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ICA Preconference Showcases Current Global Public Media Research

At the International Communication Association meeting, I was honored to co-chair, with Minna Aslama of Fordham University and the University of Helsinki, a preconference on the future of public broadcasting. It brought together scholars from around the world to compare and contrast how scholarship can best address the problem of enabling public life with media.

Several research projects were showcased. Center director Pat Aufderheide reviewed the history of the Center’s six-year research work with the Ford Foundation initiative on the future of public media. Greg Lowe talked about the Re-Visionary Interpretations of the Public Enterprise (RIPE) initiative, a bi-annual meeting of public broadcasting scholars and executives.  Minna Aslama reviewed the recent SSRC project to match scholars with activists in targeted research. Arne Hintz described an ongoing McGill-based project, Mapping Global Media Policy.  Marius Dragomir previewed the ambitious, 60-country Mapping Digital Media project, accompanied by a report by Tom Glaisyer on the U.S. research for this initiative. Vibodh Parthasarathi presented related research on the evolution of public service media in India.

The scholars noted common problems. There is a global transition toward a digital, flat communications environment, while legacy public media maintains a still-critically important, top-down mass media platform.  Old business models, including state funding, are in crisis. Ideological frameworks and constituency support for policies supporting public media are weak.

They raised thorny issues. Is commercial activity incompatible with public media? Speaker Graham Murdock staunchly argued for the need to create a “networked commons,” a public and noncommercial space in tomorrow’s media. Others challenged the idea that commercial activity cripples public media. Vibodh Parthasarathi noted that in India there is a strong belief that public media must be noncommercial.

Can public media exist without a centralized structure? Preconference participant Jay Blumler believed that credibility, trust and indeed identity would be at risk under radical decentralization.  At the same time, others argued that centralized services are silos. Still others argued that public media needs to find a way to fight on the same playing field as commercial mass media, to "fight fire with fire."

What is the appropriate and effective interface between scholars, policymakers and users? Scholars described a wide range of approaches, including direct consultation with policymakers, influence through academic research, and direct work on media projects.

The lively discussion helped to establish an informal network at the preconference comprised of scholars who can not only benefit from each others’ research but find potential collaborators for the future.  As Dragomir noted in a post to the recently launched site, mediapolicy.org, "There are many events and conferences that come and go. And in some of those many of us fall asleep. But this time, the time flew and I have the feeling this group will follow up on plans and ideas nailed down during the afternoon of 26 May: publication and aggregation of research, combined advocacy efforts and collaboration are the key words."

Thanks to Christopher Ali of the Annenberg School for Communication for serving as our preconference rapporteur.