Public Service Media (PSM) has a duty to use its editorial skills to curate quality content for audiences seeking a trusted pathway through the glut of material online.

The comments were made by Erik van Heeswijk, Chief Editor Digital of the Dutch broadcasting organization VPRO, during the second of three Experts Group meetings organized by the Vision2020 project
group in Geneva.

Mr van Heeswijk said that in a fragmented media world, PSM needs a targeted strategy to "produce less," but, "to curate more – saving money to create outstanding content for niche markets."   

"As a trusted source, we should hire people to curate, to pull out the best documentaries, the best content, to help people decide what to consume," he said. "The alternative is that we lose our audiences to an application on an Iphone, that 'Web to TV' becomes the new paradigm."      

Discussion by the Content & Audience Group is being chaired by the founding director of POLIS, the think-tank for research and debate into international journalism and society at the London School of Economics, Charlie Beckett. The afternoon will bring into focus audience behaviour; how to reach youth audiences; sport trends; public journalism and differences in the future evolution of radio and television. 

Two further Experts Groups will meet in Geneva tomorrow and Thursday to examine Distribution, Technologies & Audience and Governance, Funding, Role & Remit, respectively.

The meetings are the second in a series of three organized by the Vision2020 project, which was initiated by the EBU Executive Board in July 2012 to help Members address the question: how do PSM remain indispensable to their audiences and stakeholders in 2020. Members are examining how PSM can adapt to changes in media consumption, the media value chain, the media market, demographics and government policies, in a way that best serves their audiences.
 
The progress of the project will be the focus of the Trends Conference in Brussels on May 31. The conference, aimed at EBU Members, executives, strategists and editors-in-chief, will also enable participants to exchange ideas and provide feedback on the project as a whole, before the results are presented to the Winter General Assembly.

Members of the Content & Audience Experts Group 1: