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Stockholm 2008 - Working Group on European Public Broadcasting Policies Call for Papers

Stockholm 2008 - Working Group on European Public Broadcasting Policies Call for PapersEXTENDED DEADLINE: 15 FEBRUARY 2008!

Convenor: Jo Bardoel, ASCoR, University of Amsterdam / Radboud University Nijmegen

The Working Group on European Public Broadcasting Policies invites submissions to the IAMCR 2008 Congress.  

Already for some time now public service broadcasters in Europe and elsewhere are prominently present in the domain of new media. This presence in the digital domain is usually considered as a logical extension of the public remit and is also related to a long-standing tradition of being leading in the introduction of new technologies. At the same time there are also serious restrictions.  Due to complaints of commercial competitors at a national and European policy level, public broadcasters are forced to show more explicitly the relation between their new activities in new media services and their contribution to the public value. Moreover, the lack of financial resources often limits the public presence in the digital domain.

Consequently, in the new multimedia environment public service broadcasting, or public service media, is not taken for granted anymore. It will be considered first and foremost as an instrument to safeguard a sound media ecology in any given society, of which both public broadcasting and independent journalism are key components.

Both from a political and an economical perspective public service broadcasting c.q. media will have to legitimize its position more explicitly. More than before it will be assessed by other stakeholders according to its ability to produce positive externalities, to compensate for ‘market failure’ and to produce evident ‘public value’. All this implies that it is necessary to rethink the public service mission in a new technological and social context, where public service broadcasting leaves behind its traditional paternalism and connects to citizens under postmodern conditions.

This working group will address the question how public service broadcasters in Europe and elsewhere cope with the digital challenge: how do they (re)define the public remit in a multi- and cross media context, how do they develop multi- and cross media strategies and combine different distribution platforms, how do they make the change from a in one-way to an interactive and communicative broadcasting context, et cetera?

Abstracts of no more than 500 words, addressing one or more of the above topics should be submitted in Word format to Jo Bardoel before February 15, 2008. Each abstract may be presented in only one Section or Working Group of the IAMCR Conference. Offering duplicates of the same paper to different Sections OR Working Groups of the Association is likely to result in elimination of the duplicate abstract.

Each abstract must include title, presenter’s name(s), institutional affiliation and email addresses of the author(s). Applicants will be advised by March 31, 2008 of the outcome of their submissions. The full text of accepted papers will be required no later than 15th June 2008.

Abstracts should be submitted to:

Jo Bardoel
ASCor/University of Amsterdam
Radboud University Nijmegen
Tthe Netherlands

E-mail: j.l.h.bardoel [AT] uva.nl

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