El Nou paper de la televisió pública a Europa occidental: reptes i perspectives

Les televisions públiques de tota l'Europa occidental s'enfronten al formidable repte de redefinir el seu paper per l'aparició d'economies de radiodifusió mixta multicanal. El model que els autors proposen es basa en: a) complementar la televisió comercial; b) la qualitat de les prioritats de programació, i c) el caràcter social de la radiodifusió pública, que comporta una important funció cultural, política i social. En preguntar-se si aquest model és viable, els autors conclouen que depèn de com la televisió pública se'n surti a l'hora de competir amb la televisió comercial per a configurar les expectatives de programació dels televidents. Donen raons de per què es pot aconseguir i, d'aquesta manera, servir de model a altres democràcies, alhora que s'adonen que la televisió comercial tota sola cada vegada satisfà menys les necessitats de comunicació d'una societat.Due to the emergence of mixed broadcasting economies in multichannel conditions, public television throughout Western Europe faces a formidable challenge of role redefinition. The authors’ proposed approach to this is based on: (a) a competitive complementarity with commercial television; (b) a qualitative sense of programming priorities; and (c) the social character of public broadcasting which entails major cultural, political, and social functions. Asking whether such a recipe is viable, the authors conclude that it depends on how public television fares in its competition with commercial television to shape viewers’ expectations of programming. They give reasons why this can be waged successfully, thus serving as a model for other democracies, as they increasingly realize that commercial television alone cannot satisfy a society’s communication needs

“What is a referendum?” How we might open up pre-vote TV debates to genuine public scrutiny

The 2015 TV election debates proved their civic value – as they had in 2010, write Stephen Coleman (left), Nick Anstead, Jay G Blumler, Giles Moss and Matt Homer. But in these edited extracts from a University of Leeds report, Democracy on Demand?, Dr Anstead questions whether Twitter is – as some media organisations seemed to imply – representative of public opinion. The authors also urge the media to experiment with the format of any TV debates during the EU referendum campaign to make them more responsive to the public’s questions and reactions

The changing role of the local news media in enabling citizens to engage in local democracies

Using Leeds City Council in the United Kingdom as a case study, we analyse comparatively the changing role of local journalism in the public communications and engagement strategies of local government. Drawing on over 20 semi-structured interviews with elected politicians, Council strategists, mainstream journalists, and citizen journalists, the article explores perceptions of the mainstream news media's role versus new modes of communication in engaging and communicating with citizens. We evaluate the Council's perceptions of its online and offline practices of engagement with different publics, and focus in particular on their interactions with journalists, the news media, and citizen journalists. The article considers how moves towards digital modes of engagement are changing perceptions of the professional role orientations of journalists in mediating between the Council and the general public

Public engagement in local government: the voice and influence of citizens in online communicative spaces

The communications and engagement strategies of local councils play an important role in contributing to the public's understanding of local democracies, and their engagement with local issues. Based on a study of the local authority in the third largest city in the UK, Leeds, this article presents an empirically based analysis of the impact of new opportunities for public engagement afforded by digital media on the Council's communication with citizens. Drawing on over 20 face-to-face semi-structured interviews with elected politicians, Council strategists, Council communications specialists, mainstream journalists, and citizen journalists, the article explores perceptions of the Council's engagement and communication with citizens from the perspective of a range of actors involved in the engagement process. The research asks what the differing motivations behind the Council's communications and engagement strategies mean for the way that digital media are and might be used in the future to enhance the role of citizens in local governance. The research suggests that while there are no grounds for expecting digital media to displace existing channels of public engagement, digital media are beginning to play an important role in defining and reconfiguring the role of citizens within local governance

PSM in Italy: Troubled RAI in a Troubled Country

The chapter explores public service media in Italy. In the comparative literature the Italian RAI is often taken as a paradigmatic case of a highly (party) politicized public service broadcaster. Political interference has arguably been a constant feature of RAI’s sixty-year-long history, although the forms in which this phenomenon has manifested itself have changed considerably over time. After briefly contextualising historically and comparatively the case of public service media in Italy, the chapter sets out to discuss recent developments, including the effects of recent reforms to RAI’s governance and funding regimes. It then places these developments and the current debate over the role and future of RAI against the backdrop of a changing political landscape, the country’s ongoing economic problems and major social and cultural transformations

Normative perspectives on journalism studies: Stock-taking and future directions

Journalism has advanced greatly as a field in its own right in recent decades. As well as a cause for celebration, however, this may give rise to concerns – in particular that scholars may pay increasing attention to the inner workings of journalistic institutions at the expense of their external ties, impact and significance, including their normative ones. It is true that important normative analyses have appeared in the literature, six of which the article defines and exemplifies. So far, however, these ideas have had relatively little influence on the thought or practice of journalists. The article concludes by suggesting a way in which a closer and more constructive dialogue could be achieved between journalism scholars and practitioners, centring on the normative challenges faced by both sides