Public Broadcasting Research Articles

Audience Listening as a Path for Public Service Media: The Case of “La Gran Consulta” in Spain

ABSTRACT In an era marked by disinformation and eroding trust in social institutions, public service media (PSM) face significant challenges in audience engagement and redefining their role within the digital media ecosystem. “La Gran Consulta” (LGC) [The Great Consultation] emerges as a groundbreaking initiative by Radio Televisión Española (RTVE) aimed at involving the public in shaping the future of national broadcasting and its digital transformation. This study critically examines LGC as a paradigm of effective audience listening, employing the theoretical framework of the architecture of listening. Through primary data from project outcomes and interviews with key personnel, this paper analyzes the implementation and impact of LGC, offering insights and strategies for similar initiatives across Europe. The findings provide a foundation for a renewed framework and mandate for public television, emphasizing the role of audience participation in fostering trust and enhancing public service media’s relevance in contemporary society.

Emisoras de paz: el reto de construir paz desde los territorios en Colombia

The Final Agreement for the Termination of the Conflict and the Construction of a Stable and Lasting Peace, signed in November 2016 between the government of Colombia and the extinct FARC-EP guerrilla, was proposed, as a commitment of the State, to implement of 20 public interest radio stations, in order to teach about the Final Peace Agreement and publicing the progress in its implementation. Located in territories strongly affected by the armed confrontation, peace radio stations are projected as sui generis scenarios in the Colombian transitional horizon. Consequently, the article records the findings obtained in a first systematic exercise of the emergence and consolidation of radio stations, which includes learning, difficulties, challenges and expectations. The approach problematizes and discusses the importance for broadcasters of working from peace journalism, since they have the capacity and opportunity to promote narratives and representations that, far from the story of war and violence, explore ethnic and cultural wealth. and social that characterizes the territories and their communities. With an ethnographic approach, it concluded that peace radio stations have to build their own identity that separates them from the political interests of the government, as well as discuss the political narratives that want to associate them with the interests of insurgent groups. Peace radio stations are scenarios that provide the opportunity to foster communicative and informative ecosystems that offer different perspectives on the realities experienced in territories where violence still persists, at the local and regional level.

Securitizing Russian-speakers in Estonia and Latvia: The Frame-Policy Nexus before and after Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

Abstract The securitization of Russian-speakers has been central to nation-building in Estonia and Latvia since they regained their independence in 1991. Securitization at the levels of discourse and policy varies over time as a result of historical legacies, Russia’s kin state activism, and the minority protection requirements of European institutions. This article introduces a typology that links discursive frames with policies to map securitizing trends in Estonia and Latvia after the Soviet collapse: securitizing exclusion — less accommodating policies are justified by presenting the minority as a threat to the state or core nation; securitizing inclusion — more accommodating policies are justified to “win over” the minority in order to decrease the threat; and desecuritizing inclusion — more accommodating policies are justified on grounds of fairness or appropriateness without reference to security. The utility of the typology is demonstrated by analyzing frames in the public broadcast media and recent policy developments in Estonia and Latvia immediately following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The analysis points to increasing convergence across countries in favor of securitizing exclusion. The analysis points to increasing convergence across countries in favor of securitizing exclusion. We conclude by evaluating these trends in light of minority mobilization and recent data on support for the active defense of the state among Russian-speakers and titulars.

Investigative journalism: Market failures and government intervention through public broadcasters

Investigative journalism: Market failures and government intervention through public broadcasters

Local Television, Public Service Broadcasting and Local Community Climate Action

The media have been struggling to represent climate change, particularly in ways that inspire more people to do more. At the same time as reliable information and education about this topic is becoming more important, public service broadcasters find themselves under renewed threat. This article examines whether local television, if it was reimagined as community-led and operating within a public service context, could provide a solution for both problems: a source of inspiring stories about climate action and a means to democratise public service broadcasting. Using our research project on community-led television and climate action as a critical case study for a discussion of British public service television and its representation of climate change, we introduce our conceptualisation of a sustainable community which relies on key public service ideals to remain so. We show that television can play a key role in supporting communities in creating sustainable futures by creating community bonds and providing information and education.

“Democracy under attack”: Viewpoint and doxa in the coverage of the Jan. 6th, 2021 events at the US Capitol

This paper aims at addressing issues related to the expression of subjectivity in media discourse, and more specifically to highlight the presence of doxa among journalists’ discourse. These issues will be addressed through an analysis of the transcript of the morning broadcast of two radio channels – the public radio channel in France, France Inter, and in French-speaking Belgium, La Première – covering the “attack” on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6th, 2021. Because it reports an event which was at the same time very politically loaded and unexpected, the journalistic account of this event helps to reveal and question the continuum between facts reporting and the expression of personal opinions, with all the nuances of clear and less clear sharing of subjective viewpoint in between. The paper shows that subjectivity is present under different guises, including attribution, evaluative statements and doxa. The paper then establishes the difference between the plurality of voices and the plurality of viewpoints – a key distinction in the production of information and in the journalistic habitus.

ONTOGENESIS OF CLEAR IMAGE: CONTEMPORARY TELEVISION AND FILM PROGRAMMING ON RADIO TELEVISION OF SERBIA IN THE DIGITAL AGE FROM AN EDITORIAL PERSPECTIVE

This paper examines the transformation of television production, specifically focusing on film programming within the digital environment from an editorial perspective at Radio Television of Serbia (RTS). The study delves into the transition from traditional analog broadcasting, where a single film was aired once a week, often a western, to the complexities of modern digital television production, which incorporates advanced organizational and technical skills, as well as the integration of contemporary technologies in program realization.The research highlights the increasing importance of editorial work in creating diverse and engaging content that caters to various demographic groups, with a special focus on the responsibilities of editors in shaping program quality and audience engagement. As television production has evolved into a leading creative sector, it now encompasses a wide range of genres, multimedia content, and interactive media, reflecting significant changes in both cultural and organizational strategies within the media landscape.The paper also explores the impact of globalization, technological advancements, and changing cultural policies on the development of national public service broadcasters like RTS. It discusses how these institutions have adapted to the challenges posed by a rapidly changing media environment, such as the increasing demand for efficiency, the expansion of content, and the inclusion of marginalized social groups in the programming.Through the examination of editorial practices in contemporary film programming, this work aims to offer insights into the evolving role of editorial decisions in shaping television content, as well as their contribution to the broader cultural and educational objectives of public broadcasting in the digital age.Top of Form

Modus Operandi of the Erosion of the Rule of Law in Poland – Experience in 2015–2023

The author of this article attempts to diagnose the changes in Polish constitutional democracy taking place in 2015–2023, and at the same time tries to select and catalogue violations of systemic practice, leading to the erosion of the rule of law, ultimately resulting in the recognition of Polish constitutional democracy as a defective democracy in 2023 (according to the Global Democracy Index). It presents the circumstances and secretive behaviours of the ruling elite of this period, including changes in the area of the judiciary, including the constitutional judiciary, remodelling of the control of the correctness of the electoral process, changes and politicization of the electoral administration and the prosecutor’s office, politicization of an independent public broadcaster with the introduction of newspeak and brutalization of the public language, adoption of the facade role of the parliament, as well as violation of the standards of transparency and political corruption leading to the formation of constitutional decision making, detached from – it seemed – the well-established constitutional identity with its fundamental values defining it.

L’espace public médiatique face à l’influence du champ politique : Cadre juridique encadré et service public mitigé –l’exemple de Télé-Congo

This article is proposed to study the question of the legal status of the public television in (Africa) in connection to the notion of the media public service focusing on the Congolese public channel. Being based on the analysis of twenty semi-structured interviews with professional actors of this media and associations and by analyzing two specific programs of this public television at the rate of three numerous per programs. We observed in the results of this investigation that there is an unsuitability between the informational content of programs, the understanding of the public service by professionals and the legal texts of this channel which seem to be hybrid and not well-structured and do not fit in with the logic of the media public service. Indeed, this channel is rather divided between a primordial political imperative linked to the popularization of the governmental speech and a theoretical mission of the public service

WOJNA W UKRAINIE – STRATEGIE DOSTOSOWAWCZE POLSKIEGO RADIA OLSZTYN

The subject of the research is the adaptation, organizational, and programming strategies of Polish Radio Olsztyn, a public broadcaster located near the Königsberg Oblast, applied in the face of Russia’s attack in Ukraine in 2022. The basis of the research is interviews with the President of the Management Board of Polish Radio Olsztyn, L. Sobański, the coordinator of the Ukrainian editorial office, J. Chrunik, T. Baryła, an expert on Russian issues from the Northern Institute in Olsztyn, as well as documents: the Framework and Financial Plan for 2022, recommendations on increasing security and sent the Prime Minister. The results of the analysis of Russian news portals in terms of their reaction to the content broadcast on Polish Radio Olsztyn, which covers the Königsberg Oblast, were also presented.

კლასიკური თოქ-შოუს ძიებაში: შემეცნებითი და გასართობი თოქ-შოუების ფუნქციური და სტრუქტურული ასპექტები "დღის კოდისა" და "ეკა ხოფერიას შოუს" მაგალითზე

Based on the qualitative research methods, this article will study and analyze the genre characteristics of two talk shows in the Georgian television space to determine how the mentioned genre adapts to the realization of two different functions - entertainment and cognition –, how Georgian TV showmen (show presenters) use the authentic features of the genre when presenting a topic that requires a multifaceted vision. Georgian television media uses various mechanisms to expand the audience and maintain interest in their creative products. In the globalized media world, Georgian television journalism borrowed „ from the American media at the end of the 90s, then developed and adapted several genres of television shows to its audience. One such genre is the talk show, which occupies a place in the network of all broadcasting companies. At the dawn of the appearance of talk shows in Georgia, it was believed that having a talk show in primetime was equal to quality nonsense. There was also an opinion that the most sought-after person in the TV media of that time was the host of the evening talk show; despite these performances today, the rating of watching TV channels is decreasing, one of the reasons for which may be the quality of Georgian talk shows. To narrow the selection spectrum of programs, two types of talk shows on the most popular topics in Georgia – recreational and cognitive were found. Even though there is quite a large selection of shows on Georgian television, the number of programs of the classic talk show genre is scarce, and most of them are mentioned in my dissertation. Based on the above, I searched for TV projects launched in the recent past for the mentioned research: • “Eka Khoferia's talk show“, which carried signs of recreational direction transmission and enjoyed great popularity on the TV channel „Imedi“; • „Day code”, which carried signs of cognitive direction transmission, enjoyed great popularity on the TV channel „Public Broadcaster“. The paper is based on comparing the “day code” and Eka Khoferia's programs. Critical structural monitoring is the main research tool. The discussion of empirical data is preceded by a theoretical part, in which the genre spectrum of television programs, in particular, the specifics and directions of the talk show, is described. Structural monitoring of both programs includes formal and compositional elements: principles of selecting invited guests, details of conducting dialogue, and interesting presentation of problematic topics. The mentioned study criteria were the basis for determining how high-quality talk shows are broadcast on Georgian television. When analyzing both types of Georgian programs and comparing them with Western classic talk shows, it was revealed that certain parameters necessary to ensure the high quality of the talk show are not met. The absence of a golden mean in the formation of the content and form of the talk show was revealed, which led to a decrease in interest in the satellite product.

AVT and Agency

At the 10th Media for All conference, the meagre representation of minoritized languages (including sign language) in audiovisual media on streaming platforms was tackled. In this way, the very ideal of media for all was challenged. Global streaming platforms tend to adopt a ‘one size fits all’ approach in limiting their language settings to a minimum. While the users of minoritized languages often are proficient in the dominant language of their country, it is absolutely crucial that content is available in their smaller — and often endangered — languages as well. Some streaming platforms of local public service broadcasters try to accommodate this need. Still, the questions remain: to what extent do not only minoritized languages users, but also the speakers of the majority languages encounter these minoritized languages in audiovisual content, how linguistically diverse and inclusive is this content, but also: what role can audiovisual translation play here? In this article, the importance of audiovisual translation in and out of minoritized languages, with a special focus on revoicing, is discussed. The children’s content broadcast by Swedish public service broadcaster in the national minority languages and sign language is used as a case study. Lay summary People who speak less common languages or use sign language cannot always access audiovisual media in these languages. The reason for this is that the content, but also the language settings offered by streaming platforms often tend to be rather limited in this regard. For minoritised language communities, however, it is important that audiovisual media is available in their languages, as it can help safeguard these often endangered languages. Likewise, it is important that majority language users become more aware of these languages through audiovisual media. This article explores how streaming platforms can become more inclusive and also provide content in such minoritized languages for both the minoritised and majority language communities. The children’s programmes of Swedish public broadcasters that offer content in minoritised languages for both the majority language, Swedish speaking community, and the minoritised language communities are analysed and discussed as a case study. Yet, it looks at the agency of individuals who try to make a difference. The focus is on (partial) revoicing, yet (partial) subtitling and sign language interpreting are also discussed.

Comparing News Coverage of Refugees in South Korea: Media Outlet Types and Diversity Patterns

ABSTRACT This study examines how news diversity varies across different types of news outlets and explores the underlying factors that contribute to those differences by analyzing coverage from a public broadcaster, 24-hour news channels, and commercial news channels in South Korea. Through framing analysis and critical discourse analysis (CDA), this study examines how different media covered the recent arrivals of two distinct refugee groups—Yemeni and Afghan—focusing on the diversity of news framing, sources, formats, as well as their lexical choices and discourses. The findings suggest that, in addition to their political orientation, the ownership and operational models of media outlets influence their news content in South Korea. A well-resourced public broadcaster (KBS) demonstrates greater diversity in sources and content, while rolling news channels contribute to news diversity by employing more varied news formats. More fundamentally, this study highlights that news discourses are shaped by broader social contexts, such as nationalist and neoliberal perspectives on refugees.

Cultivating vigilant drivers through TV: On the cultural work of dashcam videos and normalization of surveillance

This paper explores the cultural work of surveillance through the emerging YouTube genre of videos that feature footage from in-car video data recorders. South Korea's ‘Han Moon Chul TV’ (HMC TV) exemplifies this genre, inheriting and extending beyond the traditions of public service television for traffic safety. The analysis shows how HMC TV operates as a cultural technology that merges the previous goals of public service television with the visual language of automotive vision while also promoting the idea of self as a node of safety responsibility. The paper situates HMC TV within broader discussions on traffic safety, technological change, and surveillance normalization in the South Korean context, interrogating its role in shaping defensive rationality and vigilant driving behaviors. By incorporating surveillance technologies into regimes of safety, these representations help legitimize surveillance as a self-protection tool and a guarantor of truth, positioning it as a necessary defense against potential future threats.

Communication channel preference for raising rabies awareness among dog owners in Thailand: A nationwide study.

Rabies is a severe zoonotic disease with potentially fatal consequences. Effective communication channels are crucial for disseminating key rabies prevention and control messages to target populations. This study examined how dog owners' demographic factors influenced communication channels in Thailand. We distributed a questionnaire survey to retrieve general demographic data of participants and the ranks of their communication channels. We used the mean ranking score to assess the most accessible and commonly used platforms. Univariate and multiple logistic regression methods were used to determine the association between each demographic feature and the preference for communication. In total, 476 participants were involved across all regions of Thailand. Village health volunteers represented the most selected channel, as identified by the mean ranking (3.32), followed by public loudspeaker (3.30) and television (2.93). Age, occupation, region, and cat ownership significantly influenced how people chose the channels. Moreover, farmers likely received information from various sources, and elderly individuals generally preferred to receive information about rabies from administrative authorities, such as village heads. These results can benefit policymakers aiming to enhance communication strategies in public health. This study enhances rabies risk communication and aligns with global health initiatives to eliminate dog-mediated rabies by 2030.

Religious Commodification in Social Experiments on Zavilda TV's YouTube Channel

Social media, including YouTube, has emerged as a significant aspect of contemporary lifestyles in society. Youtubers need to be able to present interesting content ideas in order to attract more viewers and advertisers. Zavilda TV YouTube Channel turns Islam into a content idea and commodifies it to attract more viewers. Religion and spirituality are no longer something exclusive, but have become a commodity and a public broadcast, used as an object and capital in the political economy of the media. Thus, this study aims to uncover realities that reflect the practice of commodification of religion in the Islamic social experiment targeting women. This research uses a qualitative approach with a literature review. Dialogue manuscripts, titles, video descriptions and thumbnails for Zavilda TV are research objects that are studied using observation and documentation methods. The study of the political economy of media and critical discourse analysis are used to uncover and explain commodification in a more critical and in-depth way. The results found in this study are forms of religious commodification in the form of religious symbols and Islamic songs, as well as religious reflections that are given to the target to make them willing to wear the headscarf. The issue of religious tolerance is also included in the content by targeting women of religions other than Islam to try wearing the headscarf. There is a relationship that is lamely built through the clothing of talent and targets like preachers and mad'u. Zavilda TV attempts to disseminate its understanding of religion. The channel asserts that its interpretation of religious doctrine is accurate and obligatory for all Muslim women, even if some of the remarks given tend to discriminate.

The Existence of Local Public Broadcasting Institutions Radio Irama FM Amid Digital Transformation in Public Information Distribution

The aim of the research is to describe and analyze the existence of the local public broadcasting institution Radio Irama FM in the midst of digital transformation in the distribution of public information. The type of research used in this research is descriptive qualitative. Based on the results of the study it can be concluded that 1) indicators of organizational goals have been determined at the local public broadcasting institution Irama FM radio, to achieve existence in the midst of a rapidly growing digitalization stream; 2) this leadership is a character possessed by each leader which will have a direct impact on the existence and progress of an organization. The pattern of relationship between superiors and subordinates will affect harmonization and create a sense of kinship in an organization. 3) at LPPL Radio Irama FM there is a clear organizational structure for the division of labor, although in some time there has been a change in leadership. This is an innovative effort to maintain the existence of LPPL Radio Irama FM amidst the current digital transformation. 4) The responsibility has been firmly held by all employees at LPPL Radio Irama FM to maintain existence in the midst of the digitalization era, even though there are still obstacles that arise in the field.

Portrayal of risk information and its impact on audiences' risk perception during the Covid-19 pandemic: A multi-method approach.

Over the last years, infectious diseases have been traveling across international borders faster than ever before, resulting in major public health crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Given the rapid changes and unknown risks that mark such events, risk communication faces the challenge to raise awareness and concern among the public without creating panic. Drawing on the social amplification of risk framework-a concept that theorizes how and why risks are amplified or attenuated during the (1) transfer of risk information (by, for instance, news media) and (2) audiences' interpretation and perception of these information-we were interested in the portrayal of risk information and its impact on audiences' risk perception over the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Germany. We therefore conducted a quantitative content analysis of a major public and private television (TV) newscast (N=321) and combined it with survey data (two-wave panel survey, t1: N=1378 and t2: N=1061). Our results indicate that TV news (as a major information source at that time) were characterized by both risk-attenuating and risk-amplifying characteristics, although risk-amplifying attributes were particularly pronounced by the private TV newscast. Notably, those who only used private TV news between both waves showed the highest perceived severity at time 2. However, the interaction effect of time and use of public and/or private TV news was only significant for perceived susceptibility. Overall, more research is needed to examine the effects of different types of media and changes in risk perceptions over time.

The impact of financial literacy on access to formal financial products in Namibia

AbstractMotivationThe level of financial inclusion has increased markedly in Namibia in recent years. Currently, 78% of the population is considered to be financially included. More importantly, this increase has largely derived from vulnerable groups, including low‐income earners living in rural areas. Although there has been an increase in the rate of financial literacy, there is no formal empirical analysis showing the extent to which improved access to formal financial services is associated with financial literacy.PurposeThis article deepens the empirical analysis of financial literacy by simultaneously considering their effects on savings, bank account ownership, and access to credit and insurance in Namibia. We further disaggregated the analysis to consider heterogeneity between men and women, as well as between rural and urban populations.Approach and methodsWe used data from the Namibia Financial Inclusion Survey of 2017 and the instrumental variable probit model to minimize the bias from possible endogeneity caused by potential measurement error, unobserved variable bias, or reverse causality.FindingsThe study showed that financial literacy significantly increases the likelihood of people using formal financial products. Failure to adequately control for the associated bias would lead to substantial overestimation of the impact of financial literacy. Estimates from the disaggregated analysis showed that the impact of financial literacy differs significantly between rural and urban populations, as well as between men and women. The effects are higher for males than for females and for rural than urban sub‐samples.Policy implicationsThe positive effect of financial literacy on formal financial products suggests that policy options that promote financial literacy are crucial for improving access to formal financial products, particularly for men and the rural population. These policies could include the introduction of financial literacy programmes in schools in order to enhance personal financial knowledge and participation in the formal financial sector. Emphasis should be placed on the raising of awareness, especially among disadvantaged communities, as to the benefits of owning and operating different financial products and on the inclusion of financial literacy programmes on public television.

Brexit and the Iraq War on BBC Question Time: Demographic and Political Issue Representation in UK Public Participation Broadcasting

Public broadcasters are bound by strict guidelines to ensure balance in representing different demographic and political groups, and to better reflect the distribution of these characteristics within the public and political elites. How are these decisions affected when the biggest political issues of the day create further cleavages that not only cross-cut existing divides but also deserve representation in political discourse? In this article, we examine how panel selection on BBC Question Time dealt with this in relation to two prominent issues in twenty-first century UK politics: Brexit and the UK invasion of Iraq. We introduce an original dataset including all BBC Question Time appearances between 2001 and 2019, created using a combination of web-scraping and expert coding. This allows us to trace patterns in representation across sex, ethnicity, educational background, as well as partisan affiliation and stances on issues like Brexit and the Iraq war among the show’s panelists. We find that panel selection closely reflects gender and ethnic diversity among the UK public and MPs, but that individuals from privileged educational backgrounds are vastly overrepresented on the show. For both the Iraq war and Brexit, the show again broadly reflects the views of the public and political elites once we account for relevant comparisons between politicians and non-political guests.