Giuseppe Richeri
Professor of "Media Strategies" and Dean of the Faculty of Communication Sciences - Institute of Media and Journalism of the University of Italian Switzerland, Lugano
 Real-time summary:
Giuseppe Richeri recalled that national social cohesion is certainly a prime objective for public broadcasting. But this goal is now increasingly difficult to maintain and to reinforce under the various pressures of localism and internationalization present in many countries, to which, particularly in Europe, an increase in cultural and social diversification is added. Conceiving of public television programming articulated on many different channels, enlarged to include the various offers via Internet, and capable of conveying values, experiences and agendas aimed at creating elements of collective identity, absolutely requires a profound rethinking of the public service. Faced with this situation, in order to pursue its objectives public television either needs to reacquire a large slice of the audience that is has lost, which promises to be a rather complex objective, or it must admit that this section of the public can no longer be regained.
Above all Professor Richeri wanted to remind us that in order to perform its functions of collective interest public television must become free from the logic of competition with commercial operators, which inevitably involves a revision of the modalities of funding from advertising. For the first time, we have begun to systematically measure and assess public opinion and the choices of the public, for example, between public and private television. The final aspect of the new law focused attention on the new media. All web contents produced by radio and television programs must have a connection to radio and television programming. It is prohibited to carry out business activities on the public television networks web as well as having links to commercial sites.
Continuation of the real-time summary 
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General content of Professor Giuseppe Richeri 's speech:
Public Television for uniting everyone or only those who remain? Ideas for a debate The issue of national social cohesion is certainly a prime objective of public broadcasting. Today however this seems to be increasingly difficult to maintain and strengthen, due to the various pressures of localism and internationalization in many countries, and, particularly in Europe, the increase in cultural and social diversification. In past years the media, together with the school system, had a central role as factors for social cohesion. In this sense the first decades of public television in Italy were a shining example. But with the end of the public broadcasting monopolies this function was weakened and the progressive transformation of the media scenario initiated a process of multiplication and fragmentation of the offer, which is still underway. This took place together with the formation of a multiplicity of audiences with quite distinct desires and tastes.
The objective of operating through public television so as to promote social cohesion is still important, but it is generally a very difficult objective to reach and precisely define, considering the mobility of TV audiences, the variety of television genres, the competition between the various different channels and the characteristics of the industry and the contents market. Is it possible to conceive of public television programming articulated into many different channels, expanded to satisfy the various different offers on Internet, and capable of conveying values, experiences and agendas intended to create elements of a collective identity, shared on a mass scale? This may indeed be possible, but I think that in several European countries it would require a profound reconsideration of the public service, its organization and its modalities of funding. I also believe that the development of the media system is heading in a direction that makes it harder to achieve this goal.
Some important sectors of society are already using public television and what it has to offer in a marginal way, since they are able to find what they want elsewhere (pay TV, media on demand, internet). Can we truly imagine a television public offer with a cohesive function that addresses these audience categories, while without losing the others?
Furthermore, the transition to digital television is accelerating the fragmentation of television consumption in general (unless the new channels prove to be unsuccessful). This fragmentation is favoured by the presence of the Internet in most homes and by improved networks providing access to services. The situation that is developing points to the growth of an already extensive audience that uses the public television offer sporadically, occasionally and marginally, since its interests, desires and needs in the world of the media are being satisfied elsewhere.
Faced with this situation how can public television pursue its goals of social cohesion? There are basically two possibilities. On the one hand it can try to re-elaborate its offer in order to chase after and retrieve those sectors of the audience that do not seem interested today. But this would mean not only completely renovating its offer, but also operating with the various modalities of supply (specialized, on-demand, interactive) as well as on the various platforms so as to meet the demands of that audience more easily. On the other hand it can acknowledge that this growing sector of the audience cannot be retrieved or in any case that it cannot be a stable reference point for elaborating its offer so that it focuses on sectors of society which, for various cultural, economic or technical reasons find that public television best satisfies all or part of their television consumption requirements.
As a footnote to these ideas I wish to add that in all instances, in order to perform its functions in the public interest as a whole public television must become free from the situation of competition with commercial operators, which inevitably leads to a reconsideration of the modalities of funding from advertising.
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See also:
2009 INFOCIVICA CONFERENCE
IS BUILDING AN EUROPEAN PUBLIC SERVICE TELEVISION POSSIBLE ?
Problems and prospects offered by the Lisbon Treaty
 Audio 2009 INFOCIVICA CONFERENCE
Audio 2009 INFOCIVICA CONFERENCE
abstract 2009 INFOCIVICA CONFERENCE
IS BUILDING AN EUROPEAN PUBLIC SERVICE TELEVISION POSSIBLE ?
After the Lisbon Treaty : problems and prospects
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