scholarly journals Pandemic and Public Service Media: Lessons from Finland

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-28
Author(s):  
Minna Aslama Horowitz ◽  
Ritva Leino

AbstractThis essay discusses the global context of public communication during COVID-19, as well as some specific lessons learned from public service media (PSM), specifically from the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yleisradio, Yle). We address the role of PSM as a national information channel during crises and as a sustainable element in the media system, points to the need to understand its role beyond news and to develop new interactive alternatives to global platforms, and calls for PSM organisations to address its audience – not as consumers – but as people with needs for information, entertainment, learning and meaningful interactions.

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (s2) ◽  
pp. 102-123
Author(s):  
Signe Ravn-Højgaard ◽  
Valgerður Jóhannsdóttir ◽  
Ragnar Karlsson ◽  
Rógvi Olavson ◽  
Heini í Skorini

Abstract This study compares the media systems of the West Nordic countries, namely the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. All three countries are democratic welfare states with considerable institutional transfer from the larger Nordic countries. It is argued that the West Nordic media systems fit into the “Nordic model” when it comes to the perception of media as cultural institutions as well as the central role of public service media. On the other hand, the micro-size of the media systems in the West Nordic countries makes them vulnerable, and makes editorial independence more difficult compared with their larger Nordic neighbours. In particular, media outlets within these micro-size media systems seem more susceptible to clientelism, and journalists seem more inclined towards self-censorship. This article highlights how interplay between small size and distinct local factors shape the media system in each of the West Nordic countries.


2013 ◽  
Vol 149 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lia Markelin ◽  
Charles Husband

Although one people, the Sámi live in four different countries with different laws and regulations. The Sámi media landscape is thus shaped by four different political and economic frameworks, creating unique nationally defined environments. Simultaneously, the Sámi people are internally diverse, both in terms of language and identity. The media professionals within Sámi media need to navigate in an environment where there are several indigenous and majority languages, which raises questions about the fragmentation of potential audiences, and also about the role of the Sámi media in sustaining or undermining particular Sámi languages. Drawing upon recent interviews (2012) with Sámi media professionals, this article seeks to provide insight into the development of an expanding indigenous media infrastructure within the Nordic states and the homelands of Sápmi. It points particularly to the centrality of the national public service broadcast system in providing the political and infrastructural context for this development. The different political settlements between national governments and their Sámi populations significantly shape the wider political will that has framed this process. At the same time, while seeking to shed some light on the diverse Sámi media environment, this article also provides some insight into the professional and personal identities of the individuals working within the Sámi media world. The synergy between the wider media environment and the personal and professional endeavours of Sámi media professionals is central to the future development of the Sámi media environment of Sápmi.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-100
Author(s):  
Ni Putu Noni Suharyanti ◽  
Kadek Endra Setiawan

In order to support the government in overcoming the Covid-19 outbreak, Komisi Penyiaran Indonesia (KPI) has issued several policies related to broadcasting, especially on television. This policy was taken considering that television is still the media with the most audience reach and has a high duplication power in society. Therefore, in every program broadcast to the public, adherence to health protocols is a must. Based on this, it is necessary to examine in depth the role of KPI in overseeing broadcasting and the synergy between Central and Regional KPIs in overseeing broadcasting during the Covid-19 pandemic. The results showed that the KPI in supervising broadcasting during the Covid-19 pandemic played an optimal role in regulating and supervising broadcast content by issuing policies to broadcast the socialization of prevention of the spread of Covid-19 either through Public Service Ads (ILM) or other programs by television and radio. In addition, KPI also issued KPI Decree (KKPI) Number 12 of 2020 concerning Support of Broadcasting Institutions in Efforts to Prevent and Overcome the Spread of Covid-19. Then to follow up on the Circular on news related to the Covid-19 Virus, the Central KPI along with Regional KPI throughout Indonesia conveyed and reminded all Broadcasting Institutions to remain guided by broadcasting rules in broadcasting institutions to convey useful and accountable information.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-53
Author(s):  
Aid Mršić ◽  
◽  
Larisa Softić-Gasal ◽  

The public service, which should be the guardian of the identity of national minorities, fell under the political pressure. In this way, it came out of the scope of its actions. Leading people in independent media believe that the role of the public service is crucial in protecting national minorities.But the media can not do it alone. First of all, the state must regulate, and respect what it has brought. With strong strategies and the inclusion of national minorities in all social trends, it is possible to achieve, not fully, but partially, the equality of all those who liveon the territory of BiH.On the other hand, the public service must respect what the state says. The Communications Regulatory Agency is obliged to impose rules in an adequate manner and at the same time to monitor how much the media (public service) meets its obligations.


Author(s):  
Manfred Knoche

Abstract: This paper discusses how the capitalist media industry has been structurally transformed in the age of digital communications. It takes an approach that is grounded in the Marxian critique of the political economy of the media. It draws a distinction between media capital, media-oriented capital, media infrastructure capital and media-external capital as the forms of capital in the media industry. The article identifies four capital strategies that media capital tends to use in order to try to maximise profits: a) The substitution of “old” by “new” media technology, b) the introduction of new transmission channels for “old” media products, c) the definition of new property rights for media sectors and networks, d) the reduction of production and transaction costs. The drive to profit maximization is at the heart of the capitalist media industry’s structural transformation. This work also discusses the tendency to the universalization of the media system in the digital age and the economic contradictions arising from it. It identifies activity fields of the media industry’s structural transformation and shows how the concentration of the capitalist media markets is an essential, contradictory and inherent feature of the capitalist media system and its structural transformation. The paper identifies six causes of why capital seeks to employ capital strategies that result in the media industry’s structural transformation. They include market saturation, overaccumulation, the tendency of the profit rate to fall, capital-concentration, competition pressure, and advertising. The paper finally discusses the role of the state as an agent of capital in general and media capital in particular. It discusses the role of the state in privatisations, neoliberal deregulation, the formation of national competitive states, and various benefits that the state provides for media capital. This contribution shows that capital and capitalism are the main structural transformers of the media and communications system. For understanding these transformations, we need an approach that is grounded in Marx’s critique of the political economy.Translation from German: Christian Fuchs and Marisol Sandoval


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-59
Author(s):  
Birgir Guðmundsson

AbstractThe increased importance of social media platforms and network media logic merging with traditional media logic are a trademark of modern hybrid systems of political communication. This article looks at this development through the media-use by politicians before the 2016 and 2017 parliamentary elections in Iceland. Aggregate results from candidate surveys on the use and perceived importance of different media forms are used to examine the role of the new platform Snapchat in relation to other media, and to highlight the dynamics of the hybrid media system in Iceland. The results show that Snapchat is exploited more by younger politicians and those already using social media platforms. However, in spite of this duality between old and new media, users of traditional platforms still use new media and vice versa. This points to the existance of a delicate operational balance between different media logics, that could change as younger politicians move more centre stage.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-117
Author(s):  
Miguel Paisana ◽  
Ana Pinto-Martinho ◽  
Gustavo Cardoso

In order to understand the role of contemporary journalism and the media system it is vital to consider consumers’ relationship with news content in terms of trust and perception of dubious content. This analysis is particularly relevant in a context where intense flows of information raise serious questions about individual ability to interpret, validate, and reproduce content. This analysis explores a news literacy scale used by Maskl et al. (2015) and Fletcher (in Newman et al., 2018) to investigate the links between news literacy profiles and their relationship with content, with particular focus on illegitimate/doubtful news pieces. Results suggest individuals with higher news literacy tend to trust news in general but not when content originates in social media. Higher literacy profiles are also associated with increased concern regarding online content legitimacy. These conclusions are particularly relevant in the currently volatile media sphere, highly dependent on a substantially informed public to ensure the legitimacy and importance of journalistic content and to distinguish it from other kinds of content flooding communication networks. These efforts depend not only on the journalistic sphere but also on democratic systems themselves as they rely on a well-informed public to guarantee a healthy and inclusive debate.


2011 ◽  
Vol 208 ◽  
pp. 813-832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Hassid

AbstractScholarly attention has not kept pace with the rapid changes in the professional role of Chinese journalists. Instead, two older views prevail. The first, which sees Chinese journalists as “mouthpieces” of the Communist Party unchanged from the Maoist era, downplays the tremendous changes in the media since 1978. The second view, holding that they are increasingly becoming “American-style professionals,” overstates the influence of international media norms on Chinese news workers' day-to-day reality. While such communist and American-style professionals do exist in contemporary China, both are far less influential and numerous than stereotypes would suggest. Exclusive scholarly focus on these groups ignores two other more numerous and influential orientations: “advocate professionals,” those who write to influence opinion and policy, and “workaday journalists,” who work mainly for money and lack a commitment to public service. This article delineates all four types of Chinese journalist and explains why an understanding of the latter two professional orientations is critical to understanding China's media, politics and society.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 217
Author(s):  
José Manuel Rivera Otero ◽  
Nieves Lagares Díez ◽  
María Pereira López ◽  
Paulo Carlos López-López

Over the last few years, European public broadcasters have promoted the concept of public service media as one of their main values. To this end, transparency policies have been implemented as a mechanism of corporate projection by strengthening their role as an essential service. The objective of this article is to ascertain the existence of this type of policies among European public broadcasters. To this end, a nominal group was made with 24 experts who were surveyed, thus generating new indicators of transparency and accountability strategies around sustainability and digitalization. The contents of the websites of RTVE (Spain), RTP (Portugal), France TV (France), RAI (Italy), BBC (UK), RTÉ (Ireland), ZDF (Germany), VRT (Belgium), and SVT (Sweden) were also analyzed, paying attention to such indicators and strategies. The main results include the identification of differences on the basis of the ideal models described by Hallin and Mancini; a commitment to credibility (fact-checking) to the detriment of diversity of opinions; and a connection between the political system and the media system, which, preliminarily, determines the level of transparency of these public entities.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document