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 News From You
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Week ending February 18, 2012
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) applauds a Council of Europe (CoE) Declaration on Public Service Media (PSM) Governance, which prioritizes the EBU key values of independence, accountability and transparency.
EBU Director General Ingrid Deltenre commended today's adoption by the Committee of Ministers of the Declaration, which she said provides an essential reference for good governance, enabling PSM to improve their offer in the modern technological environment.
The text emphasizes the pivotal role of independent, properly funded PSM in fostering democratic citizenship within wider Europe. It highlights the opportunities new technologies bring, while noting the financial, political and societal challenges media organizations face. In addition, it encourages PSM to exchange ideas of best practice and content to create a "vibrant European public sphere".
Notably, a concomitant list of recommendations puts the onus on both PSM and governments to implement frameworks safeguarding broadcasters' editorial and operational autonomy. As such, it invites PSM to assess their internal governance arrangements by drawing on appended guiding principles.
Ms Deltenre echoed the Declaration's recognition that the transition from government-controlled state broadcaster to true public service entity is not yet complete in some European countries.
She said: "PSM operate in different cultural contexts and traditions with varying levels of resources. While PSM are well established in some countries, in others they are at different stages of development. Well functioning PSM can be decisive in the protection of human rights, particularly freedom of expression. The EBU is steadfastly committed to supporting its Members in fostering an informed society where all voices are heard, and we will continue to pursue action to strengthen PSM management structures and cultivate quality journalism."
Der Verband Privater Rundfunk und Telemedien e. V. (VPRT) sieht durch den derzeitigen Verhandlungsverlauf der Weltfunkkonferenz (World Radiocommunication Conference, WRC-12) in Genf den gestern durch das Europäische Parlament bestätigten und im Rahmen des europäischen Programms zur Funkfrequenzpolitik (Radio Spectrum Policy Programme, RSPP) gefundenen Kompromiss in Gefahr.
Während die europäischen Institutionen mit dem RSPP um einen ausgewogenen Kompromiss bemüht waren, der neben den Interessen des Mobilfunks auch den Rundfunk und seine Entwicklungsperspektive zu berücksichtigen versucht, zeichnet sich bei der WRC-12 bereits eine Entscheidung hinsichtlich der vom Rundfunk genutzten Frequenzen des 700-MHz-Bandes und somit hinsichtlich einer Digitalen Dividende II ab.
Damit wird aus Sicht des VPRT nicht nur die im RSPP im Sinne einer effektiven Frequenznutzung verankerte Frequenzbestandsaufnahme vorweggenommen, die einer Entscheidung über die Neuverteilung oder geteilte Nutzung von Frequenzen vorgelagert werden sollte. Auch wird mit einer solchen Entscheidung der Einführung von DVB-T2 die Planungssicherheit entzogen und der störungsfreie Empfang von DVB-T weiter bedroht.
„Über die Entwicklungen auf der WRC-12 sind wir äußert irritiert und sehen die Terrestrik als Übertragungsweg für Fernsehinhalte politisch erneut in Frage gestellt. Die Möglichkeiten der Beibehaltung und der Weiterentwicklung des terrestrischen Rundfunks in Europa und in Deutschland werden durch diese Entscheidung schon heute massiv eingeschränkt. Wir plädieren daher an die deutsche und europäische Politik, endlich die politische Planungssicherheit für den privaten Rundfunk zu schaffen, die für den langfristigen Erhalt von DVB-T zwingend notwendig ist“, unterstreicht Vizepräsident Dr. Tobias Schmid.
Rapid change is creating profound economic, legal and regulatory challenges for investigative journalism and how it might be conducted in the future. It also continues to suffer as a result of inconsistencies and lack of clarity in the law. A report published by the House of Lords Communications Committee today therefore makes recommendations which will provide guidance on the complex and sensitive issues surrounding the public interest and investigative journalism.
In its report, The future of investigative journalism, the Committee look at the media landscape in which investigative journalism operates, concluding that news organisations, regulators and relevant legal bodies need to make important changes if the future of investigative journalism is to be assured. In summary, the Committee recommends:
Audit trail – the introduction by media organisations of a two stage internal process to track and record decisions: firstly, to commence an investigation and second, to publish a story. This would provide two internal check points for testing whether a story falls within the public interest, and a record which should be used by regulators when evaluating individual cases.
Legal clarity & consistency – the publication of guidelines by the prosecuting authorities to help media outlets decide whether conducting an investigation or publishing a story could lead to prosecution.
Other recommendations that the Committee make in their report include:
Funding models need to be flexible and creative. For example, the Committee suggest that fines for breaches of regulatory codes should be allocated to a special fund reserved for the financing of investigative journalism or training.
All PR practitioners should abide by a clear code of behaviour, potentially overseen by a third party. This should apply equally to those working in this area for both the Government and political parties, ensuring that they can set an example for communications which are universally transparent and straightforward.
Zero-rated VAT for newspapers should be maintained in order to provide a continued form of support for the industry. However, the Committee recommend that the Government should consider further the legality of any proposals to limit the receipt of zero-rated VAT only to those newspapers which are members of the PCC (or any successor body).
Lord Inglewood, Committee Chairman, talks more about the report in a YouTube video here, and commenting on the report said:
“Investigative journalism plays a vital role in the UK’s system of democratic governance and accountability. However, its role and practices have received unprecedented scrutiny over recent months and it faces a number of profound economic, legal and regulatory challenges. News organisations, regulators and relevant legal bodies therefore need to make sure, as changes and new measures are introduced, that these are not rooted in the past but seek to enable responsible investigative journalism to flourish in the future.
“We are encouraged, nonetheless, by the number of new funding and organisational initiatives that have started to materialise as a means of promoting investigative journalism, and believe it is vital that measures are taken to support and foster further initiatives which are independent of public subsidies or state support.
“The purpose of our work has been, against the background of perhaps the greatest political media scandal of a generation, to look at the future of investigative journalism in the light of the problems currently facing the media and the technological revolution unfolding in this area. We hope that what we have done will enable those going into the issues in greater detail than us to come forward with proposals which will be relevant to and protect the responsible investigative journalism of tomorrow.”
European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Members warned today that the RSPP's balanced approach in spectrum management might be put at risk at this year's World Radio Conference (WRC-12) which is currently taking place in Geneva. The Radio Spectrum Policy Programme (RSPP), that will be approved this week by the European Parliament, is Europe's five-year policy programme to strategically plan and harmonise the use of spectrum in order to ensure the functioning of the internal market.
The RSPP proposals strike a fair balance: mobile operators are able to increase wireless data traffic, while Member States, in cooperation with the EU Commission, must ensure sufficient spectrum availability for broadcasting services. EBU Members will therefore be able to continue to deliver and develop new innovative services and applications for EU audiences on terrestrial platforms.
"With the RSPP, the EU has adopted a balanced approach in spectrum management. This approach should not be put at risk during ongoing parallel discussions at this year's World Radio Conference in Geneva," said Jean-Paul Philippot President of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
Although not in the original WRC-12 agenda, but after pressure from the African and Arab regional administrations, delegations at the World Radio Conference are currently looking to allocate the 700MHz band (694-790 MHz) to mobile services. Such a decision would cause considerable problems in Europe, where the 700MHz band is heavily used for terrestrial broadcasting with, in many cases, long-term licensing arrangements in place. It would cause considerable disruption, additional expense and loss of services for millions of viewers across Europe. Broadcasters also consider this band as being crucial to the future development of innovative new terrestrial services.
The RSPP instead refers to existing spectrum legislation, the EU Telecom Package, and urges future spectrum policies to be in line with its core message: spectrum is a scarce public good which must be managed with ‘special attention’, striking a balance between economic, cultural and social values in the public interest.
The EBU also supports the idea of a European Spectrum Inventory as proposed by the RSPP. The inventory should identify spectrum bands where efficient use of spectrum could be improved, re-allocated and/or shared. The inventory would also look at possible future spectrum needs of all services. Any mobile allocation in the 700 MHz band may preclude the outcome of the spectrum inventory.
Efficient use of spectrum is very important for EBU Members, and should be required for all spectrum users. However, it is a complex process. That is why clearly defined and transparent assessment criteria and methodologies are needed for a successful spectrum inventory and review.
The Association of European Radios (AER), representing more than 4500 commercially funded radios from all across Europe, celebrates today the first World Radio Day. UNESCO has indeed declared February 13th World Radio Day.
At this occasion, AER would like to recall that radio is the most intimate medium: it is ubiquitous, mobile, simple-to-use and free-to-air. All these features enable our audience to cultivate a personal relationship with our programmes, our DJs, our hosts, and our brands. Commercially funded radios indeed constitute a unique network of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), contributing to cultural diversity, media pluralism, disaster relief, and social inclusion.
Maintaining a pluralistic offer based on free access for listeners offered by dedicated radio companies selected thanks to objective, transparent, non-discriminatory and proportionate criteria is therefore critical for a healthy development of radio across Europe. These messages were delivered by AER to media regulators in France (CSA) and Hungary (NMHH) recently.
Alfonso Ruiz de Assín, AER President, hence outlined in a letter to NMHH on February 7th that: ”Measures taken by Member States regarding end-users access to, or use of, services and applications through electronic communications networks shall respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons, as guaranteed by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and general principles of Community law“.
In a letter sent on February 10th to the CSA, Mr. Ruiz de Assín underlined that “in a time when strategies are being tested for digital radio’s development in different countries across Europe, it is worrying to see that France is taking in this field a onetrack road, which might end up being a dead end”.
Radio must remain ubiquitous, mobile, simple-to-use, free-to-air / free-to-access and free to express pluralistic opinions.
World Radio Day is being marked today for the first time in a worldwide recognition that the future of communications is increasingly wireless.
World Radio Day has been proclaimed by UNESCO, following a request from the Academia Española de la Radio of Spain, to celebrate radio broadcast, improve international cooperation among radio broadcasters and encourage decision-makers to create and provide access to information through radio, including community radios. It’s an occasion to draw attention to the unique value of radio, which remains the medium to reach the widest audience and is currently taking up new technological forms and devices.
13 February also marks the day the United Nations Radio was launched in 1946.
The ITU World Radiocommunication Conference, currently in session, is drawing up the framework to ensure high quality radiocommunication services for maritime and aeronautical transport and other advanced technologies such as satellite navigation and mobile broadband as well as for scientific purposes related to the environment, meteorology and climatology, disaster prediction, mitigation and relief. The Conference is engaged in reviewing and revising the Radio Regulations, the international treaty governing the use of radio-frequency spectrum that is in demand for the entire gamut of wireless services and applications required to meet global communication requirements.
In a joint statement, ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré and UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova said, “In a world changing quickly, we must make the most of radio’s ability to connect people and societies, to share knowledge and information and to strengthen understanding. This World Radio Day is a moment to recognize the marvel of radio and to harness its power for the benefit of all.”
With its mandate to ‘Connect the World,’ ITU is committed to strengthening radio as the world’s most accessible, pervasive and multilingual communication technology and to ensuring it continues to be an immensely powerful tool for delivering social and economic benefits, especially for the world’s rural and most remote communities.
EBU Director General Ingrid Deltenre saluted UNESCO and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for acknowledging 'the powerful influence' of radio in proclaiming 13 February World Radio Day.
The Day draws attention to the unique value of radio and coincides with the opening day of EBU Radio Week when key industry players assemble in Geneva to share ideas, culminating in the Digital Radio Summit on Wednesday 15. A joint message issued by UNESCO and ITU affirms radio as "the mass medium that reaches the widest audience, especially the most marginalized parts of our societies."
Ms Deltenre said the EBU firmly supports the organizations' views, which are aligned with internal values: "We endorse the view that 'free, independent and pluralistic radio is essential for healthy societies' and vital for advancing human rights and fundamental freedoms. We urge Members to embrace the occasion during EBU Radio Week."
In addition to updates from key standards bodies, EBU Radio Week will focus on case studies from some of the developing digital radio markets, user experience presentations and an overview of some of the latest radio tools and platforms in development at the EBU.
"These annual events provoke innovation by uniting radio's brightest stars: software developers, integrators, engineers, service providers, network operators and manufacturers seeking to find out more about existing open tools, contribute to developments and, of course, make contacts," Ms Deltenre said.
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