Media Users as Parties Active in Civil Society
Users of media belong to those groups without a strong institutional base, which find it difficult to have their voices heard vis-à-vis media companies and media politics and to bring their interests into debates on media politics and into the programming of the media business. In the context of a cooperation project with partners from several European countries being sponsored by the EU Commission, the Institute has investigated which instruments for promoting and securing the interests of viewers have been developed in 29 countries and which models and initiatives have proved particularly durable.
Building on the results of this project, the Institute has developed a concept for a project in the 7th EU Framework Programme in cooperation with partners in Bulgaria, Greece, Great Britain, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. The concept picks up the new form of research promotion, "Research for the benefit of social groups"; in line with this, EURALVA, the European Alliance of Listeners and Viewers Associations, among others, belongs to the project’s consortium. Alongside conceptual and empirical steps towards investigating the preconditions, limitations and the possibilities for promotion of a role for media users in accord with civil society, the concept aims at founding a "European Platform for Media Citizens".
With regard to the current media-political discussions in Germany, the Institute contributes insights gained within the context of this project to the considerations about a testing mechanism for "Public Value" – as well as about the options for continuous monitoring of the quality of media offerings from the audience’s point of view.
Publications
Hasebrink, U. (2008): Das multiple Publikum. Paradoxien im Verhältnis von Journalismus und Mediennutzung [The Multiple Audience. Paradoxes in the Realtionship of Journalism and Media Use]. In: B. Pörksen; W. Loosen; A. Scholl (eds.), Paradoxien des Journalismus. Theorie – Empirie – Praxis. Wiesbaden, pp. 513-530.
Hasebrink, U.; Herzog, A.; Eilders, C. (2007): Media Users’ Participation in Europe from a Civil Society Perspective. In: P. Baldi, U. Hasebrink (eds.), Broadcasters and Citizens in Europe. Trends in Media Accountability and Viewer Participation in Europe. Bristol & Chicago, pp. 75-91.
Hasebrink, U. (2007): Mediennutzer als Akteure der Medienpolitik [Media Users as Participants in Media Politics]. In: O. Jarren, P. Donges (eds.), Ordnung durch Medienpolitik? Konstanz, pp. 303-324.
Herzog, A.; Hasebrink, U. (2007): User Participation and Media Accountability in Central and Eastern Europe. In: S. Jedrezejewski (eds.), The Medium with Promising Future. Radio in Central and Eastern European Countries. Lublin, pp. 35-50.
Hasebrink, U. (2007): “Public Value”: Leitbegriff oder Nebelkerze in der Diskussion um den öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunk? [Public Value: Core Concept or Smokescreen in the Discussion on Public Broadcasting]. In: Rundfunk und Geschichte, vol. 33, no. 1-2, pp. 38-42.
Herzog, A.; Hasebrink, U.; Eilders, C. (2006): Medien-Qualitäten aus der Sicht des Publikums. Europas Mediennutzer zwischen Konsum, Kritik und Partizipation [Media Qualities from the Audience’s Viewpoint. Europe’s Media Users between Consumption, Criticism and Participation]. In: S. Weischenberg; W. Loosen; M. Beuthner (eds.), Medien-Qualitäten. Öffentliche Kommunikation zwischen ökonomischem Kalkül und Sozialverantwortung [Media Qualities. Public Communication between Economic Calculation and Social Reponsibility]. Konstanz, pp. 399-414.
Eilders, C.; Hasebrink, U.; Herzog, A. (2006): Das aktive Publikum. Institutionalisierung zivilgesellschaftlicher Kontrolle des Fernsehens auf europäischer Ebene [The Active Audience. The Institutionalisation of Control of Television by Civil Society on a European Level]. In: W. R. Langenbucher; M. Latzer (Eds.), Europäische Öffentlichkeit und medialer Wandel [European Public Sphere and Medial Change], Wiesbaden, pp. 330-351.
Lectures
"Giving the Audience a Voice: The Role of Research in Making Media Regulation More Responsive to the Needs of the Audience”, lecture by U. Hasebrink at the workshop “Media Diversity from the User Perspective”, University of Amsterdam on 3 December 2010.
“European Citizens as Media Users”, lecture by A. Herzog at the workshop of the Institute for Human Sciences “Towards a European Public Space. International workshop on European media networking” in Vienna on 8 November 2007.
"Equal Opportunities for Whom? How Researchers and Politicians Construct Citizens, Media Users, and Audiences", keynote by U. Hasebrink at the ECREA conference 2007 on „Equal Opportunities and Communication Rights: Representation, Participation and the European Democratic Deficit” in Brussels on 11 October 2007.
“The Frameworks of Public Service Broadcasting: Citizenship and Accountability”, lecture by U. Hasebrink at the EURALVA/SLS conference “Broadcasters and Citizens” in Copenhagen on 9 October 2007.
“How to Organise Media Accountability? Structures and Procedures of User Participation in Europe”, lecture by U. Hasebrink and A. Herzog at the working group on European public service broadcasting policies at the IAMCR conference in Paris on 24 July 2007.
„Accountability of Broadcasters. Current Issues of European Public Service Broadcasting“, lecture by U. Hasebrink at the Public Service Broadcasting Workshop hosted by the Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change (CRESC) in London on 9 March 2007.
Contact person
Hans-Bredow-Institut
Dependance
Warburgstr. 8-10
D - 20354 Hamburg
Tel. +49 (0)40 45 02 17 - 81
Fax +49 (0)40 45 02 17 - 99
Funding
European Commission, E-Learning Programme