions of relevance, the percentage of news from VOA-Islam, which has a significant effect to the activity of community life and proximity to the topic of the public, are quite high. In addition to the large amount of news that contains racial issues, it becomes worrisome because it could lead to the disintegration of the nation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-32
Author(s):  
Nagisa Moritoki Škof

Addresses made by heads of government reflect their views and opinions. This article presents a quantitative content analysis of public addresses made by heads of government of the five countries, namely Japan, the USA, New Zealand, Germany, and Slovenia, which were done in response to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19). Word frequency analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis were used to identify the content specifics of these addresses.  The comparative analysis of speeches concerning the novel coronavirus enables us to determine how these addresses reflect the speakers’ perspectives and political orientation and what they attempted to convey to the public.


This chapter discusses the skill challenges in the creative industries. The public service broadcasting (PSB) system is the driving force behind the UK's vibrant TV production sector. The PSBs are responsible for some 80 per cent of total investment in UK original non-news content. Independent producers are responsible for around 60 per cent of total commissioned hours on the five main PSB channels. As new platforms and formats emerge and old divides are blurred, there is a need for a holistic and collaborative approach across not just PSBs but all screen-based industries to ensure that the creative industries' talent base can compete globally. This requires upskilling and re-skilling with an integrated view and a systematic approach to tackling barriers to entry and enabling progression within an ever more casualized workforce.


Author(s):  
Edorodion Agbon Osa

Founded on the philosophy of advancing the course of democracy and acting as a stimulus for socio-cultural transformation at the community level, community broadcasting provides access to the public sphere by making its audience the main characters in the production and dissemination of its messages thus serving as a platform for the expression of the divergent views and opinions that exist at the community level. But almost a century after broadcasting was introduced to Nigeria as part of British imperialism, this grassroots form of broadcasting is yet to fully take off. Starting with a broad examination of public service broadcasting, this chapter discusses the state of community broadcasting in Nigeria, using Habermas' concept of the public sphere, and recommends its improvement given the crucial roles of community broadcasting in the society.


Author(s):  
Mohamad Saifudin Mohamad Saleh ◽  
Harald Heinrichs ◽  
Nik Norma Nik Hasan

This paper provides a discussion on the perception of Malaysian media and environmental non-governmental organisations (ENGOs) on the role of images in shaping the public's mind about environmental matters. Two methods were employed for this study. First, a total of 24 participants from the Malaysian media and ENGOs were interviewed. Second, a total of 2,050 environmental articles on media newspapers and ENGOs newsletters from the period of 2012 to 2014 were collected for the quantitative content analysis. The findings from interview confirmed that pictures were labelled by journalists and ENGOs staff as the most important tool in presenting the reality of the environmental problems to the public. This is because, upon seeing the pictures accompanying environmental articles, readers will gain more trust of the environmental information. This was in harmony with the results of the quantitative content analysis, where more than 60% of pictures were found on environmental articles.


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