LAB 11 - Can democracy survive public service media?

Lab 11 final report

initiative 1

BBC and Brexit

“During the UK’s EU referendum, the country was deeply split and the BBC’s coverage of the campaign heavily criticised by all parties. The BBC impartiality guidelines state the broadcaster must be “inclusive, considering the broad perspective and ensuring the existence of a range of views is appropriately reflected”. What can be learned from the BBC’s coverage of the Brexit campaign about the role of PSM in a polarised society?”

Presenter(s)

Richard SAMBROOK

Professor of Journalism at Cardiff University, former Director of news at BBC

United Kingdom

Richard Sambrook is Professor of Journalism at Cardiff University in the UK, and an Associate of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University. For 30 years he worked for BBC News as a producer, editor and manager, culminating in ten years on the board of management as Director of News and the World Service. His research interests are in international news, the future of TV news and the place of objectivity in digital media.

initiative 2

The Polish example

Soon after the elections 2015, the Law and Justice Party (PiS) as a parliamentary majority passed a new Broadcasting Law December 2015 giving the government, through the Minister of Treasury, control of the public broadcast media. The heads of the Polish Radio and Television Board resigned, and the media community was split as it had not been before. Before the reform the process of the elections of the public media executives was organised or supervised by the National Broadcasting Council as a constitutional and independent regulatory body. It required conducting open and transparent competitions. When on 22 June 2016, the Act on the National Media Council was passed this competence has been transferred to the new body. All of these changes are raising concerns about the loss of independence of the regulatory body and public media.

Presenter(s)

Prof. Stanislaw JEDRZEJEWSKI

Kozminski University

Poland

Former member and vice-chairman of European Broadcasters Union Radio Committee, Geneva (1995-2007). He has been a member of the board of the radio public broadcaster Polish Radio (1994-98 ) and Polish Radio 1 Controller (2003 – 2005), member of National Broadcasting Council (2005), the Chairman of Supervisory Board of Polish Radio (2011-2014). Author of numerous studies, articles and reports on radio and new media. Recently, he has published the book Public r@dio in Europe: content-funding- technology-audience Warsaw 2015.

Discussants

Discussants are invited to take part in the Labs in order to share their experience with the presented democratic initiatives and try to bring broader perspectives to the following discussions.

Jean-Paul PHILIPPOT

President of the European Broadcasting Union, administrator-general of the Radio Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française (RTBF)

A graduate of the Solvay Business School (Université libre de Bruxelles), Jean-Paul Philippot is the General Administrator of the Radio Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française (RTBF.be). He entered the audiovisual world in 2002, after holding the position of Managing Director of Brussels Public Hospitals (IRIS). Jean-Paul Philippot initiated three strategic reorganisation plans at RTBF (in 2002, 2007 and 2012), and is now implementing a multiannual strategic plan (called Vision 2022) aimed at adapting the company to digitalization and new consumption patterns. He has served as President of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) since 2009.

Uduak AMIMO

Journalist, TV host of "Cheche", Citizen TV

Kenya

Uduak Amimo is a broadcast journalist, journalism trainer and communication consultant. She is currently the host of Cheche, a weekly, current affairs talk show that airs on Kenya’s leading television station, Citizen TV. She is also the founder of Ramani Life Group, a charity that offers career guidance to students in low-income secondary schools. Uduak’s career in journalism started in 1997 and includes roles across radio and television with Reuters Television, the Voice of America and the BBC World Service. She has worked in Kenya, the US, the UK, Ghana, Ethiopia and Nigeria. She was one of the moderators of Kenya’s first, live, televised presidential debates.

José CEPEDA GARCÍA DE LEÓN

Member of Parliament and Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

Spain

José Cepeda is a Spanish politician, senator of the kingdom of Spain, is a journalist and computer scientist with extensive experience in the world of corporate communication and new technologies, collaborator of different research projects. He has been a professor in different university institutions in the United States, Ibero-American and Spain. He is a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), a member of the Party of European Socialists. He was elected Senator in representation of the Community of Madrid since 2015. He is a spokesman for the Ibero-American Affairs Committee and Deputy Speaker in the Parliamentary Control Committee of the Spanish Radio Television Corporation (RTVE). In March 2016 he was elected by the Spanish Cortes as representative of Spain in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe where he is part of the European Socialist Group represented in the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy and the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media.

moderator

Matjaz GRUDEN

Director of Policy Planning, Council of Europe

rapporteur

Garnik GONDJAN

Stras’Diplomacy

Nicolas KASPAR

Open Diplomacy

France

Nicolas Kaspar is in fifth year in the IEP of Strasbourg, studying the field of History of International Relations. Writing this year a dissertation about the role of sport in the rebuilding of a national identity in the Balkans, Nicolas will be a rapporteur of this Laboratory for the Open Diplomacy Institute.