CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Contribution to society and public service media’s neoliberal dilemma
MANUEL PUPPIS I & CHRISTOPHER ALI II department of communication and media research, university of fribourg, switzerland II bellisario college of communications, penn state university, usa I
abstract
While many public service media (PSM) organisations remain in strong positions in their respective markets, digitalisation and convergence have led to new market constellations and changes in media use. These changes have led to fierce debates about the legitimacy, the remit, and the funding of PSM in the digital age. With its contribution to society concept, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is trying to address these challenges. Based on new institutionalism in organisation studies, we argue that the contribution to society concept is bound to fail if it only reinforces the neoliberal discourse that dominates media policy today. Instead, a more ambitious interpretation of the concept would offer PSM the opportunity to shift the policy debate away from a market-based discourse and towards one based on PSM’s core roles and responsibilities. k e y words:
contribution to society, public service media, new institutionalism, media policy, neoliberalism
Puppis, M., & Ali, C. (2023). Introduction: Contribution to society and public service m edia’s neoliberal dilemma. In M. Puppis, & C. Ali (Eds.), Public service media’s contribution to society: RIPE@2021 (pp. 9–28). Nordicom, University of Gothenburg. https://doi.org/10.48335/9789188855756-1 9