Public service broadcasting: a best practices ... - unesdoc - Unesco

It provides a broad range of opinions, whether in education, news and information, or cultural
and entertainment programming, all of which are ethical and professional in content
and sensitive to citizens' needs and values;
- Finally, PSB is about setting standards for fairness at work, social justice and protection for
journalists and all who work in the industry.
These three aspects are essential not only in countries that struggle for the creation of genuine
public media, but also in the countries where PSB has been existing and considered as
a model over the past decades. The International Federation of Journalists put this issue on
top of its agenda, through campaigns and projects in various parts of the world.
This handbook is a valuable resource for journalists, media workers and media activists,
decision makers and students, who need reliable information for their work.”
Aidan White, International Federation of Journalists
This sourcebook comes at the right time and will be immensely useful for broadcasters, civil
society, regulators, political circles and other stakeholders recognizing electronic media’s
essential contribution to social development and democracy. Not only isn’t PSB obsolete in
the 21st century; it has yet to show its full potential.
As the French sociologist Dominique Wolton rightly points out, television and radio have the
unique capacity to put people in contact with foreign worldviews, ethical norms, lifestyles,
etc, without them feeling threatened. This remarkable power needs to be developed and
used extensively to permit a real dialogue between the different societies, cultures, religions,
which the globalized world puts in close contact.
The Information Age requires in addition something only radio and TV can provide: that all
men and women around the globe have access to a credible, factual representation of the
world they live in, at the local, national and global levels. To reach these high goals, indispensable
to a peaceful, sustainable development, market forces do not suffice. Public
Service Broadcasting is the essential, but complex tool to develop.
This sourcebook explores the ways and means to implement PSB, collects examples of
good practices from all over the world, lists useful websites and indicates some of the traps
to avoid. It is compulsory reading.
Guillaume Chenevière, World Radio and Television Council
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