Our current notion of democracy has developed within and for the modern nation state. Robert Menasse, however, advocates Europe as a post-national utopia, requiring a fundamentally new and different understanding and practice of democracy that still needs to be developed. “The nation states”, he suggests, “must fade away if we want a system of checks and balances at European level.”
Continue ReadingDas Privatfernsehen in Deutschland entstand in den 1980er Jahren aus einer historisch gewachsenen Mischung wirtschaftlicher Interessen mit politischen Wunschvorstellungen. Als es endlich soweit war, rieb sich das Establishment angesichts des tatsächlichen Programmangebots verwundert die Augen.
Continue ReadingLegacy media are affected by a tectonic shift: First, declining audience translates into lower advertising revenue; second, the abundance of advertising space on the Internet lowers ad prices dramatically; and third, subscription and sales revenues are going down as well. Aside from volunteering, alternative ways of news media financing are therefore being considered.
Continue ReadingNon-profit organizations which realise that some of their capabilities have a market value and deploy them accordingly can defend their autonomous status while reducing dependency from external donors, many of whom have an agenda of their own.
Continue ReadingThe main issue with the European anthem lies in the fact that it takes a short tune completely out of context and – even worse – re-arranges it into a syrupy, self-contained, instrumental piece of music. The fact that renowned Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan was put in charge of cutting it to size does not do much to alleviate the injustice to the original.
Continue ReadingIt rarely happens anymore that somebody suggests climate change could be a good thing. Yet at the annual conference of the German Association of State Media Authorities, it happened a lot, and for a reason.
Continue ReadingNews consumption is a function of the education level of a society and of citizens’ sense of ownership of the public sphere. Forcing media businesses to dangle news as a carrot in front of an apathetic audience will not help.
Continue ReadingThe FP7 programme and application process are so immensely complicated and difficult that it basically takes a dedicated FP7 expert to identify the appropriate call and to draft a proposal to match the strict format and eligibility criteria officially prescribed for it.
Continue ReadingThe European Union disburses more than 7 billion euro a year for research. However, funding programmes and application procedures are also very complex and demanding. In this two-part article, I will discuss several related issues.
Continue ReadingWhen the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD) organised their annual conference, I was kindly invited to join a panel. Its title: The Internet as a Reputation Trap.
Continue ReadingWe should start to re-assess Internet infrastructure and content repositories from the point of view of a public service that must not be entrusted to the business interests of a handful of companies alone.
Continue ReadingThe Second Annual Conference of the Association of Commercial Television in Europe (ACT), which took place on 4 November, 2009, was supposed to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the ACT. But it was more of a swan song for commercial television as we know it.
Continue ReadingNationwide German public broadcaster ZDF recently announced the relaunch of one of its digital channels. Of the many interesting and inspired programming decisions, a few stick out as sensational.
Continue ReadingGerman Christian democrat Günther Oettinger might not be a bad choice to fill the role of a European Commissioner. What is unsettling about Oettinger’s nomination lies not in his person, but in the way the German political sphere has handled it.
Continue ReadingOn 15 and 16 October, 2009, the EJC hosted yet another conference in its Innovation series, titled "Innovations in Youth Media and Next Generation Classroom", and I was kindly invited to moderate the Maastricht event. Here are some conclusions I drew.
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Our current notion of democracy has developed within and for the modern nation state. Robert Menasse, however, advocates Europe as a post-national utopia, requiring a fundamentally new and different understanding and practice of democracy that still needs to be developed. “The nation states”, he suggests, “must fade away if we want a system of checks and balances at European level.”
Continue Reading
Das Privatfernsehen in Deutschland entstand in den 1980er Jahren aus einer historisch gewachsenen Mischung wirtschaftlicher Interessen mit politischen Wunschvorstellungen. Als es endlich soweit war, rieb sich das Establishment angesichts des tatsächlichen Programmangebots verwundert die Augen.
Continue Reading
Legacy media are affected by a tectonic shift: First, declining audience translates into lower advertising revenue; second, the abundance of advertising space on the Internet lowers ad prices dramatically; and third, subscription and sales revenues are going down as well. Aside from volunteering, alternative ways of news media financing are therefore being considered.
Continue Reading
Non-profit organizations which realise that some of their capabilities have a market value and deploy them accordingly can defend their autonomous status while reducing dependency from external donors, many of whom have an agenda of their own.
Continue Reading