The question of what constitutes a good media partner for the future formed the morning focus of a discussion by Experts participating in the Vision2020 project group in Geneva (25/4).
  
Project leader Ruurd Bierman said external alliances formed need to be assessed in terms of their 'transformative value' to public service media (PSM).
   
"We cannot do everything ourselves," said Mr Bierman. "As broadcasters, we must think about the network we want to create for ourselves and ask, what are our strengths, what are our challenges? What are the transformative partnerships that can take PSM into a different dimension?"

Other partnership criteria highlighted by members of the Experts Group III on Governance, Funding, Role and Remit included the extent to which partners share the same values, and the broader issue of what shape Public Service Media values might take in the next ten years.

Gunilla Ohls, director of strategy at Finnish public broadcaster YLE, said the organization saw its future role as a compass for the media ecology.

"We are opening up and seeing how we can provide the infrastructure for media schools, for production companies, for creativity centres," Ms Ohls said. "As an institution we expect to look entirely different in the next 15 years. We belong to a creative sector. We need to change the mindset of what purpose PSM serves."
 
The Vision2020 project group will present their findings on the question: how do PSM remain indispensable to their audiences and stakeholders in 2020 to the EBU Winter General Assembly in December.
 

Members of the Governance, role, remit & funding Experts Group 3 :

Learn more about Vision2020: here

Learn more about the Trends Conference: here