Media Industries Conference – London 2024

The PSM-AP team was pleased to host a panel presentation at the Media Industries Conference which took place at Kings College London between April 16^th – 19^th, 2024. Chaired by our project leader, Catherine Johnson, our panel presented initial findings into the ways in which platformisation is transforming the values underpinning PSM organisations, regulation/policy and services/texts. Titled ‘Public Service Media in the Age of Platforms: policy, strategy and interfaces’, our panel contained four papers by team members Catalina Iordache, Hanne Bruun (co-presented with Julie Mejse Münter Lassen), Dan Martin (co-presented with Catherine Johnson), and Massimo Scaglioni (co-presented with Mattia Galli).

Catherine Johnson is standing infront of a projection presenting on the PSM-AP project. The screen displays a slide with an overview of the project. There are two other panelists infront of the screen and the backs of audience members heads. — Catherine Johnson presenting an overview of the PSM-AP project at Kings College London

The first paper by Catalina Iordache, titled ‘Platformisation meets universality: A comparative policy perspective on the PSM shift to digital portals in seven media markets’, focused on the increase of PSM organisations shifting to ‘digital-first’ and ‘digital-only’ policies. Through comparative policy research into seven media markets, this article asks: 1) what are the key challenges and priorities PSM organisations and regulators identify in their respective markets; and 2) what are their strategies to reach universality through the VOD portal?

Our second presenters, Hanne Bruun and Julie Mejse Münter Lassen, delivered a paper titled ‘Publishing PSM on Demand: A comparative study of PSM companies’ editorial practices on their VoD-services in the age of Platformisation’. The presentation outlined preliminary results from our comparative study of the editorial practices from six PSM organisations, comparing their VoD services with their linear scheduling.

The third paper, titled ‘A Future for Universal PSM? Mapping the Changing Conceptualisation of Universality in UK Media Policy’, was co-presented by Dan Martin and Catherine Johnson. This paper examined how processes of platformisation have impacted the ways in which UK policymakers discuss the role and relevance of universality in the transition from Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) to Public Service Media (PSM).

Our final paper was co-presented by Massimo Scaglioni and Mattia Galli, and is titled ‘The shape of a PSM company to come. Rai’s digital strategy between national policies and industrial objectives’. This paper focused on how the legal framework that defines the role and objectives of Italian Public Service company Rai enables, encourages or limits the implementation of a full-scale digital strategy and what industry practices have actually been implemented by Rai.

A group of 10 people from the PSM-AP team standing. They all are smiling and have purple conference badges hanging from their necks. They are in a small conference room infront of a projection, with some faces having lines projected on them. — PSM-AP team members following the panel. From left to right: Mattia Galli, Massimo Scaglioni, Serra Tinic, Michal Głowacki, Tim Raats, Hanne Bruun, Catherine Johnson, Catalina Iordache, Julie Mejse Münter Lassen, and Dan Martin.

In addition to the panel discussion, some of our project members were also involved in a roundtable discussion at the conference, titled ‘Doing Comparative Media Industries Studies Research: Challenges and Opportunities’. For this discussion, team members Catherine Johnson, Serra Tinic, and Michal Głowacki were joined by Cathrin Bengesser (Aarhus University) and Jeanette Steemers (King’s College London). The session was chaired by Tim Raats.