COUNCIL OF EUROPE CITES THREATS TO PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING

Many European countries have failed to meet commitments to maintain and develop robust PSB systems, the report said. Many still haven’t established the fundamental principle of an independent PSB system set in a Committee of Ministers’ recommendation, it said. And many govts. are reorienting their media policies in light of new digital technologies, which could leave PSB without adequate support, it said.

The situation in central and eastern Europe varies, the report said. Some countries, such as Russia, maintain total govt. control of national broadcasting while others, including Armenia and Serbia, have enacted PSB laws whose provisions and practices contradict European standards, it said, and still others have made progress, although problems remain.

Even western European PSB isn’t immune to political pressure, the report said. “The BBC was attacked by the British government over its coverage of the war in Iraq,” it said, and Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain use “state paternalism” to keep public service broadcasting tied to direct political control.

The report cited a growing tendency to go beyond existing PSB regulation and define obligations more precisely through contracts backed by accounting reports to govt. entities. While that gives broadcast organizations greater stability, it also lets govts. undermine their financial and statutory status. Govts. also have been looking at structural changes that would “affect the very nature” of PSB, it said. In the U.K., for instance, there’s “growing concern at the government’s attitude to the renewal of the charter of the BBC, fueled by the very public row between the corporation and the government.”

In most European countries, digital channels aren’t yet defined by broadcasting legislation and there’s a “clear absence” of laws related to Internet activities by public service broadcasters, the report said. Commercial broadcasters are trying to stifle public sector competition, it said, by using European Union competition law to attack funding schemes for PSBs. Commercial broadcasters contend shifting to multichannel, on-demand digital broadcasting will let them cater to all needs and fulfill the public service obligations now required of public sector broadcasters, the report said. However, it said, there’s “no guarantee about the quality and independence of such offer, or that it would be free-to-air, universally accessible and constant over time.”

If adopted by the CoE assembly, the report would recommend that Ministers: (1) Adopt a major new policy on PSB. (2) Require monitoring by the CoE to ensure member states take the proper legislative, political and practical measures to support PSB. (3) Consider specific measures to force Russia and other countries into line with European standards. (4) Cooperate with other international organizations to maintain standards for freedom of expression. (5) Continue to press for audiovisual services to be treated as “more than simply a commodity” in World Trade Organization and General Agreement on Tariffs negotiations. (6) Try to ensure the World Summit on the Information Society gives due recognition to PSB as an important element in developing the information society.

Govts. of CoE member states will be called on to: (1) Reaffirm their commitments to vibrant, independent PSB while adapting it to the requirements of the digital age. (2) Define an appropriate legal, financial and institutional framework in which PSB can function and update its services. (3) Create education and training programs for journalists adapted to the digital media environment.

Report rapporteur Paschal Mooney didn’t comment. But in an Oct. interview, he said public broadcasting in Europe was under discussion because of increasing competition from the private sector and political interference with the editorial line. That threat is greatest in Italy, he said, “where the private sector, which is in a strong position since it is owned by Mr. Berlusconi, the head of the Italian Government, is consolidating its dominant position throughout the sector.” Russia is “worrying,” he said, because PSB legislation hasn’t even been introduced, and there no longer is an independent national television channel. Mooney’s personal view, he said, is that PSB “needs a structured legislative framework and an organisation which is proof against any corruption.”

Two debates on PSB are in progress in the U.K. The Office of Communications (OFCOM) in Nov. began what it called a “far-reaching” 12-month review undertaking a detailed analysis of all U.K. public services broadcasters, including the BBC, ITV1, Channel 4, Five and S4C. Results of the OFCOM study will feed into a U.K. govt. review of the BBC’s charter, the regulator said. The charter is revisited every 10 years, and a new process has just begun, a spokesman for the Dept. of Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) said.

The U.K. govt. agrees with the report’s broad aspirations for PSB, a DCMS spokeswoman told us. For the first time, she said, U.K. law, in the form of the Communications Act 2003, defines the central purposes of PSB. The report calls on member states to reaffirm their commitment to strong, independent PSB with an appropriate legal framework to suit the digital age. The govt. believes PSB “will continue to play a key role in the digital future, potentially an even more important one than it has now,” the spokeswoman said. The Communications Act aims to deliver a new way by which that public service role is regulated and delivered by broadcasters, reflecting changing market conditions and fast-developing technologies, she said.

The draft recommendations say the govt. is putting pressure on the BBC for its coverage of the Iraq war, the DCMS spokeswoman said. However, she said, the review of the BBC’s charter is a “quite separate, and considerably wider, process than any current issues.” It will be “characterised by vigorous and open debate and will be subject to one constraint only -- that it will maintain a strong BBC, independent of Government.”

It remains to be seen whether the CoE panel’s report proves controversial, a committee co-secy. told us. It openly criticizes several countries, whose reactions at this point aren’t known, she said. Some member states may think PSBs should be funded by licenses only, others may believe the quality of public broadcasting is declining, she said. During CoE hearings on PSB, some witnesses complained public broadcasters were offering unsatisfactory or “big brother” programming that public funds shouldn’t support, she said. The hearings, the last of which was in Oct., highlighted serious govt. and economic pressure on public broadcasters, the official said, and the report is “quite a serious investigation of the situation.”

The report if adopted, even with changes, will be sent to the CoE Council of Ministers, the committee secy. said. The council then must advise the assembly what action it intends on the report’s recommendations. Telecom ministers could decide on action at their next meeting in Nov. in Kiev, she said.