Specification of the Notions of National and Own Production As a Broadcasting Policy Concern in New Member States

Abstract

Because the European Union's (EU) Television Without Frontiers Directive (TWF; 1989) refers only to the notion of European production, broadcasters, especially in small countries with small audiovisual markets and restricted language areas, become aware that the mechanism of protection of national broadcasting space is closely related to the understanding and definition of the notions of national and own production and respective broadcasting practices. This article reveals and discusses some outcomes of a questionnaire-based survey made in Fall 2003 for European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (Shein & Rajaleid, 2003) concerning the problems of implementation of EU media policy standards and TWF Directive requirements into broadcasting practices in new EU member states, candidate, and transition countries. In cultural terms the states in question although abiding the common rules seemed to be concerned that the strive for Europeanization of TV programming tends to some extent to weaken their broadcasting sector's ability and options to protect countries' national remits, their language, and cultural identity. Respondents pointed out that European cultural concerns should be more flexibly justified with options for national broadcasting sectors to build on their cultural concerns. It leads us to the problem of coherence of the positions in construction of European and national TV-broadcasting space and consistency of so called big and small pictures of common cultural needs. This article examines 3 main approaches to the notion of national production-the producer-based, cultural or language-based, and content-based approach from the viewpoints of definition, implementation, and influence on national programming structures. Controversies of the management and operational implications of these positions and their influence on maintaining and strengthening of cultural commons in broadcasting performance will be also mirrored in this regard.