Public Service Media from a Nordic Horizon
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Nordic Public Service Media Map 2 Nordic 2 A research anthology from Nordicom Public Service Media from a Nordic Horizon Horizon Service a Nordic Public Media from The Nordic countries have a tradition of strong support for their public service media and have also developed public service models that are characterized by their relatively small size and small populations. More- over, the companies have many years’ experience of collaboration within the region – particularly with regard to coproduction of programs. On the contemporary international arena, within organizations such as the UN and UNESCO, there exists a fundamental conviction that public service media – which are neither commercial nor state owned and which are free from political influence – foster well-informed and en- lightened citizens and therefore constitute a cornerstone of democratic development. Given this interest, Nordicom has carried out extensive work in the area of public service media in the Nordic region – all within the frame of what we have chosen to call A Nordic Public Service Media Map. The aim of this project is to elucidate a framework for public service media – showing how the concept of public service media is operationalized in terms of the growth of democracy, the public space, media pluralism, cultural diversity, gender and social tolerance. The results of these efforts include recent research findings and statistical overviews. The present publication is the second one from this Nordicom project entitled Public Service Media from a Nordic Horizon. Politics, Markets, Programming and Users. A research anthology from Nordicom. The book Ulla Carlsson by Edited contains a number of qualified analyses of public service media carried out by Nordic media scholars. NORDICOM Public Service Media Nordic Information Centre for Media and Communication Research University of Gothenburg Box 713, SE 405 30 Göteborg, Sweden Telephone +46 31 786 00 00 (op.) | Fax +46 31 786 46 55 from a Nordic Horizon www.nordicom.gu.se | E-mail: [email protected] POLITICS, MARKETS, PROGRAmmING AND USERS NORDICOM NORDICOM Edited by Ulla Carlsson Public Service Media from a Nordic Horizon Public Service Media from a Nordic Horizon Politics, Markets, Programming and Users Ulla Carlsson (ed.) NORDICOM Nordic Public Service Media Map 2 Public Service Media from a Nordic Horizon Politics, Markets, Programming and Users Ulla Carlsson (ed.) The Nordic Ministers of Culture have made globalization as one of their top priorities, unified in the strategy: “Creativity – the Nordic response to globalization”. The aim is to create a more visible Nordic Region, a more knowledge-based Nordic Region and a more prosperous Nordic Region. This publication is part of “Creativity – the Nordic response to globalization”. © Editorial matters and selections, the editors; articles, individual contributors; Nordicom 2013 ISBN 978-91-89471-85-6 Published by: Nordicom University of Gothenburg Box 713 SE-405 30 Göteborg Sweden Cover by: Daniel Zachrisson Printed by: Ale Tryckteam AB, Bohus, Sweden, 2013 Contents Foreword 7 Christian S. Nissen Introduction: What’s so Special about Nordic Public Service Media? 9 Taisto Hujanen, Lennart Weibull & Eva Harrie The Challenge of Public Service Broadcasting in the Nordic Countries. Contents and Audiences 17 Anker Brink Lund & Gregory Ferrell Lowe Current Challenges to Public Service Broadcasting in the Nordic Countries 51 Hallvard Moe & Ole J. Mjøs The Arm’s Length Principle in Nordic Public Broadcasting Regulation 75 Lars-Åke Engblom Public Service Financing in the Nordic Countries 93 Henrik Hartmann Nordvision: the Power of Sharing. The TV and Media Partnership 107 Gunn Sara Enli & Elisabeth Staksrud PSB Serving Children. Past, Present and Future 117 Ingegerd Rydin Discourses on Cultural Diversity in Public Service Media in the Nordic Region. A Focus on Ethnic Minorities 131 Henrik Selin Nordic Public Service Broadcasting and European Union Regulation 161 The Authors 175 Foreword The media are among the most powerful societal forces of our time. Whether we study the political, economic, social or cultural sphere, we cannot dis- regard their relation to the media. Questions concerning the contemporary media landscape in general, and the public service media in particular, are indisputably complex. Media market actors, politicians and researchers are all looking for the answers. This is largely a matter of the struggle between various driving forces, such as market demands, political will and technologi- cal advances. This struggle is taking place on several arenas – the national, European, international – in our age of globalization. The Nordic countries have a tradition of strong support for their public service media and have also developed public service models that are char- acterized by their relatively small size and small populations. Moreover, the companies have many years’ experience of collaboration within the region – particularly with regard to coproduction of programs. On the contemporary international arena, within organizations such as the UN and UNESCO, there exists a fundamental conviction that public service media – which are neither commercial nor state owned and which are free from political influence – foster well-informed and enlightened citizens and therefore constitute a cornerstone of democratic development. When models of public service media are discussed, the British BBC often comes to the fore, but there are few countries today that can look to the BBC as a realistic model for development of their own public service media. Instead, well-tested models from “small” countries are sought. This is what makes Nordic Public service media interesting from a global perspective. Given this interest, Nordicom has carried out extensive work in the area of public service media organization, content and audiences in the Nordic coun- tries. The results of these efforts include recent research findings and statisti- cal overviews – all within the frame of what we have chosen to call A Nordic Public Service Media Map. Our aim is to elucidate a framework for public service media in the Nordic region, showing how the concept of public service media is operationalized in terms of the growth of democracy, the public space, media pluralism, cultural diversity, gender and social tolerance. The vitality of any democracy depends on well-informed and knowledgeable citizens who take a critical approach. This is, thus, largely a matter of being a competent citizen. It is the users – the citizenry – that is in focus. 7 It is our hope that ‘A Nordic Public Service Media Map’ will make a mean- ingful contribution to the work being done on the role the media play in democratic societies around the world. At the same time, Nordic media, too, are involved in a learning process, evolving – as always – in response to the changing environments in which they operate. Nordicom is part of the Nordic knowledge society – the knowing North. It makes the Nordic region visible, especially on the European and global arena. The work done at Nordicom aims to stimulate knowledge development con- cerning the role and conditions of the media in the era of digitalization and globalization, and to do so from the various Nordic perspectives. The Nordi- com project a ‘Nordic Public Service Media Map’ is being conducted within the framework of the globalization strategy of the Nordic ministers of culture – a strategy called “The Creative North.” The present publication is the second one to emerge from this Nordicom project entitled Public Service Media from a Nordic Horizon. Politics, Markets, Programming and Users. The book contains a number of qualified analyses of public service media carried out by Nordic media scholars. We wish to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who has contributed to this book, and I hope it in turn will contribute useful knowledge about public service media the world over. Göteborg in February 2013 Ulla Carlsson Director Nordicom 8 WHAT’S SO SPECIAL ABOUT NORDIC PUBLIC SERVICE MEDIA? What’s so Special about Nordic Public Service Media? An Introduction Christian S. Nissen “Why are you Nordic Public Service Broadcasters so special?” an Eastern Euro- pean colleague asked me sometime in the 1990s after the fall of the communist regimes. Having experienced tight government control in his own country, he could not hide his envy of the Nordic public broadcasters, highlighting liberal regulation and editorial autonomy vis-á-vis the government in spite of the one hundred per cent public funding. The strong market position of the Nordic public broadcasters and their close cooperation were also a source of mystery. “While we Eastern Europeans are desperately trying to get as far away from each other as possible, you Nordic broadcasters are working together and are also taking common stances within the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) as The Nordic famiglia, he added with a smile and a slight Sicilian accent, asking for some kind of an explanation of this paradoxical Nordic utopia. Years later, I was met with parallel, although more worrying concerns when addressing an American audience and describing the media systems in the Nordic countries – the dual model with “state-owned” companies dominat- ing a competitive media market. Given the marginal roles of the US “National Public Radio” (NPR) and PBS television, many of my hosts saw the Nordic model in some respects as a scary legacy of the Cold War and the former Soviet empire. “To me it sounds like you are talking about the North Korean media. Have you never heard of “the open society”, or are the principles of the First Amendment completely unknown where you come from?” said one member of the audience when summing up her concerns. Both these reactions are quite understandable. The two observers certainly identified some of the characteristic features and yet overlooked other key ingredients of the “Nordic media model”: the unique form of public service broadcasting found in Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark, which account for little more than 3% of the European population.