Traditional public service media values and functions in a changing environment : a qualitative study

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Msc Business Administration – Thesis Entrepreneurship and Management in the Creative Industries

University of Amsterdam – Master Thesis Jip Verwiel – 10879188

Supervisor - Mathijs Leendertse 18-08–2017 - Final version Words - 15.776

Traditional public service media values and functions in a changing environment: a qualitative study

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4.2.1. Transformation of society 39 4.2.2. Political directions 41 4.2.2. Transformation of media 42 4.3. Solutions 46 4.3.1. Organizational transition 46 4.3.2. Network opportunities 47 4.3.3. Platform strategies 48 4.3.4. Political responsibilities 49 4.3.5. Online identity 51 5. Discussion 53 5.1. Summary of findings 53 5.2. Discussion 55 5.2.1. Values 55 5.2.2. Challenges 55 5.2.3. Solutions 56 5.2.4. Pitfalls 58 5.3. Implications 59

5.4. Limitations and further research 61

6. Conclusion 62

7. References 64

8. Appendix 67

8.1. Expert interviews: Expert overview 67

8.2. Interview protocol 68

8.3. Interview 1: Willem van Thiel 71

8.4. Interview 2: Dink Binnendijk 86

8.5. Interview 3: Barbara Marchal 104

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8.7. Interview 5: Gert-Jan Bogaerts 127

8.8. Interview 6: Finus Tromp 139

8.9. Interview 7: Tineke van der Velde-Zijlstra 155 8.10. Interview 8: Joost van Liere & Sophie Peters 165

8.11. Interview 9: Sjoerd Pennekamp 178

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Abstract

Public broadcasting is a valuable public good that aims to benefit society in multiple ways. Traditionally, values such as diversity, identity, reliability, information provision, transparency, socialization, etc. are seen as characteristics that distinguishes public broadcasting from commercial broadcasting. In a time where changes in society, consumer habits and media environments are in rapid succession, these traditional values are no longer unconditionally secure. Therefore, new strategic elements are implemented in the organization of public broadcasting. New channels and platforms for broadcasting are to be discovered, audiences are approached in different ways, roles of journalists and broadcasting associations are changing. 

This thesis aims to discover how this new way of organizing the Dutch public broadcasting system affects the traditional values that are ascribed to the broadcasters. Since there are academic concerns about how to ensure societal values in changing, digital, environments, it is interesting to see how this process takes place in the broadcasting sphere. This thesis will study the history, importance, current situation, threats and challenges of the Dutch public broadcasting system in order to answer the following research question; How can the Dutch public broadcasting system safeguard it’s public values in a digital environment? 

Experts from different positions within the Dutch public broadcasting system will be participating throughout this qualitative-explorative study in order to gain a subjective understanding of how these involved actors regard to the explained issues. The aim of this thesis is to provide an overall understanding of the processes and transitions that are currently developing within the Dutch public broadcasting system. Additionally it seeks to contribute to the understanding of modern societal challenges.  

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Statement of originality

This document is written by Student Jip Theodorus Jan Verwiel, who declares to take full responsibility for the contents of this document.

I declare that the text and the work presented in this document is original and that no sources other than those mentioned in the text and its references have been used in creating it.

The Faculty of Economics and Business is responsible solely for the supervision of completion of the work, not for the contents.

Jip Verwiel

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1. Introduction

In 2012 the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) published a report, vision 2020, that presented the challenges and changes that members of the union will have to address to the next couple of years. The EBU is the world’s leading alliance of public service media (PSM) with members from 56 different countries and has an audience reach of over one billion people around the world. The main goal of this strategic alliance is to strengthen PSM around the world and to make it indispensable (website EBU, 2017). Fundamental and on-going changes in audience behaviour, technologies, media markets and societies forced the union to redefine the future of PSM, to identify the challenges that have to be tackled and to plan changes that have to be made in order to assure the future of public broadcasting worldwide. Vision 2020 summarizes the main findings of a major study and suggests recommendations that the members might implement (EBU Vision 2020, 2012). During this master thesis project a qualitative explorative study is conducted in order to gain understanding of how the current context of public broadcasting is changing in the Netherlands. The last decade is characterized by numerous ongoing developments that changed the concept of traditional society. Of course, these changes are broad and diverse, and so for this project two major developments will be highlighted, namely transformation of society and transformation of media. Transformation of society is refers to fragmentation, individualization, globalization and urbanization. This includes less collective participation, more individual involvement, less interest in politics and established institutions and a more and more multi-cultural society that asks for a more responsive government (Bardoel & d’Haenens, 2008). In the Netherlands a shift occurred from the traditional welfare state (verzorgingsstaat) towards a more civil society where citizens have a more active and participative role (Van Dijck, Poell & de Waal, 2016).

Transformation of media is characterized by digitization and convergence. The way the audience use media has changed with the arrival of online media platforms. People can use different

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media side by side and are more empowered to make use of digital media on their own terms and in manners of their own choosing. For existing PSM this means that they have to think beyond existing media and distribution modes in order to ensure their role in a predominantly commercially run online communication context (Bardoel & d’Haenens, 2008).

The theoretical chapter of this thesis will elaborate on these concepts and explain how these phenomena affect public service broadcasters (PSB’s). These two major developments have many implications for traditional PSM and as the EBU report shows, these changes ask for a new structural organisation of PSM in order to sustain valuable as a public good. There is a common understanding of the need for a transition towards a more networked approach of PSM where cooperation and participation with citizens and cultural organizations are more valued (Glowacki, 2014). Similar transitions have proven to be valuable in other public domains such as transportation, healthcare and education, but have also lead to questions about how to ensure social order and traditional public values (Van Dijck, Poell & de Waal, 2016). The goal of this thesis is to analyze how the values that characterize the traditional role of public broadcasters could be safeguarded in a transition towards a digital environment where broadcasters are expected to engage in network-structures and to be more responsive to diverse citizens. This thesis aims to investigate how the transition that the Dutch public broadcasting association, Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO), desires, could be organized in a way that the traditional values and social functions of the NPO will not be affected. This explorative study intents to answer the following research question;

How can the Dutch public broadcasting system safeguard it’s public values in a digital environment?

This thesis will introduce academic insights on the role and importance of PSM. This analysis will identify three main values of the Dutch public broadcasting system, and these three values will

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current position of PSM is necessary. This thesis examines different challenges, threats and opportunities that put pressure on the main values of public broadcasters. Hereafter, the new reality of media will be discussed in order to gain insight on what the transition towards a new way of organizing public broadcasting will look like and finally the pitfalls of this new approach will be identified.  

This thesis will focus on the Dutch public broadcasting organisation, the NPO. Data from the general website of the NPO and information from the Concessie Beleidsplan 2016-2020 (CBP) will be used in order to achieve insight in the changes that the NPO is planning for the upcoming years. This CBP summarizes the main strategic choices that the NPO will implement in an attempt to keep up with the trends of globalization, digitization and convergence (CBP 2016-2020, 2015). Throughout this thesis several references will be made to connect theoretical insights to the practical situation that the NPO finds itself in.  

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2. Theoretical Framework

This theoretical chapter offers a wide perspective on the traditional, current and possible upcoming positions that public broadcasting may find itself in. In order to understand the current concerns about the future direction of PSM it is important to understand how public broadcasting is traditionally valued. Social and public values that characterize PSM will be outlined and the historical position of PSM in society will be discussed. Three main values of public broadcasting will be examined that will serve as a guideline throughout this thesis, namely diversity, information provision and identity.

After this introduction, the main challenges that PSM are currently facing will be discussed from different perspectives. Once the current situation of public broadcasting is clarified and most challenges, threats and opportunities are analyzed, this theoretical chapter offers potential directions that guide the transition of PSM. Different insights from academics, experts and insights from related social domains guide public broadcasters towards a new way of organizing PSM. In this framework these perspectives will be united in a concept that will be introduced as the networked society approach of organizing public broadcasting.  

This chapter will finish with an introduction of the main underlying subject of this thesis, namely how to secure the traditional societal values of PSM in the transition towards a more networked society approach of organizing public broadcasting. The main concerns of experts and academics will be explained in order to locate the pitfalls of the desired networked society approach to organizing Dutch PSB.

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2.1. The importance of public broadcasting

 

Reuters Institute for Study of Journalism (2013) launched a publication about the future of public service television, similar to the Vision 2020 report. This Reuters publication is sourced on a symposium where different perspectives were discussed and presented in order to critically assess the present state of PSM. Weeds (2013) starts this report with an analysis of the importance of public broadcasting in general. Weeds argues that television is a public good, because it is non-excludable and non-rival in consumption. Therefore public broadcasting serves a broader social purpose, more than just a matter for the individual consumer, it is a powerful medium for conveying messages to mass audience. The character of these messages can be used in order to achieve social benefits as a positive externality of broadcasting (Weeds, 2013).

The Vision 2020 report introduces the concept of Return on Society (RoS) to explain the social benefits that Weeds explains. RoS refers to the various positive effects that PSM delivers. Positive impacts of content and services offered by public broadcasters can be measured at three levels, namely the level of society, group and individual. At the level of society, broadcasters offer a platform for information and debate while diverse national and cultural identities are represented in order to support social cohesion, promote local culture and preserve cultural heritage. In this way, group cohesion and individual citizenship is stimulated (EBU Vision 2020, 2012). Therefore, it is important that the public broadcasters, to a greater extent than commercial broadcasters, offer a diverse range of categories of programmes in order to represent these diverse cultural identities.

2.1.1. Diversity 

Diversity concerns the importance of a variety of interests and tastes that PSM should deliver, and thus popular as well as specialist genres must be addressed. This variety is necessary in order to improve the welfare of audiences. Since public broadcasting is a public good, it should aim to satisfy the needs of the complete audience of it’s society. Different people or groups within this

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society have different preferences and tastes and therefore consumers should be able to enjoy a wide range of programmes in order to feel represented by the national broadcasting system (O’Hagan & Jennings, 2003). 

Journalism in general has a function to serve as an arena for public debate where multiple different perspectives are presented and reflected. These diverse perspective can be weighed by the public in order to form their opinion. In this process, the existence of a broadcaster that is independent of politics and commercial interests, is important in order to ensure the transparency and reliability of the presented content (Van Dijck, Poell & de Waal, 2016).

2.1.2. Information provision  

Public broadcasting is also characterized by some political functions. As a political institution an image of political life is provided by public broadcasters. An information obligation exists for public broadcasters to provide civic communication, political advertising and to facilitate news to the public. Together with newspapers and online journalistic platforms, television is one of the most important vehicles for (political) news and information. This comes with responsibilities of the sharing of relevant information and educational value that public broadcasters must communicate to their audiences. The presentation of a broad and diverse image of parties and standpoints is important to avoid a monopoly position of one particular niche of society. Broadcaster discretion and journalistic autonomy are essential in order to achieve this (Blumler & Hoffmann-Riem, 1992). In addition to the obligation to provide audiences with information, PSM and journalism in general, should play a controlling and monitoring role towards the government. In a democratic society it is important that public values are assured and represented by journalists who take a critical look at politics and policymakers. Social issues and events must be reported from different perspectives and if necessary questions should be asked (Van Dijck, Poell & de Waal, 2016).

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The final core value that theory ascribes to PSM is that of identity. Public broadcasting is a cultural institution that represents and protects an image of society. It is the responsibility of the programmers to provide culturally significant programs, to serve as a forum for cultural debate, to critically examine it’s own cultural contributions and to be close to society’s creative and artistic sector (Blumler & Hoffmann-Riem, 1992). As a cultural institution public broadcasters are responsible for the production and reflection of culture, language and social character of the specific country or community a broadcaster operates in in order to protect it’s cultural identity (O’Hagan & Jennings, 2003). Not only at the level of society as a whole, but also within society PSB’s serve as social integration vehicles that promote cohesion, cultural bonding and bridging (Bardoel & D’Haenens, 2008).  

PSM also act as a social institution. Broadcasters play a role in the process of socialization and normative orientation both for children and for adults who are less familiar with specific cultural or social aspects of society. Public television has to represent diverse groups of society so that multicultural understanding is supported. Social integration and change can be stimulated by offering social symbols that help to unite society (Blumler & Hoffmann-Riem, 1992).

The social functions of PSM that theory ascribes can also be found in the mission statements of public broadcasting organizations. NPO’s website states that it is the goal of the NPO to create, mostly national, programs that inform, inspire and entertain the Dutch public independent from any political or commercial party. By delivering this content that has a certain quality and relevance, the NPO aims to empower citizens with information, to connect them to others by getting them involved in the topic of the day and to contribute to the creation of one shared national identity. To achieve this the NPO intends to create a diverse range of programs of high quality in order to present a broad range of opinions, attitudes and beliefs (website NPO, 2017).  

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2.2. Current challenges for PSM

With this understanding of the importance and functions of PSM, the challenges and threats that PSM faces and which motivated the EBU to write the Vision 2020 report will be outlined. The EBU report distinguishes two major challenges that pose potential problems for the position of PSM, namely; fragmentation and digitization (EBU Vision 2020, 2012). In this chapter these trends will be analyzed using insights from different studies in order to get an image of the main challenges for PSM.

2.2.1. Fragmentation

Fragmentation should be regarded as a phenomenon that is bigger than public broadcasting on it’s own. Individualization, globalization and urbanization are current issues that make traditional institutions unstable. Bardoel & d’Haenens (2008) came up with a publication that identifies the problems of PSM more specific. They understand individualization as lesser collective participation, lower interest in politics and established institutions and a shift towards a multicultural society. This transformation of society leads to an audience that is harder to reach and therefore should be approached more at the individual level or targeted at movements/sub-cultures. Since PSM is a public good and it is aimed to be targeted at different niches that society includes, there must be put in real effort to achieve this in a time where societies are becoming more and more fragmented and are less willing to follow the traditional media (Bardoel & d’Haenens, 2008). 

Bardoel continues his analysis of the fragmentation of the Dutch PSM in an article he wrote in 2014. He explains that traditional public broadcasting in the Netherlands used to be based on a system of pillarization. Pillarization refers to the way public broadcasting was organized back in the 1960’s. In the Netherlands, broadcasting was not left to the state, but social movements that represented a particular niche of society, established their own public broadcasting associations and

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in other domains of social life such as politics, education or culture, which implied active and supportive civic participation. Citizens became members of one of the established broadcasting associations. This all began to fall down when religious and socio-political divisions broke down. Broadcasting became more professionalized and commercialized. This competitive media environment made broadcasters rediscover their social responsibilities and resulted in a more modern approach where individual and cultural emphasis is dominant (Bardoel, 2014).  

This phenomenon of fragmentation was enhanced by the exponential growth of the Internet. At the end of the last decade the role of the Internet in society became more and more prominent. A new context for information sharing, communication and transactions was introduced and created an online infrastructure. Van Dijck, Poell & de Waal (2016) analyze the arrival of a platform society where big commercial organizations dominate the social spheres individuals act in. Because of the expansion of online infrastructures, online platforms arise which created a whole new ecosystem of technological, economic and social-cultural interactions and that facilitated and organized new connections between individuals. Through the use of these platforms, individuals are empowered and enabled to organize all kinds of affairs without the mediation of traditional institutions and organizations. Co-creation of supply and demand is facilitated by big platforms, which is blurring the boundaries between consumers and producers and thereby stimulates innovation. This shift in relationships between market, consumer, civilian and government resulted in a disturbance of traditional assurance of public interests (Van Dijck, Poell & de Waal, 2016). The controlling role of online platforms in the ordering of social and public interest leads to big issues and questions that the book of Van Dijck, Poell & de Waal raises. Further in this theoretical framework references to some of these questions will be made in order to analyze the current situation of public broadcasters.

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2.2.2. Digitization

In addition to this transformation of society, the media also has made a huge transformation the last decade, in the Vision 2020 report digitization refers to this transformation. Digitization led to new possibilities for communication, greater information capacity and news production. New media technologies, for example the use of the Internet, phones and tablets entered the market and became available to the world (Van Dijck, Poell & de Waal, 2016). Traditional television viewing is declining and computer related media use has gone up (Bardoel & d’Haenens, 2008). Traditional media was forced to make a transition from traditional/old media to these new types of media, this process is called convergence. Convergence not only led to new possibilities in access to media, but also changed the way people make use of media. Since everything is available to anyone at anytime through the Internet, people make different use of media. People now can use different media side-by-side, functional equivalence, and don’t have to follow the traditional linear ways news was presented, everything is available on demand. Media has become more interactive since people can easily contribute online and share or comment when and what they like. All these changes that convergence caused made the traditional PSM need to rethink their position and role (Bardoel & d’Haenens, 2008).

Weeds (2013) claims that technical changes are nothing new to broadcasting, but that the latest technological innovations created challenges that are new to public broadcasters. Since producing and involving in media has become more easy for everyone who has access to the Internet, there is more diversity in broadcasters. This creates an attention problem for PSM, because consumers have a broader and diverse range of channels to choose from that provide their entertainment and information needs. Therefore PSM has to make sure that their content is still effective in achieving social attention and that it is appealing to consumers (Weeds, 2013).  

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traditional PSB’s provided filters for consumer in terms of relevance and quality. The broadcaster could be seen as a kind of gatekeeper who selected important content that was shown on television, they could be trusted. Since there are more channels, programs and media outlets, it is more difficult to assure this screening function (Helm, 2013). 

This issue, the decreasing role of public broadcasters as gatekeepers, is also a big concern of Van Dijck, Poell & de Waal (2016). The authors claim that traditionally big players in the field of journalism; newspapers, media enterprises and broadcasters, had an important role in the provision of news to society. Especially public broadcasters, to a bigger extent than commercial broadcasters, are know to have high concern for public interests in this process. Independent information sharing, diversity of audiences and backgrounds, openness and transparency are important values of these established organizations. With the arrival of new platforms of journalism, these values are open to reinterpretation. Public broadcasters used to be the most important player in the selection system of PSM, they had the power to select relevant subjects, actors and issues and present it to the public through institutional embedded ways. Through several ways the public could control these broadcasters, for example through the council for journalism or the ombudsman, because they were publicly accountable. The shift towards a more open and commercial platform of journalism threatens this gatekeeping role of PSM (Van Dijck, Poell & de Waal, 2016).  

The best example to illustrate this is the way Facebook is presenting their role in this development. Nowadays Facebook is regarded as an important news platform, although they don’t regard themselves as such. Non-transparent algorithms and mechanisms dominate the content the users get to see. Traditional journalistic values are nowhere to be found, virality and personalization are more dominant. This individualistic approach leads to filter bubbles where users are stuck in their own networks and only receive content and information that reinforces their existing conceptual world. This process is in strong contrast with the traditional role of public broadcasters as gatekeepers and results in more polarization of society (Van Dijck, Poell & de Waal, 2016).

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The CBP report of the NPO recognizes the challenges that are summarized in this part of the theoretical framework. Already in 2012 the NPO realized that linear television as we used to know it, was about to be disturbed by a new phenomena, television on demand. Because of the wide reach and diversity of audiences, the NPO decided to implement a dual strategy in order to get a strong position in both linear television as in on demand television. This strategy is considered successful, nevertheless the NPO is again facing a crucial question whether how this on demand trend will develop the upcoming years. It is hard to foresee how the position of linear television will change the upcoming years, however the NPO realizes that the traditional way families used to make use of the television is changing for sure (CBP 2016-2020, 2015). Viewing habits of audiences have changed significantly and that forced the NPO to reconsider the traditional strategy. Also the transformation of society is part of the trends that the CBP report presents. A growing gap between high and low educated people causes fragmentation of society. International tensions resulted in stressed relations within the Dutch society. These trends force the NPO to critically assess their position and to discover the possibilities for bigger involvement in society (CBP 2016-2020, 2015). 

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2.3. Towards a solution

The Vision 2020 report presents a new conceptualization of PSM based on a networked society and also includes recommendations for broadcasters to make the transition towards this new organizational form. There is need for a broadcasting market where every level of society can meet and exchange and where national and local identities are reflected (EBU Vision 2020, 2012). Content should be targeted at niche audiences and there must be a strong cooperation among broadcasters, audiences, public institutions, cultural industries and other areas of society. Interaction and dialogue with communities and networks of people must result in joint creation and sharing of information in order to be ahead of an over fragmentized and polarized society and to continue to deliver the positive Return on Society (EBU Vision 2020, 2012). This subchapter aims to explain what this organization of public broadcasting will look like according to different scholars and experts.

Already in 2004, when the influence and power of the Internet, social networks and digital media was not as big as it is nowadays, media experts predicted that the role of media audiences was changing. Gillmor (2004) wrote a book about the growing influence of public journalism. Gillmor discovered a new phenomenon where former audiences that used to be at the receiving end of the media system, now have access to the same tools and information that used to be only available for traditional media institutions, citizen journalism where users act as consumers and producers. Therefore the public is more powerful and influential and less predictable and is able to take over journalistic functions, such as independent information sharing and control of political and social institutions, that used to be assigned to other institutions. Gillmor calls this phenomenon monitorial citizenship (Gillmor, 2004). 

What impact does the growth of monitorial citizenship have on traditional journalism and how could it effectively be used by media institutions? Van der Haak, Parks & Castells try to

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answer these questions in an article they published in 2012. The authors introduced networked journalism as a possible answer to the issue of the growing impact of monitorial citizenship. Public demand for information, analysis and interpretation is greater than ever and the tools that are necessary for journalistic work are available to everyone. This led to an explosion of journalism. The authors argue that new ways of interpreting journalism are necessary in order to broaden the definition and thereby ensure the value of journalism. New practices related to the production and distribution of news should be included in this definition, collaboration between professional journalists and citizen journalists should take place and platforms should be used in order to communicate, collaborate, share and analyze data. These practices will guide traditional journalism to a more global network society approach of journalism where data collection, interpretation and story telling is facilitated though collaboration of traditional media institutions, governments, NGOS and citizens (Van der Haak, Parks & Castells, 2012).  

To get a deeper understanding of how networked journalism works in practice, insights from the article of Beckett & Mansell (2008) are used by Van der Haak, Parks & Castells. Journalism is making a shift from a linear process towards a network process whereby constant communication and interaction of information is facilitated by collaboration between professional journalists and citizen journalists. This boundary crossing journalism results in a variety of views and a twenty-four hour production of news. Through the use of digital and online technologies the capacity to record, share and distribute information increases. Journalists should be regarded as nodes in a network that functions to collect, process and distribute information. The role of the journalist in this network would be to collect, edit, filter and produce user generated content and to assure the credibility of the the content. The traditional gatekeeping role of journalists is shifting towards a more facilitating or moderating role (Beckett & Mansell, 2008).

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importance of organizational culture and structure is such a network society approach. He calls for an opening-up of PSM, which means open production systems, accountability, transparency and collaboration with the public. There is need for a more open and democratized bottom-up structuring of PSM in order to stimulate innovation and creativity (Glowacki, 2014). The key in achieving this lies in the culture of an organisation, since it is the organizational culture that impacts organizational identity and behaviour. Changes in mindsets, leadership styles, interaction and partnerships are tools that Glowacki offers in order to achieve this cultural change (Glowacki, 2014).  

To even further conceptualize the networked society approach, insights from the article of Balcytiene (2014) could be used. In his article, Balcytiene uses the concept of the Fifth Estate by Dutton (2009). The Fifth Estate basically means a more open perspective where public insights and knowledge could be attainted by agencies, the power of collective intelligence. Boundaries of existing institutions should be crossed in order to find new ways of information sharing and shifting accountability. Through participation and engagement in networks, this acquisition of public knowledge could be achieved. Ongoing exchanges of views, knowledge and information must prevent societies from societal fragmentation and polarization (Balcytiene, 2014).

The NPO acknowledge the importance of a more open- and networked organisation of the broadcasting system, although the CBP does not explicitly refers to the networked society approach as presented by the Vision 2020 report, the CBP presents some ambitions that are in line with the overall conclusions of the EBU. The primary focus of the strategy of the NPO as presented in the CBP report is on quality. The idea behind this focus is that when the NPO is able to deliver high quality and diverse content that is appealing for every resident of the Netherlands and that covers public values and up to date theme’s, the NPO will still be an important national institution. To reassure this ambition, independency and interaction with audiences are the key focus of the NPO. Although television on demand is becoming more important every day, the NPO will also try to

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remain frontrunner as a traditional linear broadcaster (CBP 2016-2020, 2015).  

Explicitly the CBP report mentions that the audience is the central figure in their strategy. The NPO tries to involve the public into their broadcasting and make them participate in the public debate. The possibilities of online communication will be used in order to get more interaction between broadcaster and audience (CBP 2016-2020, 2015). The NPO is willing to take their social responsibilities and to prevent the society for further fragmentation. By creating national debates, support for social communities and the initiation of flexible networks, the NPO tries to get different groups of society into contact and to create a shared feeling of solidarity. By clearly identifying and distinguishing the different domains that the NPO uses to reach different audience groups, the NPO tries to make these relationships closer. In the process of formulating the new strategy and organisation of the NPO the public will be involved and asked for their opinion. Also cooperation with EBU colleagues and national (creative) organizations must make the organization of the NPO more flexible (CBP 2016-2020, 2015).

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2.4. Pitfalls of the networked society approach

To conclude this theoretical framework, it is important to make notice of the concerns that can be found among experts and academics about the implications that come with the transitions towards a more networked approach of organizing public broadcasting. The growing impact of the Internet, the arrival of social platforms and a changing society has let to more open network structures in other public domains besides broadcasting. Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple (GAFA) became major players in the online infrastructure of connections. These platforms can not be seen as independent networks, but must be understood as a big ecosystem of connective platforms. This ecosystem, that is dominated by these four big American companies, is growing exponentially and online social interactions are expanding in all directions. Online platforms such as Uber, Airbnb, Next-door, Peerby, Coursera, etc. are providing services by connecting supply and demand between consumers and are able to do this without the interference of traditional organizations or governments. All these different platforms are interconnected and because of the online hierarchy, all these platforms eventually lead back to one of the GAFA companies (Van Dijck, Poell & de Waal, 2016). This leaves the question of how to ensure the liability and independency of content creation on social platforms like Facebook. Whenever one of the associations which is part of the Dutch public broadcasting system, makes use of one of these platforms, they indirectly accept the terms and conditions that are set on the platform. This could mean that they have to abandon their own principles with regard to freedom of speech and their position in certain public discussions (Van Dijck, Poell & de Waal, 2016).  

In this new reality of platforms, regular hierarchic institutional structures can be bypassed and therefore traditional forms of regulation and control are often avoided. Traditional institutions, norms, values, rules and laws are less prominent on these platforms, it is the GAFA sphere that is dominating social order. This social order, what should be understood as the harmony between market, government and society in relation to the representation of public values, usually is

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determined through an interplay of actors in society that results in a balance of interests. Since this balance is shifting more and more towards a commercial online setting, where American companies determine law and order, the big questions is where this reordering of social order is heading (Van Dijck, Poell & de Waal, 2016).

In the field of public broadcasting, and journalism in general, journalistic autonomy and professional values are threatened by this shifts towards a more networked society approach. The facilitation of a well functioning, accessible and diverse public sphere is traditional achieved through established journalistic institutions. Diversity, information obligation and identity are presented as main values for PSM, but as a result of declining subscriber and advertising revenues and the increasing competition among journalists, other values have become more and more important (Beckett & Mansell, 2008). Through social media platforms and the data that these platforms provide, trending topics and viral news stories have become more influential in the selection of news. The basis of this content therefore is shifting towards more commercial and popular criteria, rather than these main values. The transition of audiences from the receiving end to the controlling end, has made the news media industry much more consumer-led. This made the journalistic institutions to be more inclined to respond to what audiences want to read/hear in order not to lose their attention, commercialization (Beckett & Mansell, 2008). This trend where content is to a certain extent selected by what scores among audiences, is pressuring professional journalistic values (Van Dijck, Poell & de Waal, 2016).  

The biggest concerns is that the selection of newsworthy content is no longer exclusively organized by professional journalists. Zuiderveen Borgesius et al. (2016) studied the possible implications that this could have for societies. Platforms provide different content to different users based on unclear algorithms. In order to get as much attention and interaction with their users, the platforms want to strengthen the relationships with their users by providing them with the most

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mechanism that automatically provide users with relevant feed for their profiles. This could lead to filter bubbles or information cocoons, ‘where every individual has a unique universe of information for his one’ (Pariser, 2011). This personalized information could lead to a society where citizens would encounter less opinions and views and this could influence the process of public discussion. Individuals could be steered by platforms to empower their own perspective, where it is important for a democratic society that individuals come across different and conflicting opinions in order to develop (Zuiderveen Borgesius et al, 2016). Diversity of content can no longer be assured by PSB’s if they are bypassed by consumers who create and select their own personalized content. If this is the case, also the protection of cultural identity, one of the traditional main values of PSB’s, is harder to achieve. PSB’s have to think about what might be attractive to reach a potential audience, and therefore have to think in more limited theme’s that are appealing instead of content that would transfer valuable messages about national identities.  

The implications of filter bubbles on democratic society, the role of platforms as gatekeepers and the non-transparent ways of working of algorithms are all concerns that are prominent in the modern debate about journalism. The consequences of journalism through social platforms leaves traditional journalistic institutions with the issue of how to deal with this trend. The balancing of social order and traditional values of professional journalism are about to be redefined.

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2.5. Conclusion

This theoretical chapter outlined the values, challenges and directions that dominate the current debate about the future of PSM. Diversity, information provision and identity are seen as key values that distinguish public broadcasting from commercial broadcasting and highlight the importance of independent journalism. Nevertheless fragmentation and digitization are developments that question the assurance of these values in a changing environment. Although academics and media organizations itself do have solutions that should guide the transition of PSM towards a more networked society approach, there are still concerns about how to ensure these main values in a digital environment. Model 1.0 is a graph that aims to model the conceptual representation of this theoretical framework.

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3. Data and Method

This chapter will present the research methodology. First, the research design and the strategy behind this approach will be explained. Second, a description of the sample selection and the data collection will be given. Third, the quality of the research will be discussed, looking at credibility, validity and reliability. Finally, the method of analysis is discussed.

3.1. Research strategy & design

The aim of this thesis is to understand how organizational changes in the Dutch public broadcasting system will affect traditional valuable roles of public broadcasters. In order to answer the research question of this thesis as sufficient as possible, an inductive qualitative study will be done. Qualitative research aims to discover subjective opinions and beliefs from actors who engage in environments of the studied subject. Social actors’ meanings are collected in order to get an understanding about how certain phenomena can be understood. The natural environment these actors is studied in order to understand how experiences and meanings are shaped (Gephart & Rynes, 2004). The process of qualitative research is marked by flexibility and has an emergent character, as the research is often designed at the same time it is being done.  

This thesis studies the actors who operate in the Dutch public broadcasting system and discovers their understanding of the positioning of PSB in a digital environment. A narrative of views from these studied experts will provide an interpretation of their reality. Conceptual insights will be collected in order to reveal how broad concepts and theories are applied in practice (Gephart & Rynes, 2004). This study has an interpretive approach in order to understand the visions and beliefs of the experts that will be interviewed. By using an interpretive approach, the production of meanings and concepts used by social actors in real settings will be discovered and that will help to build theory on this subject (Gephart & Rynes, 2004). Observations from previous literature are

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tested during the process of data collection and connected with the empirical reality of the subject in order to form a relevant theoretical answer to the research question.  

This study uses expert interviews in order to obtain data. Expert interviews are one-on-one open-ended interviews with particular professionals from the studied field. These so-called experts or elites are people who have a high status within their working environment and usually fulfill some unique role and can provide distinctive insights or information covering a whole set of issues that is not likely to be obtained from other sources (Yin, 2013).

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3.2. Sample design

Sampling is crucial in every study, selecting cases that will represent the population of the studied object is an important aspect of building theory based on case studies. The sample has to be broad enough to make generalizations possible and must be diverse enough in order to get an overall perspective of beliefs and opinions that are present in the population (Eisenhardt, 1989). Since this study consists of multiple expert interviews, their must be very clear criteria in order to determine when someone is regarded as expert. First the organizations that together form the sample must be defined, followed by a clear framework of professionals who fit the criteria for the expert interviews (Yin, 2013).  

The unit of analysis of this thesis is very broad, namely the Dutch public broadcasting system. The Dutch public broadcasting system refers to the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO) which is an overall organization of different Dutch broadcasters that are responsible for radio and television production and distribution in the Netherlands. Three television channels, namely NPO1, NPO2 and NPO3 and five radio channels, namely NPO Radio 1, NPO Radio 2, NPO 3FM, NPO Radio 4 and NPO Radio 5 are the stations that together form the Dutch PSM (website NPO, 2017). Since the main focus of this thesis is on television broadcasting, the radio channels are left out of consideration.  

The NPO consists of six licensed broadcasters; AVROTROS, BNN-VARA, KRO-NCRV, Omroep MAX, EO and the VPRO. In addition to these licensed broadcasters, also the NOS and the NTR are broadcasters that are part of the NPO. The NOS and the NTR are so called taakomroepen (task broadcasters), and are enforced by media laws to communicate a specific task, namely independent news provision (NOS) and information about arts, culture, education and background journalism (NTR). The last broadcasters that are part of the NPO are WNL, PowNed and Human. These broadcasters are aspirant members and therefore they are obliged to join one of the six licensed broadcasting associations, since eight broadcasters is the maximum amount of associations

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for the NPO (website NPO, 2017).  

The unit of analysis that shapes the sample of this thesis can be found throughout all of the organizations and associations that together form the NPO. Different professionals who work for different organizations are considered unit of interest for this thesis. All the broadcasting associations are big organizations that consist of tens to hundreds of employees and of course not all the employees are equally relevant for the matter of this thesis (website NPO, 2017). Therefore the sample consists of professionals that work in the field of strategic management, policy management, business and creative management or other strategic positions within the PSB. They are especially relevant for this study because they engage in strategic thinking and are responsible for policymaking and development of the Dutch public broadcasting system. Therefore they can be regarded as experts, since they can provide distinctive insights or information covering a whole set of issues that is not likely to be obtained from other sources (Yin, 2013). One could argue that for this thesis, the employees who are responsible for the creation of creative content, think of presenters, camera operators, editors, etc., are not that relevant and will be left out of the sampling unit.

In addition to the national broadcasting associations, the public broadcasting system in the Netherlands also consists of multiple regional and local broadcasters. Since the national broadcasting associations are the biggest players in the Dutch broadcasting system, they from the initial unit of analysis for this thesis. It would be interesting to also include the perspective of one or multiple regional broadcasting associations, but that would not be the primary focus of the sample.  

The diverse sample will be addressed primarily through existing personal contacts within different broadcasting associations. Particular personal relationships with professionals in different positions from various organizations will give access to the field. From this starting point, convenience sampling and snowball sampling will be used in order to get access to more experts

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organizations within the Dutch broadcasting system are relatively easy to find at broadcasting websites or professional social networks like LinkedIn. The amount of interviews will at least be ten to ensure enough different perspectives will be included in the dataset. The interviews will take place at a time and location that suits the interviewee and approximately will cost around one our of their time. See appendix 8.1. for the list of experts that participated in the interviews.

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3.3. Data collection

The main source for data of this study comes from interviews with experts from the field of Dutch public broadcasting. During one-on-one expert interviews, the researcher extracts opinions and visions from professionals about their perspective on this matter using open-ended questions. The aim of the question is to get as much insights as possible in order to get an holistic view of how experts regard to the subject (Leech, 2002). 

A narrative of views from these studied experts will provide an interpretation of their reality. Conceptual insights are collected in order to reveal how broad concepts and theories apply in practice (Eisenhardt, 1989). Observations from previous literature are tested and connected with the empirical reality of the subject in order to form a relevant theoretical answer to the research question.

In order to ensure good validity and reliability level of the study, a clear research framework is used so all the interviews will follow the same protocol and therefore patterns can be discovered that contribute to the understanding of dynamics that are present at the studied setting (Auerbach and Silverstein, 2003). This framework, see appendix 8.2. for the interview protocol, serves as a basic guideline for the interviews. Since the interviews have a semi-structured character, the course of the interviews may differ depending on interviewee or topic that appears to be relevant.  

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3.4. Method of analysis

After the collection of the data, interviews transcripts will be generated followed by data analysis. Meanings and explanations will be retrieved from the dataset in order to make conclusions towards the questions that the study aims to answer (Miles & Guberman, 1984). The explanation of the main question of this thesis will gain insight in how experts from the field are dealing with the current issues that the Dutch public broadcasting system is facing, and by doing this, a contribution to the understanding of modern societal challenges is provided.

Since this study has an inductive approach a flexible strategy is necessary to discover categories and codes. Therefore the first step in analysis of the data is data reduction (Miles & Huberman, 1984). In this phase the collected data is critically examined in order to select, simplify and abstract the raw data so that it is sorted out and organized is a way that final conclusions can be drawn (Miles & Guberman, 1984). Throughout this process, open coding is used to compare and categorize data. Coding is a technique that is used in order to organize data into segments that offer descriptions of the data (Bourque, 2004). This results in a set of categories that represent patterns that exist in the data (Yin, 2013).  

In order to determine the codes, primarily theoretical propositions are used. Following the theoretical groundings that support the study, several proposition can be identified that were used to develop research questions and topics throughout the interview (Yin, 2013). Since this study has an inductive character, it is necessary to keep in mind that new codes can emerge from the data set that were not included in the initial starter codes. 

The second step in data analysis is data display. This phase is characterized by assembling of information that contributes to conclusion drawing on a particular subject (Miles & Huberman, 1984). Once this open coding has lead to saturation, axial coding is needed in order to make connections between categories of codes (Lockyer, 2004). These axial codes emerge from the data once the open codes are discovered and repeating ideas are identified. By grouping these coded

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ideas, coherent categories can be discovered that form axial codes (Lockyer, 2004). Selection of data is essential to understand core categories of data and to discover relationships of these categories (Lockyer, 2004). Rival explanations have to be examined in order to understand how theoretical propositions relate to emerged codes (Yin, 2013). Open codes are connected to axial codes which helps to organize the dataset.

The final step in data analysis is conclusion-drawing and verification (Miles & Huberman, 1984). In this phase, meanings and explanations are retrieved from the data set in order to make conclusion towards the questions that the study aims to answer (Miles & Guberman, 1984). Explanations have to be build up from the data in order give an explanation of a certain phenomenon. Several links that emerged from the data analysis have to be linked to topics so elements of explanations can be identified (Yin, 2013). In the best case, these elements reflect the theoretical propositions that were identified before the start of the data collection. If this is not the case, similarities between different respondents can be discovered in order to identify elements of explanations that were not present in the initial theoretical understanding of the subject (Yin, 2013). Another way to find explanations is to look for inconsistencies in the dataset. Rival explanations could explain why certain actors have different perspectives than others. This could lead to new propositions that cover elements of the overall explanation (Yin, 2013).

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4. Results

This chapter provides an overview of the main results that the interviews came up with. Data analysis resulted in different codes and themes that together summarize the main findings of the data collection. This section will present these findings in order to provide groundings from which conclusions towards the main question will be made in chapter 5.

4.1. Values

During the interviews, the respondents were asked to formulate the main values of PSB according to their opinion. This resulted in a number of main values that characterize the importance of PSM in the Netherlands.  

First of all, public service media is seen as a core foundation for modern democracy. One of the main pillars of a well functioning society is free and autonomous journalism that controls, criticizes and informs society independent from any commercial or political constraints.

“I see public broadcasting as one of the core values of democracy. (…) I think free press is almost a basic need of life. I wouldn’t want to live in a country where there is no free press, that are usually countries that are flawed. Look at North-Korea, and even America is almost a country without free press. The values that are represented by public broadcasters are very essential” (Interview 8.4.: Dink Binnendijk, rtv Drenthe).

The reason to have a publicly organized journalistic sphere is that the commercial journalistic field would not address the same values as public service media.

“I basically don’t believe that the sharing of information and quality storytelling is something one can leave to the commercial market. Because there is supply and demand at the

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marketplace. (…) That results in unilateral and non-constructive perspectives. That is the reason why you need a public broadcasting system” (Interview 8.9.: Tineke van der Velde, EO).

Interactive media director at AVRO TROS, Finus Tromp, agrees with this opinion:

“If we don’t make certain programmes, cultural impoverishment would be the consequence, because the programmes would disappear. We know certain programmes are only interesting for niches. Commercial parties wouldn’t pay attention to it, because it’s not profitable” (Interview 8.8.: Finus Tromp, AVRO TROS).

4.1.1. Reliability

Reliability is the value that almost all the respondents refer to as most important characteristic of PSB.

“As audience you must be able to assume that what you hear and read is true. As a public broadcasting association, you have to be very accurate and professional, which means you have to consider different perspectives” (Interview 8.4.: Dink Binnendijk, rtv Drenthe).

This reliability can only be assured if there are no commercial or political interests involved. In order to assure this, there are several institutional mechanisms in place to protect the integrity of the journalists.

“ There are rules regarding independency, a lot of restrictions. Juridical regulations take care of issues like sponsorship and advertising. We also have instruments for self-reflection, like the Ombudsman, who critically checks if we commit to our legal responsibilities” (Interview 8.6.: Maike Olij, NPO).

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“My journalistic background tells me that pluralism is one of the most important values. We must address a wide range of perspectives, within a commercial context this is harder to accomplish” (Interview 8.6.: Maike Olij, NPO).

This pluralism contributes to the duty PSB has to inform the national public on a wide scale in order to provide the public with different perspectives so they can form a deliberative opinion. Therefore it is important to strive to have a representation of society in the programming of public broadcasting.

“Media has to be a reflection of society, where everyone must be able to recognize his or her identity” (Interview 8.5.: Barbara Marchal, NOS).

4.1.3. Diversity

Diversity is a concept that is close related to pluralism. Diversity has to contribute to the recognizability of the broadcasting system so that everyone in society feels comfortable and represented by the broadcasting system. This can only be achieved if the content that is made by the different broadcasters is bundled in a way that different perspectives and identities are reflected.

“Pluralism and diversity only exist if the audience actually sees different things. If you only see things from one perspective it would be impossible to accomplish broad orientation. If one only gets recommendations that reinforce his or her opinion, pluralism and diversity will be harmed” (Interview 8.11.: Sjoerd Pennekamp, NPO).

4.1.4. Information provision and identity

The final core value that was mentioned during the interviews is the duty that public service broadcasters have to inform the public.

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“We have to report on news developments as quickly as possible. Lately we are trying to not only follow the news developments, we also try to make news. We act like a kind of thermometer in society, so we can detect what’s going on. Than we report on those issues” (Interview 8.5.: Barbara Marchal, NOS).

Not all the broadcast associations have a strong mission like the NOS, NOS is a taak-omroep which means that it is the primary mission of the broadcaster to present news and actualities. Other broadcasters are more general associations that operate from a mission to serve a certain public in their needs and to make connections between different parts of society.

“We have other core values that guide our content strategies. We try to send a positive message to the Dutch audience, make connections among our audience and deepen their understanding of news and events” (Interview 8.8.: Finus Tromp: AVRO TROS).

“It is a matter of balance between meeting audience demands, but also presenting them things they didn’t request. We want to trigger and inspire them, to get thinking processes started so the audience gets to learn different perspectives ” (Interview 8.7.: Geert-Jan Bogaerts, VPRO).

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4.2. Challenges

During the interviews different challenges that were presented in the theoretical framework, were discussed with the experts. Transformation of society and transformation of media are the main concepts that cover the different challenges that public service broadcasting are facing. During the interviews, experts gave their opinion on several developments that forced the broadcasting system to adjust to new realities of modern journalism. The main developments will be presented in the following section.

4.2.1. Transformation of society

The role broadcasting associations play in society has changed the last decades. Traditionally broadcasters where associations that had strong connections with particular niches from society.

“Pluralism and compartmentalization have decreased, partly because of secularization in the Netherlands. Broadcasters are not longer characterized by a political background” (Interview 8.8.: Finus Tromp, AVRO TROS).

Secularization, or depillarization, refers to a period where different philosophical spheres in society lost their importance. Broadcasters used to be highly characterized by a particular spiritual background, but once this became less evident in society, the broadcasting associations adjusted their philosophies.

“We still have a small sum of philosophical programmes, but in general we developed from a strict Christian sentiment to a more universal social broadcaster. (…) Our anchor still lies in the Christian philosophy, but we translated our identity to a humane and inclusive broadcasting association” (Interview 8.12: Elsa Gorter, KRO-NCRV).

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Since the KRO-NCRV is not the only broadcaster to redefine their philosophy, the differences between the current broadcasting associations are not as clear as the used to be.

“Support for public broadcasters has generally been decreasing the last decade. Audiences find it hard to know the differences between for example the NCRV and the EO. Public support for our current broadcasting system is lower and will continue to decrease” (Interview 8.9.: Tineke van der Velde, EO).

This means that the public no longer naturally feels associated with a certain broadcaster.

“It is very complex for audiences to identify with a specific broadcasting association nowadays” (Interview 8.8.: Finus Tromp, AVRO TROS).

The director of rtv Drenthe claims that nowadays broadcasters have to fight for their right to exist. Legitimization of a broadcasting association is no longer taken for granted, which means that the broadcaster has an extra responsibility to assure their position within society.

“You used to be only concerned with sending to your audience, nowadays you really have to get your audience involved. You have to connect with the people you work for” (Interview 8.4.: Dink Binnendijk, rtv Drenthe).

Also within the NOS they feel that their role has changed from a one-sided relationship with their audience, to a two-way relationship where they no longer only report the news, but also actively search for what concerns their public.

“We try to interact with our target audience. We try to answer their questions and discover topics that concerns them. (…) This means the job of a journalist is changing, a number of tasks are

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added, he must be able to play different professional roles” (Interview 8.10.: Joost van Liere & Sophie Peters, NOS).

Actively seeking interaction and connections with audiences is a way in which broadcasters try to involve different communities from society into their broadcasting.

“Public broadcasters find it hard to reach specific audiences like the youth and immigrants, an issue that the NPO is blamed for. (…) You really have to have a service approach and try to connect with those audiences” (Interview 8.4.: Dink Binnendijk, rtv Drenthe).

4.2.2. Political directions

What became evident during the interviews is that regulations from the ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) affect the general policymaking of the broadcasters.

“You always look at the ministry, they are quite decisive. The last 15 years, a lot of political developments have had impact on our broadcasting system” (Interview 8.8.: Finus Tromp, AVRO TROS).

The biggest impact that national policy has had on broadcasting lately, is the redefinition of the tasks that are assigned to PSB from the ministry. In the year 2016 the media law was renewed which concluded that public broadcasting was no longer expected to make content for amusement.

“Before, we used to be responsible for information, education and entertainment. That has been changed to information, education and culture, which means no amusement anymore” (Interview 8.11.: Sjoerd Pennekamp, NPO).

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“Look at Dekker, our current secretary, he wants public broadcasters to show distinctive content that one can not find at commercial broadcasters. But once these alternative content doesn’t attract audience, because it is usually less popular than mainstream television, he concludes that it is not relevant enough, which results in further budget cuts” (Interview 8.4.: Dink Binnendijk, rtv Drenthe).

4.2.2. Transformation of media

Developments in the way people make use of media, technical developments and the influence of social platforms form the biggest challenges for public service broadcasters. The transformation of media has put policymakers in Hilversum in many dilemmas and creates tensions between different associations.

Different perspectives can be found in Hilversum regarding strategic positioning with regard to digitization:

“Within Hilversum there are different roles in the system. As creative you want to make content for a big audience and make use of as many outlets as possible. We, as policy makers, have a more conservative position and have to think at higher levels and therefore they see us as old fashioned” (Interview 8.11.: Sjoerd Pennekamp, NPO).

At the different broadcasting associations they like to be more progressive and think in other possibilities than the policy makers:

“We won’t say that audience will watch lineair television forever, that’s why we are very active digitally. BNN wants to attract younger audience, they are mostly active online on Youtube or other social media platforms, so we would be fools if we wouldn’t approach them through those platforms” (Interview 8.3.: Willem van Thiel, BNN VARA).