The Educational Value of Public Service Media in Western Europe

The public service broadcasting industry is undergoing rapid digital transformation processes fueled by technological advancements, evolving user behaviour, shifting audience interest in favour of commercial platforms and growing economic pressure as a result of increased competition, depending on the funding model. In view of these challenges, strategic considerations are necessary on the part of media institutions. This thesis comprehensively explores the educational value of public service media (PSM) as an essential public service. Initially, a literature review serves as a foundation to for understanding the unique role PSM play in promoting education and knowledge within Western European societies. When reviewing the democratic, social and cultural role of PSM as a public institutions on an educational mission, a gap was discovered in the existing literature on how this role of PSM is changing in the course of the digital transformation processes. Furthermore, it was also noted that there were hardly any scientific studies on strategic considerations in relation to PSM. Therefore, the following research questions were developed: RQ1: How can public service media in Western European PSM use their public value propositions to Europe strategically position themselves as providers of educational value in order to stand out from the competition in the ever-changing digital media markets? RQ2: How can public service media in Western Europe operationalise their educational mandate and translate it into an adequately innovative content offering that meets the demands of our time? Employing a qualitative research approach, this thesis used in-depth interviews as a data collection method and thematic analysis to examine the data. Twelve experts from the intersection of (public service) media and education were asked to provide valuable insights into their planning, production, and evaluation processes of their educational programming. The findings show, above all, in how multifaceted ways the educational value of PSM can be delivered. In a three-theme-structure, based on the experts' assessments of the current state, this study reveals room for improvement, offers insights into successful existing initiatives, and elaborates a modern, public-oriented educational media offering. In that way, possible paths of further advancement in the future were developed for PSM in Western Europe.