Media policymaking and multistakeholder involvement: Matching audience, stakeholder and government expectations for public service media in Flanders. (April 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Van den Bulck, Hilde; Raats, Tim
• Is Part Of: European journal of communication. Volume 38:Number 2(2023)
• Page Start: 132
• Page End: 147
• Publication Date: 2023-04
• Subjects: Public service media -- media policy -- multistakeholderism -- policy process -- evidence-based; Mass media -- Research -- Periodicals; 302.234072
• DOI: 10.1177/02673231221112199
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0267-3231

Abstract

This contribution analyzes government, opposition, public service media, media stakeholders and audience views regarding the role and remit of public service media in the run-up to and their impact on the renewal of the 2021–2025 management contract between public broadcaster VRT and the Flemish Government. Results show that, despite a shifting media ecosystem and academics and government pushing for fundamental reform, audiences and most stakeholders' views stick to a centralised, broad and multiplatform public media institution. Moreover, they expect public service media to solve ever more media and societal issues (e.g. fake news) within a shrinking budget. The case illustrates how mature, evidence-based multistakeholderism pushes public service media to meet an increasingly challenging set of expectations, hampers both public service media and government to build a well-balanced, long-term vision of public service media's role and, instead, pushes them to pursue their own agenda. Lastly, an evidence-based process also suffers from issues of validity of the data.