3 ms·

It's High Time for a European Broadcasting Service

dredmorbius 10y ago
An excellent proposal, but one which should be exceedingly mindful of the failures (and successes) of public broadcasting efforts in the past. Europe is no stranger to government broadcasting. In Italy and Germany, these spread (and at times retarded) fascism. See "Radio and the Rise of the Nazis in Prewar Germany"" https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/url?q%3Dhttp://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/130/4/1885.abstract%26amp;sa%3DD%26amp;ust%3D1487107825688000%26amp;usg%3DAFQjCNEa8eJ2N1REJT8Mg4f7l3qTWJbDEg&sa=D&ust=1487107825805000&usg=AFQjCNE_U4x2rzRPws98rHeYjl6vptd8OA https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/url?q%3D... During and since World War II, broadcasts especially from the BBC, Voice of America, and more recently Deutsche Welle and other national broadcasters, have offered high-quality content, much in multiple languages. These have been national though not European-wide initiatives. The United States has seen the emergence of public broadcasting, in the form of both PBS (television) and NPR (radio), as well as other public-broadcasting networks (Pacifica, PRX, and several statewide and regional powerhouses). Whilst there've been successes, there have also been failures. American public broadcasting is frequently noted for being higher in quality than most private for-profit networks (true), but also in having a distinctly closed "public broadcasting" mindset (also, in my experience, true), with certain notable voices markedly missing. Having been a viewer and listener for decades, my own satisfaction with the network's merits have fallen greatly in the past two decades. Ralph Nader has suggested that a new, truly responsive, public media system be created within the US, though he's been rather vague on specifics, or how he'd avoid the pitfalls which have befallen the existing system. (Information via a speech made Fall of 2016, I'd have to look up specfics.) His is among the voices typically missing from public media, with Noam Chomsky among the other notable absences. Europe also has significant challenges in terms of language and culture -- there's no one language which will be understandable across the entire union. There remains a fairly strong regionalism as well which will have to be addressed.

An excellent proposal, but one which should be exceedingly mindful of the failures (and successes) of public broadcasting efforts in the past. Europe is no stranger to government broadcasting. In Italy and Germany, these spread (and at times retarded) fascism. See "Radio and the Rise of the Nazis in Prewar Germany"" https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/url?q%3Dhttp://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/130/4/1885.abstract%26amp;sa%3DD%26amp;ust%3D1487107825688000%26amp;usg%3DAFQjCNEa8eJ2N1REJT8Mg4f7l3qTWJbDEg&sa=D&ust=1487107825805000&usg=AFQjCNE_U4x2rzRPws98rHeYjl6vptd8OA https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/url?q%3D... During and since World War II, broadcasts especially from the BBC, Voice of America, and more recently Deutsche Welle and other national broadcasters, have offered high-quality content, much in multiple languages. These have been national though not European-wide initiatives. The United States has seen the emergence of public broadcasting, in the form of both PBS (television) and NPR (radio), as well as other public-broadcasting networks (Pacifica, PRX, and several statewide and regional powerhouses). Whilst there've been successes, there have also been failures. American public broadcasting is frequently noted for being higher in quality than most private for-profit networks (true), but also in having a distinctly closed "public broadcasting" mindset (also, in my experience, true), with certain notable voices markedly missing. Having been a viewer and listener for decades, my own satisfaction with the network's merits have fallen greatly in the past two decades. Ralph Nader has suggested that a new, truly responsive, public media system be created within the US, though he's been rather vague on specifics, or how he'd avoid the pitfalls which have befallen the existing system. (Information via a speech made Fall of 2016, I'd have to look up specfics.) His is among the voices typically missing from public media, with Noam Chomsky among the other notable absences. Europe also has significant challenges in terms of language and culture -- there's no one language which will be understandable across the entire union. There remains a fairly strong regionalism as well which will have to be addressed.