Public Service Media in Europe: A Comparative Approach

Public service media (PSM) have been the mainstay of Western European broadcasting for a number of decades. Yet despite a general political consensus in favour of PSM, recent technological, economic and political changes have led to a questioning of their value.

This new collection of essays explores the history of PSM in selected European countries, from their early establishment as the main media in many countries to charting their transformation and evolution in recent years. The contributions consider the political, economic and market-integration issues that impact PSM, while also highlighting the importance of the ideology that originally accompanied PSM in its initial years, to see how relevant they are in the contemporary world.

The book consists of two complementary parts:

Part I: Theoretical Aspects and Global Influences on Public Service Media in Europe

Part II: A Comparative Analysis of Public Service Media across Europe

With contributions from leading experts, the first part offers a thorough examination of the current concepts and conditions that influence PSM in Europe. The second offers a comparative study of PSM in several European countries including France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Sweden.

Offering the most comprehensive study of the field to date, Public Service Media in Europe will be useful for students and researchers in public media, political communication, international and comparative media.

Karen Arriaza Ibarra is Professor of Audiovisual Communication at Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain. She is author of several books on ICTs, media structure and European media. A permanent member in the editorial boards of six communication journals, she also participates as guest professor in several universities. Her research focuses on European public service media, media structure, political communication, and media economy.

Eva Nowak is Professor of Journalism at Jade University in Wilhelmshaven, Germany. Her research focuses on international media systems, media freedom and pluralism, communication policy and professionalization in the media. In 2013 she was a research fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University. She co-edited Press Freedom and Pluralism in Europe (2009).

Raymond Kuhn is Professor of Politics in the School of Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary University of London. He is a specialist in the fields of British and French political communication and media policy, and has published widely on French media policy and political communication. His most recent book is The Media in Contemporary France (2011).