Radio formats and social media use in Europe - 28 case studies of public service practice

The aim of this article is to report, summarize and spread the results of a largescale European research project funded by EBU Radio in 2011 to map best practices in social media and European public radio, focusing on the way successful public service radio formats have incorporated social media in their production flow. The programmes have been selected for one of the following reasons: Programmes that are audience leaders in their country, use innovative radio language or are youthoriented productions. The survey has been carried out by a team of ten European researchers from seven countries on a sample of 28 public radio programmes analysed for two months between January and February 2011. The research team attempted to answer the empirical question: 'How social media are used by public service?'. Are there some common threads and shared practices among successful programmes in different countries? The team adopted an empirical approach based on social media content analysis and interviews with radio producers. This article will present the main results of this empirical research project. It will conclude with practical guidelines for public radio production and social media innovation

The Sustainability of Native Advertising : Organizational Perspectives on the Blurring of the Boundary Between Editorial and Commercial Content in Contemporary Media.

oai:DiVA.org:sh-3358

Free Churches of the Air : the History of Community Radio in Sweden

Swedish community radio started in 1979 and was the first type of broadcast to be organised outside of the public service monopoly that had been in operation since 1924. This article unveils some of the aspects of the history of Swedish community radio. Through analysis of first-hand sources from the period between 1979 and 1985, the article sheds new light on the history of Swedish community radio by using the archives from the parliamentary committee setting up community radio, public inquiries, parliamentary minutes and other sources of political discourse The analysis shows that religious interests, and especially the free churches and the Pentecostal movement, played an important role for establishing community radio. The connections between the religious field and the political field in Sweden were manifold and strong in relation to the development of community broadcasting, which also had a marked effect on how the reform was designed and how it played out. During the early years of community radio, churches dominated the broadcasts, in some cities being responsible for as much as 100% of the content produced. Hence, this article sheds light on a yet untold story of Swedish media history and shows how the interests of religious organisations can be a driving force in the development of media policy and a driver of media change. It also shows that the community broadcasting reform was a catalyst within Swedish Christianity for starting to work systematically with technologies and issues related to the developing media saturated society

Labor market policy and media work in Sweden

The purpose of this article is to analyze some recent changes in labor market policy and labor law in order to show how changes in this kind of regulation have had consequences for work in the media industries. Even though a considerable amount of research has been performed on media work during the last decade, it is quite uncommon within critical media studies to relate such research to policy and regulation. The point I want to make with this article is that the increasing precariousness and de-professionalization that are occurring within media work, as documented in previous research, must be understood against a background of policy change and political decisions, rather than only being seen as an effect of economic or technological shifts within the media industry. This article hence contributes to the current knowledge of the relationship between labor market policy and the media industry in Sweden; as such, it more generally contributes to the current knowledge of such a relationship in a Nordic welfare state, with all its specifi cities and differences from other parts of Europe and the world. Nevertheless, the results and discussions in this article are related – and relevant – to more general European tendencies in the area of labor market policy as it relates to the media.Cilj ovog rada je analizirati neke nedavne promjene u politici tržišta rada i radnog prava kako bi se pokazalo kako su promjene te vrste regulative imale posljedice za rad u medijskim industrijama. Iako je tijekom posljednjeg desetljeća proveden značajni broj istraživanja o medijskom radu, prilično je neuobičajeno u kritičnim medijskim studijama povezati takvo istraživanje s politikom i regulacijom. Ono što želim naglasiti ovim člankom jest da se povećani prekarni rad i deprofesionalizacija koja se događa unutar medijskog rada, kao što je dokumentirano u ranijem istraživanju, moraju razumijevati u skladu s politič- kim promjenama i političkim odlukama, a ne da se na njih gleda samo kao na ekonomske ili tehnološke pomake unutar medijske industrije. Ovaj rad stoga doprinosi trenutnom znanju o odnosima između politike tržišta rada i medijske industrije u Švedskoj te kao takav doprinosi trenutnom znanju o tim odnosima u nordijskoj socijalnoj državi, sa svim svojim posebnostima i razlikama od drugih dijelova Europe i svijeta. Međutim, rezultati i rasprava u ovom članku povezani su i općenito važni za europska nastojanja u području politike tržišta rada, kao i medija

Från radiofabrik till mediehus : medieförändring och medieproduktion på MTG-radio

This thesis is a study of how the Swedish media company MTG Radio has developed new strategies and production practices in relation to technological change, new competition and media convergence during the first decade of the 2000s. During this period the media landscape in general has been marked by digitization, the rise of new media platforms and competition from new media companies. The study engages in an ethnographical perspective on media production, but also takes its starting point in political-economic theories on media work (Banks 2007, Hesmondhalgh & Baker 2011, Ryan 1992) in order to raise questions about the relation between technological and organizational changes and relations of power in production. Empirically, the thesis builds on interviews with production staff as well as an analysis of production documents and content produced by MTG Radio. The analysis shows that digital production technologies contribute to anincreased automation and centralization of control over editorial decisions, and hence to “de-skilling” (Braverman 1974/1999, Örnebring 2010). On the other hand, strategies of multiplatform production and the organizational changes taking place contribute to an “upskilling” (Edgell 2012) and give DJs and presenters more autonomy and control within production. This strengthened autonomy involves their possibilities for reflexivity and critical self-evaluation, as well as their control over content and production. Finally, the thesis connects these results to the more overarching question of alienation, arguing that upskilling and increased autonomy do not automatically create better jobs within the media house, or necessarily represent emancipatory possibilities within media work, as has been argued in previous research and theory

Labor market policy and media work in Sweden

The purpose of this article is to analyze some recent changes in labor market policy and labor law in order to show how changes in this kind of regulation have had consequences for work in the media industries. Even though a considerable amount of research has been performed on media work during the last decade, it is quite uncommon within critical media studies to relate such research to policy and regulation. The point I want to make with this article is that the increasing precariousness and de-professionalization that are occurring within media work, as documented in previous research, must be understood against a background of policy change and political decisions, rather than only being seen as an effect of economic or technological shifts within the media industry. This article hence contributes to the current knowledge of the relationship between labor market policy and the media industry in Sweden; as such, it more generally contributes to the current knowledge of such a relationship in a Nordic welfare state, with all its specifi cities and differences from other parts of Europe and the world. Nevertheless, the results and discussions in this article are related – and relevant – to more general European tendencies in the area of labor market policy as it relates to the media.Cilj ovog rada je analizirati neke nedavne promjene u politici tržišta rada i radnog prava kako bi se pokazalo kako su promjene te vrste regulative imale posljedice za rad u medijskim industrijama. Iako je tijekom posljednjeg desetljeća proveden značajni broj istraživanja o medijskom radu, prilično je neuobičajeno u kritičnim medijskim studijama povezati takvo istraživanje s politikom i regulacijom. Ono što želim naglasiti ovim člankom jest da se povećani prekarni rad i deprofesionalizacija koja se događa unutar medijskog rada, kao što je dokumentirano u ranijem istraživanju, moraju razumijevati u skladu s politič- kim promjenama i političkim odlukama, a ne da se na njih gleda samo kao na ekonomske ili tehnološke pomake unutar medijske industrije. Ovaj rad stoga doprinosi trenutnom znanju o odnosima između politike tržišta rada i medijske industrije u Švedskoj te kao takav doprinosi trenutnom znanju o tim odnosima u nordijskoj socijalnoj državi, sa svim svojim posebnostima i razlikama od drugih dijelova Europe i svijeta. Međutim, rezultati i rasprava u ovom članku povezani su i općenito važni za europska nastojanja u području politike tržišta rada, kao i medija

Från radiofabrik till mediehus : medieförändring och medieproduktion på MTG-radio

This thesis is a study of how the Swedish media company MTG Radio has developed new strategies and production practices in relation to technological change, new competition and media convergence during the first decade of the 2000s. During this period the media landscape in general has been marked by digitization, the rise of new media platforms and competition from new media companies. The study engages in an ethnographical perspective on media production, but also takes its starting point in political-economic theories on media work (Banks 2007, Hesmondhalgh & Baker 2011, Ryan 1992) in order to raise questions about the relation between technological and organizational changes and relations of power in production. Empirically, the thesis builds on interviews with production staff as well as an analysis of production documents and content produced by MTG Radio. The analysis shows that digital production technologies contribute to anincreased automation and centralization of control over editorial decisions, and hence to “de-skilling” (Braverman 1974/1999, Örnebring 2010). On the other hand, strategies of multiplatform production and the organizational changes taking place contribute to an “upskilling” (Edgell 2012) and give DJs and presenters more autonomy and control within production. This strengthened autonomy involves their possibilities for reflexivity and critical self-evaluation, as well as their control over content and production. Finally, the thesis connects these results to the more overarching question of alienation, arguing that upskilling and increased autonomy do not automatically create better jobs within the media house, or necessarily represent emancipatory possibilities within media work, as has been argued in previous research and theory