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Diversity of Journalisms. Proceedings of ECREA/CICOM Conference, Pamplona, 4-5 July 2011
to pressure by civic groups, the first German open channel in 1984 followed an
initiative from media politics (c.f. Walendy, 1993, p. 306). Open channels are local or
regional radio stations and television channels that are open to every citizen to
participate (c.f. Buchholz, Pagel, & Preuß, 1998, p. 73). The main aim is to give citizens
who do not have a voice or not much significance in the professional programs an
opportunity to articulate (c.f. BpB, 1980, p. 31). The open channels are mainly financed
by public funding through broadcasting fees (c.f. Breunig, 1998, p. 248). The open
channels are mainly criticized because their audience reach is quite low. Diverse
studies on open channels in different federal states prove that only between 7% and
around 30% of the audience listens to or watches an open channel at least once every
two weeks (c.f ALM, 2008, p. 324). Furthermore, the programming has been criticized
for being of low technical quality (c.f. Breunig, 1998, p. 248). Finally, the social web has
put the idea of the open channel as a place for democratic mass communication under
pressure, since the social web enables anyone with almost no barriers to speak out, for
example, in a blog.
Thus, some federal states are reforming their open channels at present. Major aims are
more programming and producers, better program quality, more audience acceptance
and funding through local supporters (c.f ALM, 2008, p. 325). In the most populous
federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), a study by Volpers and Werner (2007)
has led to a reform process in which the former open television channel was replaced
by a new channel nrwision.
nrwision
Since 2009, the former open television channel in NRW has followed a new concept.
While in the past, this channel was built on just one column, ordinary citizens, today
there are three columns: emerging media professionals, young people in on-the-jobtraining
or university project teams (diverse backgrounds) and still ordinary citizens.
The producers send in their content from various regions throughout NRW.
The aim of the project today is twofold. One, it is still to add to the diversity of the
producers and reporting. Therefore, access to the channel is open to anyone interested
in participating. Two, it now also aims in particular at strengthening the producers’
media competence. Therefore, every producer gets individual feedback on his or her
production from an editorial office of professional journalists to foster motivation as well
as to improve the quality of the programming. The producers in on-the-job-training or
university project teams are even financially supported by the media authority of NRW
(Landesanstalt für Medien Nordrhein-Westfalen (LfM)) for technical equipment and
qualifications measures. However, it is central that the project does not aspire to be just
another professional television channel but an option for emerging media
professionals, young people in on-the-job-training or university project teams and
ordinary citizens to learn, to experiment, also with formats, and to speak out about
topics relevant to them. Concrete data on the three groups of deliverers and the topics
of their programs will be presented in the following empirical section. In general,
ordinary citizens are the largest group of producers covering a variety of issues such as
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