RIPE@Dialogues on Universalism

This three-part webinar discusses and debates the case for the need to revitalize the universalism mission by reimagining its conceptual and practical dimensions:

How do we understand the heritage concept of universalism as a mission for the public service orientation in media provision, and what remains relevant in that heritage concept for Public Service Media today?
What has become dysfunctional and is no longer appropriate either as a concept or pursuit in universalism as a mission, and why?
What emerging trends, developments, and dynamics offer promise for a renewed set of practices that pursue universalism in ways that are highly appropriate for the public service mission today?

The webinar series brings together authors of the new RIPE@2019 reader of the same theme: Philip Savage, Mercedes Medina, and Gregory Ferrell Lowe (eds. 2020). RIPE@2019: Universalism in Public Service Media. Gothenburg: NORDICOM. Download your open-access pdf copies of the articles, or order the book, here.

Each webinar begins with short introductions to the theme and features critical dialogue with contributing authors, followed by a Q&A period for open discussion. The webinar is open for scholars, students, media professionals, policy-makers, advocates, or anyone interested in Public Service Media.

Session 1: Fundamentals
Wednesday 9 Sept 2020, 14-15:30 UTC

What are the foundations of universalism and how do they translate to today’s contexts?

• Barbara Thomaß, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany: Universalism in History, Modern Statehood and Public Service Media

• Peter Goodwin, University of Westminster, UK: Universal – But Not Necessarily Useful

• Dialogue Moderator: Philip Savage, McMaster University, Canada

• Discussant: Gregory F. Lowe, Northwestern University in Qatar

Session 2: Practices
Wednesday 16 Sept 2020, 14-15:30 UTC

How have Public Service Media organizations resolved the challenge of universalism?

• Karen Donders, Vrije University, Belgium and/or Hilde Van den Bulck, Drexel University, USA: Universality of Public Service Media and Preschool Audiences: The Choice Against a Dedicated Television Channel in Flanders

• Julie Munter Lassen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark: Multi-Channel Strategy, Universalism and the Challenge of Audience Fragmentation

• Dialogue Moderator: Gregory F. Lowe

• Discussant: Philip Savage

Session 3: (Near) Futures
Wednesday 23 Sept 2020, 13-14:30 UTC

How are developments such as datafication shaping universalism? Is “personalized enlightenment” possible?

• Jannick Kirk Sørensen, Aalborg University, Denmark: Personalized Universalism in the Age of Algorithms

• Lizzie Jackson, London South Bank University, UK, President, the International Association of Public Media Researchers: Datafication, Fluidity, and Organisational Change: Towards Public Service Media 3.0

• Dialogue Moderator: Philip Savage

• Discussant: Gregory F. Lowe

Please sign up for any or all of the webinars here.

You will be emailed confirmation immediately and a reminder with the link to join the webinar on the day of the event.

RIPE@Dialogues is hosted by the new International Association of Public Media Researchers (IAPMR) and co-curated by Nordicom at the University of Gothenburg. The seminars are arranged with the support of the CORDI Research Consortium.

The webinars will be recorded and made available to all as audio and video via IAPMR website and social media channels.

EBU Special News Report:
Can you contribute?

Atte Jääskeläinen and Maike Olij are preparing an EBU Special News Report 2020 on lasting impacts of Covid-19 crisis to public service journalism, to be published November-December this year.

What happened? What did this crisis fundamentally change, if anything? What were the key learnings?

If you are working on a research on a topic relevant to this, share your insights! The authors would be more than happy to talk and perhaps interview you for the report.

If interested, please contact Atte Jääskeläinen at: atte.jaaskelainen@lut.fi

Thank you for sharing your research and resources with our Facebook community!

Note the recent reports by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) (open access; you only need to create an account):

Note also the recent news shared:

Alarming trends regarding press freedom in Hungary and elsewhere. Here is a recent statement by the Global Task Force for Public Media: Attacks on Public Media are An Attack on Democracy.

We are also now collecting your shared resources, and others, for easy access on a specific website.

The Public Media Alliance (PMA), in collaboration with the International Association of Public Media Researchers (IAPMR) and the Center for Media, Data and Society (CEU-CMDS) at the Central European University, collaborate on a site for (mostly open access) academic and applied research on public service media:

https://www.publicmediaalliance.org/resources/knowledge-hub/psm-research/

We want this site to serve everyone interested in PSM
– please share it widely!

International Association of Public Media Researchers (IAPMR)

You are receiving this newsletter because you are a member of the RIPE Network and/or its project, the Global PSM Experts Network.

The International Association of Public Media Researchers (IAPMR) will be an association for scholars and industry experts who support Public Media worldwide. It’s a continuation of the RIPE network and, just like RIPE, will feature an online community, a bi-annual conference jointly hosted by a university and their local public service media, and a biannual edited collection of the most world-leading scholarly work for the year of publication.

The activities include:

Bi-annual conferences
Related open-access Readers by Nordicom
Discussions and information exchanges in our social media communities on Facebook and Twitter

The International Association of Public Media Researchers is waiting to have its Incorporation ratified by the German Court. Our new website is being tested and will launch in September.

We will notify you the soonest of the next steps and will warmly invite you to become a member!