Tim Suter, Chairman of the former Council of Europe ad hoc Advisory Group on Public Service Media Governance, explains the rationale behind the Recommendation adopted by the Committee of Ministers in February 2012. The Recommendation comes as a third in a sequence of interventions made by the Council of Europe on the independence, remit and funding of Public Service Media.

It is both more general, and more inclusive of the previous recommendations: in a sense, it pulls some of those threads together in attempting a broad vision of good governance. It is part of the overall debate on how to ensure that PSM remain strong, engaged, independent and accountable as they meet the challenges of new technology and changing audiences.