An EBU campaign to roll out a guiding set of media values is yielding early results, with Members building public service strategies around the EBU’s Declaration on the Core Values of Public Service Media.

Several Members are using the text to launch internal conversations about living their public service mission fully. Croatian Member HRT has even had the Declaration written into its next public service remit.

The Declaration, unanimously endorsed by the EBU membership at the summer General Assembly, is a pledge to strive for the highest levels of service for audiences.

It identifies six core values shared by public service media (PSM):

• Universality: to reach everyone, everywhere
• Independence: to be trusted programme makers
• Excellence: to act with integrity and professionalism
• Diversity: to take a pluralistic approach
• Accountability: to listen to audiences and engage in meaningful debate
• Innovation: to be a driving force for innovation and creativity

 Croatia
 
HRT has taken the decisive step of citing the EBU’s Declaration in its public service contract with the Croatian government, thereby inscribing the Values into its 2013 – 2018 remit.
 
Under Croatian media law, HRT is required to sign a contract every five years, detailing the goals and services the organization must deliver.
 
HRT Director of International Relations, Marija Nemčić, who sits on the EBU’s Executive Board, said the EBU Declaration had injected welcome impetus into HRT’s public service policy.
 
“From 2013 the EBU Declaration on Public Service Media Values will be part of the backbone of HRT’s established public service strategy,” she said.
 
Ms Nemčić added: “Previously, European broadcasters had to define their public service missions individually; we now have a text which provides pan-European consistency to ensure all public service media in the European area are striving towards similar objectives. This is a project that has met one of HRT’s needs, and one that will certainly help many other media organizations in Europe and beyond.”
 
Finland

YLE staff are holding monthly talks, each on a single Value, to explore ways to apply them in their daily work.

YLE Media Director Ismo Silvo said: “The focus of YLE's 2012 strategy is to refresh our public service values. We want to give clear, updated interpretations to the values on which we base our work and services.”

He added: “Since the Declaration’s adoption in Strasbourg in June, YLE Media has organized a monthly discussion on one value theme. This clearly demonstrates how values are the most fundamental fuel for public service and to the professionals who work in it."

Algeria

Public radio ENRS used the Declaration in September to launch a debate on public service values among 140 managers and staff and representatives from the BBC, Radio France, Tunisian Television and Spanish Radio.

ENRS Director Chadl Boufaroua said: “We distributed the paper to all participants and gave copies to all the local radio stations to drive forward the conversation on how to progress towards the best public service. Today every training session we hold includes a debate around the Declaration.”

Austria

ORF is linking the EBU’s Declaration to its own values strategy in order to strengthen its annual Public Values Report.

Head of ORF’s Public Value Competence unit, Dr Klaus Unterberger said: “To promote EBU's six core values we are in the process of integrating our system into a European horizon, so we will have a European Value Dimension in our next report.”

Boris Bergant, former EBU Vice President said : “I am convinced that the adoption of the Declaration will be among the most enduring of EBU achievements of the last decade. In particular Members struggling with political and economic pressure have long called for a document defending and sustaining PSM independence, for the definition of norms uniting our membership and differentiating us from others on the market.

During my work in Moldova and Montenegro, and through contact with colleagues in Croatia, Serbia and Kosovo, I have learned how important and useful this document is to broadcasters in meeting daily challenges.”

Cyprus

The board of the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) has endorsed the EBU’s Core Values of Public Service Media and begun building them into the corporation’s working practices and culture.

In doing so, CyBC joins numerous other EBU Members that are using the Values to bolster their public service credentials and highlight their invaluable contribution to democratic society.

Following the CyBC board’s adoption of the principles, Director General Themis Themistocleous informed the Cypriot government, parliament, political parties, social actors and institutions, as well as the Cyprus Radio-Television Authority.  

And Mr Themistocleous, who is a member of the EBU Executive Board, informed the CyBC staff of the details of the core values, so they could become common practice in the execution of their duties.

CyBC Director of Internal Audit, Onisiforos Onisiforou, said the decision to ratify the PSM Values had been an easy one to make.

He said: “We strongly believe that these Values do create value, for our Corporation and for all our stakeholders. These Values unite us as European citizens and communicate, in a contemporary manner, to the outside world, our distinctive public service media ambitions and strong commitment to the highest professional and ethical governance standards.”