2018 post conference report

The logo of the IAMCR postconference “Public Service Media in a Time of Global Reordering: Sustainability, Reinvention and Extension”

The Public Service Media Policies Working Group organised an IAMCR post-conference, “Public Service Media in a Time of Global Reordering: Sustainability, Reinvention and Extension”, on 25 June 2018 at the University of Oregon in Eugene. The post-conference was organised in collaboration with the Global PSM Experts Network, coordinated by Minna Horowitz.

The post-conferece was supported with a grant provided to the working group by IAMCR's Section and Working Group Project Fund.

The post conference had four panels and 15 speakers from around the world:

Panel 1: PSM and Independence: International Perspectives from Mature PSM Systems

  • Steven Barnett (University of Westminster): ‘Taming the BBC: How New Governance Arrangements Could Compromise the BBC’s Independence’
  • Tabe Bergman (Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University): ‘Death by a 1,000 budget Cuts? Consequences of and Media Discourse on the New Budget Reductions for Dutch Public Broadcasting’
  • Corinne Schweizer (University of Zurich): ‘Lessons Learnt from “No Billag”: How Direct-Democratic Switzerland Dealt with a Popular Initiative that Wanted to Abolish Public Service Media’
  • Maria Michalis (University of Westminster): ‘PSM and Independence: The View from the EU’
  • Peter Thompson (Victoria University of Wellington; Chair, Better Public Media Trust): ‘The Revival of Public Service Media in New Zealand: New Hope or False Dawn?’

Panel Two: SM and Impact: International Perspectives from Mature PSM Systems

  • Jo Bardoel (Radboud University of Nijmegen, University of Amsterdam): ‘Independence and Integrity as the Contested Assets of PSM’
  • Michael Huntsberger (Linfield College): ‘Community Media in the US: All Politics in Local’
  • Minna Horowitz (University of Helsinki, St. John’s University): ‘PSM and Information Disorder in Europe: Lessons from a Report for the Council of Europe’

Panel Three: PSM in Asia: Current Issues, Debates and Developments

  • Anis Rahman (Simon Fraser University): ‘In Defense of State-Administered Public Service Media in South Asia’
  • Masduki Masduki (Universitas Islam Indonesia): ‘Re-regulating Indonesian Public Service Broadcasting in the Digital Age’
  • Hamilton Cheng (Taiwan Public Television Service): ‘Beyond the 20-Year Survival: Taiwan PSB Moving between Cultural Nationalism and Asian Assimilation’

Panel Four: Conceptualising Public Communication in the Chinese Context: Articulation, Deliberation and Trust

  • Chen, Changfeng and Shi, Ze (Tsinghua University University): ‘Public Interest and Private Internet Companies in China: How Should Public Interest Be Protected in a Digital World?’
  • Chang, Jiang (Tsinghua University University): ‘The Powerful Image and the Imagination of Power: The “New Visual Turn’ of the CPC’s Propaganda Strategy Since Its 18th National Congress in 2012’
  • Wu, Jing Wei (Tsinghua University): ‘The Notion of Public in Western Society and Its Transformation in China: The Influence of Media Globalization and Digitalization’
  • Wang, Shu (SINA Weibo, Deputy Editor Chief): ‘Weibo, a Post-office with Temperature: What Can We Do for the Public Media Transformation?’

In total, the post-conference had around 50 participants including speakers and attendees (among whom there were several members of our Working Group).

A dedicated website prepared for the conference can be consulted at https://psmglobalreordering.wordpress.com/

The post-conference achievements include:

  • The event drew from expertise within IAMCR and also utilized the network of the Global PSM Experts. A variety of stakeholders including internationally-renowned scholars Europe and the US, academics from Asia and China, media and advocacy organizations such as Taiwan’s public service broadcaster, China’s new media company (Sina Weibo) and New Zealand’s Better Public Media Trust, gathered to address fundamental issues confronting PSM in different regions and set an agenda for strengthening PSM research;
  • A special panel on public communication in China was organised and sponsored by the School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University. Four speakers delivered presentations on topics of public interests, public service and new media in China.
  • A blog post summarizing the content of the post-conference was made available.
  • As the result of the post-conference, the working group will forge closer links with the RIPE bi-annual conference which is also dedicated to the public service media  management and research.
  • The working group is also planning to edit a special issue on the main theme addressed at the post-conference to be published in an English-language academic journal (TBC) and in the Taiwanese journal《傳播、文化與政治》. Speakers who presented at the post-conference will be invited to contribute to the issue.

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