Governance of Public Service Media: Traditions and Transitions
Abstract
Media organizations – and with it the whole journalistic profession – are currently experiencing profound structural changes, as they are put under pressure by digitization and the erosion of established business models. These transitions also have consequences for public service media (PSM): On the one hand, PSM are necessarily obligated to their traditional public remit; on the other hand, they need to find a way to adapt to the realities of the present media world. How can PSM actors fulfill their social function in the digital communication environments of today? In what way could PSM realize their role in democratic societies in the online environment, which is de facto defined, negotiated and provided by private interest ruled actors (platforms)? What are the consequences of the shrinking public space for PSM in Europe? What are the concerns of the current transitions for media governance and policy-makers? How could public interest objectives for diversity and pluralism, the cornerstones of media governance, be achieved under these conditions? Which funding models can help public media organizations to maintain quality? And how can the performance of PSM be measured after all? Our research offers answers to such questions from a comparative perspective – for example by compiling various key figures that display and quantify economic, program-related and audience-related dimensions of PSM, by evaluating different modes of project-based journalism funding, by studying the necessity and possibilities of a regulatory framework for the legal and policy safeguards of PSM in the digital ecology, by conducting policy scenario analyses on spectrum allocation plans to PSM, by monitoring trends on PSM independence, and by analyzing PSM activities in the online world.
Financing
Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF), International Federation of Television Archives, Heinrich Graf Hardegg’sche Stiftung
Projects
Key figures of public service broadcasting
Digital archiving in public service media: Ethical issues and legal restrictions
Die grundrechtliche und wettbewerbsrechtliche Zulässigkeit projektbasierter Medienförderung
CMC Staff
Tobias Eberwein (Project Leader)
Lectures
Lectures
-
19/09/2022
, Vienna
Rozgonyi, K
‘Accountability and platforms' governance: the case of online prominence of Public Service Media content’
Presentation at the RIPE@2022 Conference 'Between the Fourth Estate and the Fifth Power: Conservation and Innovation in PSM Journalism'. -
11/12/2019
, Salzgitter
Eberwein, Tobias
Öffentlich-rechtlicher Rundfunk in Europa: Ein kennzahlenbasierter Vergleich zum Verhältnis von Finanzierung und Publikumsleistungen [Public service broadcasters in Europe]
Ostfalia Medienforum -
25/05/2019
, Washington, D.C.
Eberwein, Tobias Saurwein, Florian Karmasin, Matthias
Public Service Broadcasting in Europe: Exploring the Relationship Between Funding and Audience Performance
69th Annual ICA Conference: „Communication Beyond Boundaries“ -
01/11/2018
, Lugano
Saurwein, Florian Eberwein, Tobias Karmasin, Matthias
Public service broadcasters in Europe: Exploring the input-impact-relations and their implications for media politics.
ECREA 2018 - 7th European Communication Conference: "Centers and Peripheries: Communication, Research, Translation" -
12/10/2018
, Montreal
Eberwein, Tobias Gerard-Wenzel, Corinna
Memory of the future? Digital archives in public service media.
19th annual meeting of the AoIR -
28/05/2018
, Prague
Eberwein, Tobias Gerard-Wenzel, Corinna
Digital archiving in public service media: Ethical issues and legal restrictions
68th Annual ICA Conference -
27/10/2017
, St. Pölten
Eberwein, Tobias Saurwein, Florian Vogl, Nadja Karmasin, Matthias
Kennzahlen des öffentlichen Rundfunks – ein internationaler Vergleich [Key figures of public broadcasting – an international comparison]
Gemeinsame Jahrestagung der DGPuK-Fachgruppe Medienökonomie und des Netzwerks Medienstrukturen: "Zur Ökonomie gemeinwohlorientierter Medien" -
28/05/2017
, San Diego, CA
Gerard-Wenzel, Corinna
Why we need new types of public news funding
ICA 67th Annual Conference -
12/05/2017
, Ghent
Eberwein, Tobias Karmasin, Matthias Saurwein, Florian Vogl, Nadja
For what it’s worth. Measuring the performance of public service broadcasters in Europe
Annual conference of the European Media Management Association (emma): "Value Creation in Media Markets: Business Models, Clusters and Ecosystems" -
27/04/2017
, Chur
Gerard-Wenzel, C
Projektbasierte Medienförderung und ihr Beitrag zur Qualität öffentlicher Kommunikation [Project-based media funding and its contribution to the quality of public communication]
Jahrestagung der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Kommunikations‐ und Medienwissenschaft SGKM -
19/01/2017
, Salzburg
Gerard-Wenzel, Corinna
Digital communication, governance and society. How to safeguard public service journalism in a digital communication environment
2017 Shanghai-Salzburg Seminar Series (SSSS Conference). Communication and Social Development II
Books and Monographs
Books and Monographs
Articles and Book Chapters
Articles and Book Chapters
- . (2022). Reporting under Pressure. A Study of Journalism Working Conditions in Three European Countries during The Pandemic. (Work environment in journalism: a study of three countries in pandemic). In Ripe@2022, VGR,, & ORF, (Eds.), Public Value Texte (Public Service Media in Europe) - Between The Fourth Estate And The Fifth Power (p. 55). Retrieved from https://zukunft.orf.at/show_content.php?sid=147&pvi_id=2385&pvi_medientyp=t&oti_tag=Texte
- . (2022). Accountability and platforms governance: the case of online prominence of Public Service Media content. In EBU, BR,, MDR,, SWR,, & ORF, (Eds.), Public Value Jahresstudie 2021/2022 (Öffentlich-Rechtliche Qualität Im Diskurs) (pp. 51-92). Retrieved from https://zukunft.orf.at/show_content.php?sid=147&pvi_id=2386&pvi_medientyp=t&oti_tag=
- . (2022). Policy diffusion and Internet governance: reflections on copyright and privacy. In M. Marzouki & Calderaro, A. (Eds.), Internet Diplomacy: Shaping the Global Politics of Cyberspace (pp. 195-211). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
- . (2019). Öffentlich-rechtlicher Rundfunk in Europa: Ein kennzahlenbasierter Vergleich zum Verhältnis von Finanzierung und Publikumsleistungen [Public Service Broadcasting in Europe: A Key-figure-based Comparison of the Relation Between Funding and Audience Performance]. Jahrbuch Für Christliche Sozialwissenschaften, 60, 141-168.
- . (2019). Public service media in Europe: Exploring the relationship between funding and audience performance. Javnost - The Public, 1-18. doi:10.1080/13183222.2019.1602812
- . (2019). Kennzahlen des öffentlichen Rundfunks – ein internationaler Vergleich [Key Figures of Public Broadcasting - an International Comparison]. In J. Krone & Gebesmair, A. (Eds.), Zur Ökonomie gemeinwohlorientierter Medien. Digitale Massenkommunikation in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz. (pp. 187-207). Baden-Baden: Nomos.
- . (2018). Memory of the future? Digital archives in public service media. Aoir Selected Papers Of Internet Research, 2018, n/a. doi:10.5210/spir.v2018i0.10481
- . (2017). Die Rechtsprechung des ÖVfGH zur Facebook-Aktivität des ORF. Feststellungen der Erkenntnisse VfGH v. 27.6.2013 und VfGH v. 2.4.2014 zu Rundfunkfreiheit und staatlichen Gewährleistungspflichten. Zeitschrift Für Medien- Und Kommunikationsrecht, 48, 20-24.
Research Papers
Research Papers
Popular Publications
Popular Publications
- . (2019). Jenseits von Elmau. Die Finanzierung des öffentlichen Rundfunks in Europa [East of Elmau. The funding of public broadcasting in Europe]. Epd Medien, 4, 3-6.
- . (2019). Öffentlicher Rundfunk in Europa: Finanzierung beeinflusst Publikumserfolg [Public broadcasting in Europe: Funding affects audience performance]. Derstandard.at. Retrieved from https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000107140530/oeffentlicher-rundfunk-in-europa-finanzierung-beeinflusst-publikumserfolg
Popular Talks
Popular Talks
-
02/05/2019
, Wien
Karmasin, Matthias
Vorstellung einer CMC-Studie & Diskussion mit Harald Fidler
Presseclub Concordia - Medienpolitisches Update zur ORF-Finanzierung -
02/04/2019
, Wien
Karmasin, Matthias
Interview mit Matthias Karmasin zu ORF-Finanzierung, Kronen Zeitung und demokratische Rolle der Medien
ORF Report (ORF 1)
In the media
Stephan Russ-Mohl (2019). Krasse Unterschiede. Öffentlich finanzierte Medienunternehmen verdanken ihre Existenzberechtigung nicht den Quoten. Zu messen wäre, welche Leistungen sie für welche Zielgruppen erstellen. Der Tagesspiegel, 7.4.2019, https://www.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft/medien/media-lab-krasse-unterschiede/24192168.html