[ecrea] The Place of Public Service Broadcasting Conference, July 2013

*The Place of Public Service Broadcasting: Transnationalism, Localism 
and Identity in the Digital Age*

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4^th  July, 2013 -- The Department of Theatre, Film and Television -- 
The University of York

The concept of public service has been a central element of broadcasting 
culture in most national contexts for as long as broadcasting has 
existed.  Yet current trends in media technology, governance and 
ownership present challenges to long-standing notions of the role of 
public service broadcasting.


What will be the role of public service broadcasting in a media culture 
increasingly characterised by commercial narrowcasting and 
consumer-driven microcasting?  How might the national character of 
public service broadcasting be complicated by trends towards localism, 
devolution and regional independence?  How can public service 
broadcasters reconcile their place in specific national cultures with 
their increasing need to compete in an international television market?


This conference will examine the rapidly changing nexus of concerns 
around the role of public service broadcasting in an era marked by the 
advent of digital distribution, the expansion of bandwidth and, 
arguably, the diminishing importance of the national as a locus of 
identity for broadcasting.


We welcome submissions touching on any aspect of contemporary public 
service broadcasting, but are particularly keen to explore:


   * PSB in different national contexts
   * PSB and inter-, intra-national and diasporic cultures
   * PSB in relation to discourses of identity
   * PSB in relation to the globalisation of television production and
     distribution
   * PSB in relation to the movement for local broadcasting

Please submit 300 word abstracts for 20 minute papers to Martin 
Zeller-Jacques ((marty.zeller-jacques /at/ york.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(marty.zeller-jacques /at/ york.ac.uk)>) or Hannah Andrews 
((hannah.andrews /at/ york.ac.uk) <mailto:(hannah.andrews /at/ york.ac.uk)>) before 
midnight on the 1^st  of March, 2013.