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

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)

---------------
ECREA-Mailing list
---------------
This mailing list is a free service from ECREA and Nico Carpentier.
--
To subscribe, post or unsubscribe, please visit
http://www.ecrea.eu/mailinglist
--
ECREA - European Communication Research and Education Association
--
Postal address:
ECREA
Chaussée de Waterloo 1151
1180 Uccle
Belgium
--
Email: (info /at/ ecrea.eu)
URL: http://www.ecrea.eu
---------------