Histories of Public Service Broadcasters on the Web

Maureen Burns is Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies and convenes the media studies major at the University of Queensland, Australia. Her previous book ABC Online: Becoming the ABC detailed a history of the first five years of online services at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Niels Brügger is Associate Professor and Head of The Centre for Internet Research at Aarhus University, Denmark. His primary research interest is web history, and he is writing a history of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation’s website dr.dk. His latest edited book, Web History (Peter Lang, 2010), puts the emerging field of web history on the agenda of internet research.

• Contents: Nicholas W. Jankowski: Foreword: Public Service Broadcasters and the Web: Interplay of Convenience, Necessity, and Challenge – Maureen Burns/Niels Brügger: Introduction: Histories of Public Service Broadcasters on the Web: Thematic Concerns – An Nguyen/Alberto García: When Public Service Is the Name of the Game: The Evolution of British and Spanish Public Service Broadcasters in Online Journalism – Einar Thorsen: The Second Digital Wave: BBC News Online, Embedded Video and the iPlayer – Nikki Usher/Patricia Riley/Vikki Porter: NPR Online: Public Service Communication at the Center of National Public Radio – Maureen Burns: Protecting the Brand: A History of ABC Online News-as-Commodity – Kenneth Murphy: RTE Online: Public Objectives and Commercial Imperatives – Hallvard Moe: Between Public Service and Commercial Venture: The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation on the Web 1994-2000 – Niels Brügger: The Idea of Public Service in the Early History of DR Online – Amit M. Schejter/Merav Katz-Kimchi: « . . . [and] They Formed Themselves into a Single Unit»: The Development of the Israeli Broadcasting Authority Website – Benedetta Brevini: Southern European Public Service Broadcasters Expanding Online: A Policy Study of RAI and RTVE’s Online Activities – Meghan Grosse/David W. Park: Public Media and the Web in the U.S.: The Case of Vocalo – Anne Dunn: Regional Radio and Online Media Production: An Australian Broadcasting Corporation Case Study – Brian O’Neill/Michael J. Murphy: Canadian Content, Public Broadcasting and the Internet: CBC’s Online Strategy 1995-2000 – Fiona Martin: Vox Populi, Vox Dei: ABC Online and the Risks of Dialogic Interaction – Anja Bechmann: User Participation at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation 1998-2010: Changing Patterns – Shawn Powers: From Broadcast to Networked Journalism: The Case of Al-Jazeera English.

«This book represents an extremely useful and timely contribution to our understanding of both the history of the web, and PSB’s contribution to it. More than this, it presents a thorough overview and analysis of experience beyond the heartlands of PSB; and PSB’s activities in areas which are often contested by its commercial rivals. We need to remember that the Web has a history and that PSB’s engagement with the digital age is core for its survival. This book reminds us why PSB is still relevant.» (Jeanette Steemers, Co-Director of the Communications and Media Research Institute in the School of Media, Arts and Design at the University of Westminster)«‘Histories of Public Service Broadcasters on the Web’ offers a thoughtful, detailed review of the development, challenges and implications of Internet-based public service broadcasting. Its international reach makes it especially useful to scholars engaged in comparative research, and offers historians and policy analysts of all stripes a great foundation for thinking through issues in this area.» (Patrick Parsons, Don Davis Professor of Ethics, College of Communications, Penn State University)«This fascinating book offers a critical, genuinely international perspective on Internet transformations in contemporary media. Its pioneering authors convincingly establish that public service broadcasters – once an endangered species – are pivotal to how societies negotiate the marvels and perils the Internet brings. Required reading for media scholars, broadcasting and policymakers alike.» (Gerard Goggin, Professor of Media and Communications, University of Sydney)