ESSAYS 2009

Public service: manoeuvres in highly complex terrain

di Philip Schlesinger ©

This meeting has set itself a major challenge: to address the possibility of creating European public service television. I would like to note some of the preconditions of such an idea, principally by reflecting on the British experience in the wider European context.

The intention is not to privilege what is going on in the UK but rather to use it in an exemplary way, as it illustrates the political, economic and ideological ground on which much debate is taking place. In particular, it demonstrates the instability of the terms of reference of current debate.