Public service media: Embracing or leaving social media
Is withdrawal from social media platforms a viable strategy in the ongoing relational power negotiations between public service media and platforms?
Main content
A new paper from Hallvard Moe and the PREPARE project in the European Journal of Communication discusses the viability of public service media organizations’ strategies facing platform power.
Recent diverging strategic efforts from public service broadcasters in two European countries – Germany and Norway – serve as illustrations of how existing organizations attempt to manoeuvre the current online realm dominated by platforms. The paper discusses findings from qualitative studies of news use in Norway and draw on comparative survey data on news use. Author Moe proposes that high levels of trust in public service media, and widespread use of the public service broadcaster's own sites and offers, are key prerequisites to consider when assessing the viability of a withdrawal from third-party platforms in different countries.
By zooming in on one type of media organization (public service broadcasters), and looking at different such organizations’ characteristics and context, and the dynamics of their relations to online platforms, this paper contributes to our understanding of platform power.