~ ~ Manx Radio Report to Tynwald
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~ Manx Radio Report to Tynwald ~ October 2019 GD 2019/0045 THIS REPORT In late 2018, Tynwald called upon the Board of Radio Manx Limited to “develop a sustainable operational and funding plan for Radio Manx Limited to be submitted to its Shareholder for presentation to Tynwald by October 2019”. This report will give some detail regarding the position of public service media going into 2020 and well beyond, along with how Manx Radio will keep itself at the forefront of the changes in the way that the community engages with content both on-air and online. This includes new radio and digital content, greater and more open discussions and interaction with the Manx community and the seizing of new opportunities to enable that community to use Manx Radio’s experience and facilities to generate their own content, with appropriate training and support on offer. The management of Manx Radio accept that it has possibly been slow to react to the changing nature of public service media. Across the entire organisation there is a desire and genuine passion to change and be more reflective of the broader community we serve as the source of trustworthy news, information and debate. Manx Radio will be the service that reflects a nation’s culture back to itself. PRE-AMBLE PUBLIC SERVICE MEDIA – At a Crossroads Globally In a time of growing polarisation of public opinion, entrenching of personal positions, social media confirmation bias, digital ‘noise’ and a general mistrust of the official ‘line’, it is clear that there is still a vital place for a truly independent, accountable and trustworthy source of news and information. In fact, it could be argued that this is more important now than it has been for many years. Fake news being amplified, without check on social media, means that it has become increasingly difficult for people to discover what is really going on in their own community and around the world. A strong and trusted public service station such as Manx Radio offers a balanced, open and honest opportunity to hear and engage with the story from every perspective. Informing and helping to shape public debate and offering real engagement with the issues of the day by all parties. We are living in a time when anybody can open a social media account and use it to state, as fact, any opinion or view about any element of society they so choose. Whilst this is, undeniably, free speech, if opinions, unsubstantiated by fact or truth, go unchallenged, then they often start to become accepted as fact by the wider community. This begins to have a ‘chilling effect’ on the truth and ultimately democracy itself. There also seems to be a number of social media users who enjoy lobbing in a social media hand grenade whether the ‘facts’ can be proven or not, before stepping back to admire their online handiwork. A mature administration like that on the Isle of Man, deserves no less than a fully independent and properly funded public service media provider and Manx Radio continues to provide that service across a multitude of platforms. As our audience has engaged with new platforms, Manx Radio has always sought to move with them. Our online survey of Manx Parliamentarians (completed by around half of all MHKs and MLCs), showed that 90% said they enjoyed Manx Radio’s coverage of news and our in-depth current affairs coverage. In our Islandwide online public survey, news coverage on Manx Radio was enjoyed by 73% of the community. There is much talk about the popularity of services such as Amazon Prime, YouTube and Netflix and whether, as a result of their success, there is still a need for public service broadcasting. We would strongly argue that the popularity of video on demand services does not make the concept of public service broadcasting redundant. In fact, the growth in demand for such entertainment services makes the need for strong and appropriately funded public media more urgent than ever. This urgency is further increased by the rapid and growing erosion of independent media internationally, exacerbated by growing populism worldwide. Manx citizens are increasingly exposed to global media content that is neither independent nor impartial. Manx Radio offers a truly local service to the Nation at a time when local services elsewhere are being regionalised or closed down altogether. 2 AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT To be a properly functioning PSB, Manx Radio needs to offer top quality content to the audience where and when it best suits them. We have engaged with the community through our online survey and with members of Tynwald to really drill down into what is expected from Manx Radio as the public service broadcaster going forward. What does the community really want from us? How can we best deliver that in a sustainable way? Are there things we are doing which are no longer fit for purpose? Are there parts of the community we are under serving? The management team at Manx Radio has spent the past few months working on a revamp of our output across the board. A new programme schedule will go live in mid-October (allowing sufficient time for the business team to engage fully with existing and potential advertisers). This new schedule will broaden the appeal of Manx Radio and deliver output in a way more fitting with audience expectations in 2019 and beyond. The management team is very aware that there are parts of our audience that could be better served by Manx Radio both through traditional broadcasting and also by podcasts and other digital methods. We particularly want to attract the under-45s back to Manx Radio for our public service and news content. This is being addressed by the above mentioned new programme schedule and by increasing the number of podcasts available. OUR NEW VISION Our ambition is to make Manx Radio a more engaged and representative public service media organisation which truly serves and reflects the nation it serves. ADVISORY MEETINGS We will introduce regular advisory meetings in locations all over the Island, with an open invitation to the community to join us to raise issues and concerns regarding the entire range of Manx Radio functions. These will be open forum meetings with various members of the Manx Radio management team on site to answer questions and hear feedback from the real owners of the station... the Manx public. We also propose to investigate the opportunity to establish a ‘Public Panel’ to report back to the management or trustees on a quarterly basis from these meetings. PODCASTS, TRAINING AND COMMUNITY ACCESS We believe that we could and should be doing more as the Nation’s PSB to offer training and access to our services for the Manx community. Our new vision for Manx Radio puts the audience and wider Island community at the very forefront of our service, where it belongs. 3 Part of this offering will centre on the increasingly popular podcast. Some of these podcasts will be made by external partners from within the community. This will offer free hosting and exposure to those making the podcasts whilst offering a wider breadth to Manx Radio’s Public Service commitment. Manx Radio production facilities at Broadcasting House, along with the expertise and experience of our staff of journalists and presenters will be available where needed. We are particularly keen to work with schools and colleges to offer ongoing training in this area and have already engaged with MHKs about how to move this forward in a way which works best for all parties. We are sure that this will be a great way to discover and foster fresh talent from across the Island whilst giving a greater voice to the community as a public service broadcaster should. Only an appropriately funded Public Service Broadcaster is in a position to offer this on a sustainable and ongoing fashion. Our staff is experienced and able to offer training and support and, through on-air and online, we are able to offer an easily accessible platform to engage the wider community with the content. One audience segment we are working with closely is the 13 – 24 year old group who are big users and creators of digital media. The recent climate change movement, plastic awareness campaigns and Junior Tynwald are all examples of ways in which we have endeavoured to give a voice to this age group on Manx Radio. During 2019 and with our training and engagement with schools and colleges, we know there is much more we can do to work alongside them and that is at the very centre of our quarter 4 2019 plan. We have engaged with the Education Department on these issues as well as engaging directly with the team behind Junior Tynwald. In the longer term, there could be a potential to partner with the Department of Education, Sport and Culture to develop accredited courses. Perhaps these could also be sponsored by interested parties who could offer apprenticeships. There are precedents for this in the UK with things like the Bauer Academy and BFBS’ ‘Forces Media Academy’. Following meetings with various Ministers, the programming team has taken onboard Tynwald’s desire to increase inter-generational dialogue. We are developing a new strand of content where young and old will be the presenter/interviewer, talking to each other about elements of their lives and thoughts. We believe, with the right treatment, it will make a fascinating ongoing series of radio, podcast and video blogs. Groups like Southern Befrienders will provide an ideal starting point for this project.