The Historic and Contemporary Roles of Noncommercial Public Service Media across Local, Regional, National and Transnational Cultures

The historic mission of public service broadcasters has been to produce and distribute news, public affairs, documentary, analysis, fine arts and other cultural content in a manner that preserves, promotes and enhances cultural expression and understanding. However, with the rise of global capitalism in recent decades, the public service approach has been challenged by profit-oriented commodity approaches to electronic media services and content. More recently, the Internet has challenged public service providers to provide new forms of content and delivery, transforming from public service broadcasters to public service media providers, while adhering to their historic missions and principles. This documentary introduces audiences to the historic and contemporary roles of noncommercial public service media (PSM) across a variety of local, regional, national and transnational cultures. Relying primarily on the participation of public service media scholars, policy makers and practitioners of the global RIPE Initiative communicate how the principles and practices of PSM serve the cultural expression and transmission requirements of individuals, communities, nations and societies. Video recordings of interviews with prominent international PSM researchers and professionals were conducted on August 26-29, 2014, at the RIPE@2014 conference in Tokyo, Japan, and provided the setting for the examination of the mission, methods and contexts of contemporary PSM