Innovations in Public Service Media Policies

在一个社会、政治和经济两极分化的时代，公共服务媒体(PSM)在维护一个强大和多样化的公共领域方面的作用可以说比以往任何时候都更加重要；然而，PSM正在应对资源减少、受众碎片化、不信任和虚假信息等严峻挑战，因此对问责的要求也越来越高。这一研究网络的主要目标是为下一阶段的私营部门管理发展制定一项研究议程，以弥补在以解决方案为导向的关于私营部门管理政策创新的学术和应用研究方面的差距。最近对Facebook和谷歌等大型互联网公司的强烈反对，加上人们对社交媒体平台上的假新闻传播、网络“过滤泡沫”的制造以及“点击诱饵”新闻的兴起日益担忧，可以说，这为设想PSM的政策创新打开了一扇机会之窗。越来越多的人认识到，PSM机构(如果有足够的资金并得到有利的监管框架的支持)在维持高标准的新闻、支持本土形式的媒体和文化生产以及总体上应对由少数非常强大但不负责任的互联网巨头控制的利润驱动的数字生态系统日益明显的失败方面可以发挥根本作用。因此，该项目解决了将学术研究界与私营部门管理局的广泛利益攸关方聚集在一起，在当今重大数字挑战的背景下重新设想私营部门管理局的未来的迫切需要。通过促进研究合作和知识交流，并通过对说明私营部门管理政策和战略创新的案例研究的讨论，这一研究网络项目将制定跨学科研究议程并提出政策建议。这些目标将通过一系列四个专题研讨会实现，每个专题研讨会都涉及私营部门管理政策和战略的一个主要领域：1.私营部门管理筹资模式的创新；2.私营部门管理内容和服务的创新；3.私营部门管理内容的获取和可发现性创新；4.参与性做法的创新，以促进更大的私营部门管理问责。每个研讨会都将努力以解决方案为导向，提出政策建议，并将围绕若干私营部门管理政策的案例研究组织，由受邀演讲者介绍--既有来自不同学科背景的学者，也有来自行业、民间社会和监管机构的代表。通过案例研究突出的问题将导致更广泛的讨论，并最终能够解决与每个讲习班的总主题有关的一些“大”问题。一个由10名国际知名学者和包括BBC和Ofcom在内的主要PSM利益攸关方组织的高级代表组成的指导小组将指导和监督该项目。该小组将在项目开始时举行一整天的会议，确定每个讲习班的议程，挑选案例研究和特邀发言者，并在项目结束时举行半天会议，审查网络的产出并评价其成就。该项目旨在促进来自不同学科背景的学者之间建立联系，他们在了解如何支持强大的通信生态系统以及促进学术界和PSM主要利益攸关方组织之间的对话与合作方面有着共同的兴趣。多利益攸关方协作性研讨会本身就是产生影响的主要途径。其他传播和影响活动将包括一个项目网站，定期更新关于该项目的新闻和博客，四个研讨会报告，参与者的投稿，以及最后，由威斯敏斯特大学出版的政策简报报告，作为Camri政策简报系列的一部分，并分发给PSM利益攸关方和报道媒体政策问题的新闻机构。

In an era of social, political, and economic polarisation, the role of public service media (PSM) in safeguarding a robust and diverse public sphere is arguably more crucial than ever; yet PSM is battling severe challenges of dwindling resources, fragmenting audiences, distrust and disinformation, and, consequently, growing demands for accountability. The main goal of this research network is to develop a research agenda for the next phase of PSM development in order to address the gap in solution-oriented academic and applied research on innovations in PSM policies. The recent backlash against big Internet companies such as Facebook and Google, amidst mounting concerns over the spread of 'fake news' on social media platforms, the creation of online 'filter bubbles' and the rise of 'clickbait' journalism, has arguably opened up a window of opportunity for envisaging policy innovations in PSM. There is growing recognition of the fundamental role that PSM institutions (if adequately funded and underpinned by an enabling regulatory framework) can play in maintaining high standards of journalism, supporting indigenous forms of media and cultural production, and in general countering the increasingly glaring failures of a profit-driven digital eco-system controlled by a handful of very powerful and yet unaccountable Internet giants. This project thus addresses the urgent need for bringing together the academic research community with a wide range of PSM stakeholders to re-imagining the future of PSM in the context of today's major digital challenges. By facilitating research collaborations and knowledge exchange, and through discussion of case-studies illustrating innovation in PSM policy and strategy, this research networking project will develop an interdisciplinary research agenda and formulate policy recommendations.These objectives will be achieved through a series of four thematic workshops each addressing a major area of PSM policy and strategy: 1. Innovation in PSM funding models; 2. Innovation in PSM content and services; 3. Innovation in access and discoverability of PSM content; and 4. Innovation in participatory practices to promote greater PSM accountability.Each workshop will strive to be solution-oriented leading to policy recommendations, and will be organised around a number of case-studies of PSM policy to be presented by invited speakers - both academics from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds as well as representatives from the industry, civil society and regulators. The issues highlighted through the case-studies will lead to broader discussions and in the end enable to tackle some of the 'big' questions in relation to the general theme of each workshop. A Steering Group comprising 10 internationally recognised scholars and high-level representatives of key PSM stakeholder organisations, including the BBC and Ofcom, will guide and oversee the project. This group will meet for a full day at the inception of the project to set the agenda for each workshop and to select case-studies and invited speakers and for half-day at the end of the project to review the network's outputs and evaluate its achievements. The project is designed to facilitate networking among academics from different disciplinary backgrounds with a common interest in understanding how to support a robust communication ecosystem and to foster dialogue and collaborations between academia and key PSM stakeholder organisations. The collaborative, multi-stakeholder workshops themselves are a central pathway to impact. Other dissemination and impact activities will include a project website regularly updated with news and blogs about the project, four workshop reports with contributions by participants, and, finally, a policy briefing report published by the U. of Westminster Press as part of the CAMRI Policy Briefs series and distributed to PSM stakeholders and to news outlets covering media policy issues.