As the media landscape changes, public service media have to communicate their distinctiveness and their societal value clearly. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) therefore launched the "
Public Service Media Contribution to Society project". This project provides EBU members with support and a network when they want to start their own contribution to society projects.
When Gabriel Byström was appointed project leader for the contribution to society project of Sveriges Radio one and a half years ago, "many things were going on in Swedish radio that had a contribution to society approach", he says. Byström had worked as an editor in the commercial media business before. When he took his new post in Sveriges Radio, the Swedish public service radio, he aimed at implementing a central and long term strategy for the contribution to society (C2S) project.
For him, a C2S approach means explaining to the people, what public service media is all about and what difference it makes for their lives. This distinctiveness of public service media is not easy to understand for many people, so it needs to be explained in a good way. Many of his colleagues meet different groups of people in order to explain the public value of Swedish radio and how public service works in general. Byström realised that they need a toolbox of materials they can choose from when they talk to these different groups. Together with his team, he started to produce presentations aiming at different target audiences like young people or people who have recently come to Sweden, brochures and
videos in different languages. His colleagues can now use this toolbox when they need help explaining Swedish radio's contribution to society.
Tracing the activities
Together with 120 colleagues from Sveriges Radio, Byström set the goal for his first year in the position: 100 C2S activities throughout the company in one year. As soon as an activity that showed Sveriges Radio's contribution to society was carried out, it had to be reported to the team. Like this, Byström can trace all the activities and work on a central strategy.
And the goal was more than achieved: 166 activities were counted, including the efforts of the people working in the 25 local stations of Swedish radio. The activities range from small measures to big events: There are school classes with 20 children coming to local newsrooms and discussing public service with the editors. And there are things like to
tour of the correspondents, where hundreds of people come to theatres and concert halls around the country to meet the correspondents.
Media literacy matters
Byström highlights one special event:
The Freedom of Speech Day in Växjö, a city in the south of Sweden. On this day, Swedish radio and television and the local newspaper "Smålandsposten" offered workshops and seminars to educate twelve year old kids about freedom of speech and expression. Around 800 children participated. "The competition for young listeners is a lot harder than some years ago", Byström says. "Many young people mainly use commercial services like Spotify, they don't even know what Swedish Radio is all about." Therefore, it is important for him to educate them in media literacy. The event first took place in Växjö in 2017. In 2018, it was repeated in Växjö and two other cities.
The knowledge about public service media in general and Swedish Radio in particular also varies among other groups. People who have recently come to Sweden, for instance, often do not know that public service media is not state controlled media. "We have to make them understand that we are free in the way of making news", Byström says. He sees a general trend: "The questioning of public service media is getting stronger and stronger. More and more people now understand that it is important to discuss the role of PSM, how it is constructed and what difference it makes", he is convinced.
His goal for the company therefore is to implement the C2S approach in the mindset of the people working there. This, of course, is an ongoing process. One lesson, Byström learned last year, was: "If you have done one great project, you need to scale it and do it again at a different location. You don't have to invent everything from scratch every time." Next year, he wants to continue to be a learning organisation and support his colleagues to do even more projects. The goal: 200 C2S activities.
Ricarda Kargl
More information:
EBU Public Service Media Contribution to Society project
Video "About Swedish Radio"
The tour of the Swedish Radio Correspondents
Fria ordets dag (Freedom of Speech Day) (in Swedish)
Freedom of Speech Day 2017 (in Swedish)
