Legal and Public Affairs Assembly

Legal and public affairs experts from EBU Members met in Budapest on 9 and 10 October to take stock and move forward on several key policy issues affecting Public Service Media (PSM) in Europe.

EBU member delegates covered an extensive range of key policy topics, focusing in particular on EU issues, at a crucial time with a new European Commission expected to enter into office next month.  Clear messages emerged from the discussions on net neutrality, copyright, media convergence, data protection and international trade.

A special panel discussion covered the crucial issue of delivering a return on society and measuring public value, a constant challenge which drives PSM in today’s rapidly changing world.

ORF (Austria) Head of Public Value Klaus Unterberger opened an insightful panel discussion by highlighting the work undertaken by his organisation, which is well documented in the ORF Public 2013-2014 Public Value report.

He said: "Public Service Media must be distinctive. To do so, they need a comprehensive infrastructure, ready to deal with media convergence; an institutional identity converying their social value; and a national outlook, serving the media value chain and the domestic creative sector." In this light, he highlighted the challenge of making public service value visible and compehensible for the public.

EBU Vice-president Claudio Cappon, for his part, underlined the need for PSM to be constantly ready to change their mindsets and challenge themselves to gain the trust of citizens. He pointed to the usefulness of the EBU peer review mechanism, enabling Europe's PSM organisations to share best practices and learn from each other.

Director of the Voice of the Listener and Viewer Sophie Chalk highlighted PSM’s commitment to diverse programmes and genres. She said:“There is huge range of PSM and it’s just not just news and current affairs. It’s fiction, documentaries, arts, sport and many other genres.”

“I believe that Digitral Terrestrial Television will still be alive and well in another 30 years,” she added.  

The 8th EBU Legal and Public Affairs Assembly was kindly hosted courtesy of the Hungarian Media Group, entertaining delegates with Hungarian musicians and dance artists and providing an inspiring setting for the discussions in the beautiful city of Budapest.

Venue

Budapest

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