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[ecrea] ESF Exploratory Workshop on Public Service Media Management - Scientific report available online

Tue Oct 01 20:05:26 GMT 2013


ESF Exploratory Workshop on Public Service Media Management – Scientific report available online

Scientific report from the European Science Foundation Exploratory Workshop “Public Service Media Management: In Search for New Models of Public Service Media in the Era of Social Change and New Technologies” (Warsaw, 12-14 May 2013) is now available online. The report contains detailed description of scientific content of the event and makes attempts to identify subjects for future research and collaboration: http://www.id.uw.edu.pl/dzialy/badania/strona/-esf-workshop


Executive summary

Policy makers, media practitioners and scholars gathered together in the city of Warsaw, Poland (12-14 May, 2013) to discuss the challenges faced by public service media (PSM) leaders and managers as the media and communication technologies evolve. The Exploratory Workshop, entitled "Public Service Media Management – In Search for New Models for Public Service Media in the Era of Social Change and New Technologies" was funded by the European Science Foundation to support the evolution of public service media management.

Previous research identified strategies in other industries which might be transferrable to PSM in order to assist their evolution into organisational structures oriented towards semi-converged digital media and more open production practices. The overall goal of the two days of discussions with selected experts in the field from across Europe was to plan how to offer ongoing pan-European support from academia and industry. This support, it was suggested, would foreground interdisciplinary approaches that aggregate discussions on new notions of media and the creative governance and management of media practitioners, content, processes, with research on creative and interactive audiences.

Over the two days a multistakeholder approach to change was suggested which would enable PSMs to ensure they are fit for purpose from a range of perspectives, with particular emphasis on the socio-cultural functions of PSM for both mature and emerging democratic systems within Europe. Multi-stakeholders in the public media enterprise were identified as being all relevant governance bodies, leaders, managers, producers (public and private), new media outlets, other providers of supporting services (distribution companies for example), and the public.

Using stakeholder analysis models, strategies, alternative approaches, managerial theories as well as future scenarios could be more easily identified, in addition to exploring how present services might be augmented or enmeshed with emerging genres of content and services. In line with this, the workshop was organised to deconstruct the range of managerial tasks related to creativity, innovation and relations between ‘professional’ and ‘non-professional’ content creators. The workshop participants were able to consider how to encourage support for the development of the public service enterprise from a wider support base; evolving towards a more open, transparent, and responsive organisational structure (or cluster of linked structures). This, it was identified, would require examination of internal command and control mechanisms. The challenge of adapting in response to external disruptions to existing industrial processes via – for example - social media, search engines, and other media-like services was also addressed. Media-like services can be defined as new forms of media and communications which may use televisual media, sound, storytelling, and other illustrative material. Such services may be constructed to inform, educate, entertain, and connect audiences; they may also enable interactivity or creativity for prosumers. Overall the workshop participants agreed to encourage interdisciplinary research to examine the development and redefinition of more public-centered approaches in contemporary media studies. The European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) offered to house future sessions of the group, and any associated activity, which is planned for the future.

>From a practical perspective, the workshop programme was organised in line with the key topics identified by the Council of Europe’s recent Recommendation CM/Rec(2012)1 of the Committee of Ministers to Member States on public service media governance. These topics were outlined in the opening Keynote Speech by Jan Malinowski – Head of Information Society Department at the Council of Europe. Taking into account, therefore, the Council of Europe’s work on governance approaches toward the PSM workshop participants focused on internal PSM structures and modalities for public service delivery. Specifically of interest were those that might preserve the public service media ethos in the changing mediascape. The questions considered:

1) Does the current PSM structure fit the emerging media ecology?

2) How to create the right climate for cultural change and managerial support for ‘bottom-up’ approaches initiatied by publics/citizens?

3) Do a proportion of the public really want to get involved in processes of governance, consumption and production?

Through discussion of these central research questions workshop participants were able to deconstruct the complexity of challenges facing managers of public service media firms which included:

- Moving from existing to emerging management practices,

- How to evolve policies to support innovative management structures,

- The challenge of managing participatory and ‘open’ public service provision; social media and participatory platforms (such as game-worlds, interactive dramas and so on),

- The identification of management structures which specifically support blends of ‘professional’ and ‘non-professional’ news gathering,

- Analysis of management structures which are likely to enable the evolution of new forms of media for the public good.

Over the two days of presentations each session concluded with 30 minutes of open discussion, where all participants were encouraged to challenge, raise questions, make comments and offer ideas. These were documented by the organisers in order to build towards an overall conclusion.

The topic of the closing session was how to engage public service media governors, leaders and managers in future sessions which might result in concrete actions. It was agreed that this would be of high value in order to support evolution of public media management in different European countries. As the participants of the group included practitioners and consultants alongside academics (in line with our stakeholder approach), the group is well-placed to draw together PSMs and any associated media outlets or suppliers.



Contact



Michal Glowacki

Institute of Journalism?

Faculty of Journalism and Political Science?

University of Warsaw

ul. Nowy Swiat 69

00-927 Warsaw

?Poland

(michal.glowacki /at/ id.uw.edu.pl)



Lizzie Jackson

Ravensbourne? College of Design and Communication?

6 Penrose Way?

Greenwich Peninsula?

London SE10 OEW

United Kingdom

(lizzie.jackson /at/ rave.ac.uk)

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