On 20 September 2010, thanks to an initiative by the Infocivica Association the European Group of Turin was set up with the aim of reflecting on the development of the media in the cross-media era. Enrique Bustamante of the Complutense University of Madrid, Francisco Rui Càdima of the New University of Lisbon, Peter Dahlgren (*) of the University of Lund, Uwe Hasenbrink of the University of Hamburg, Matthew Hibberd of the University of Stirling, Beata Klimkiewicz of the University of Krakow, Pierre Musso of the University of Rennes, Giuseppe Richeri of the University of Lugano, Philip Schlesinger of the University of Glasgow and Michele Sorice of the Luiss University in Rome all constitute a network of ten European university professors with experience and expertise in themes concerning the media and technological innovation. They have all been summoned to elaborate proposals and observations with the aim of drawing up a Green Paper on public service media in the society of information and knowledge.
This harmonious collaboration was established last year at a meeting promoted by Infocivica in the context of the Prix Italia 2009: the high level of interest and and the quality of the interventions prompted the Association to promote the establishment of the European Group of Turin and to propose a series of events, meetings and appointments. All of this will lead up to the drawing up of the Green Paper which aims to reaffirm, on the one hand, the indispensability of public services in the society of information and, on the other hand, the need to redefine its mission in a document with a constitutional value, hopefully contributing towards a radical transformation of the guaranteed service and safeguarded standards, the organizational structure, the modalities of funding and the institutional contacts of service media.
Infocivica is a free association of people, which was founded by Jader Jacobelli, Bino Olivi and a group of journalists, university academics and various professionals and operators in the sector of communication. Ever since its first meeting at Amalfi in September 2000 it has been struggling for the renewal of public service broadcasting and the redefinition of its mission in the society of information and knowledge. The President of the association is now Gerardo Mombelli, who has recently replaced Bino Olivi. The Secretary General is Bruno Somalvico.
The first seminar with the European Group of Turin as its protagonist took place in Turin on September 21st 2010 at the Arturo Toscanini RAI Auditorium. It was chaired by Professor Philip Schlesinger of the University of Glasgow, and its theme was Social change and the new public service demand and mission (Turin, Arturo Toscanini Rai Auditorium). Many interesting points for discussion were raised during both sessions of the seminar. In particular the need to broaden the investigation and the definition of the public service mission not only to public service media, but to the whole media system in generally was emphasized.
The nascent European Group of Turin is also faced with the need to go beyond the drastic alternative between two very separate paths: on the one hand that of a simple exchange of opinions and experiences without any concrete operational proposals, and on the other hand that of trying to institute a radical practical alternative to the current state of affairs. The path that Infocivica would like to propose is a kind of third way, and as such it is rather more complex. It would firstly entail an in-depth study describing the overall situation of the media in all the European Union countries, and secondly the elaboration of some general policy considerations concerning four main areas of public service media: mission, offer, funding, and rules or guidelines. When it has concluded its reflections and evaluations the European Group of Turin will then indicate some possible guidelines for a harmonious standardization of these issues at a European level. The objectives to be defined and assessed, to which the Green Paper will give a satisfactory reply in view of the European Conference in November 2012 will therefore constitute the index of the Green Paper itself. |
