Tony Bennett, Differing diversities - Council of Europe

Reasearch position paper 1There have been a number of trend studies examining (and comparing) the impactof commercialisation and expansion on the programming of the main televisionchannels. 1 There is evidence of convergence in the balance of content types inmainstream television, especially as between public and commercial channels.Although the changes during the decade from late 1980s to late 1990s do not seemdramatic, there has been a trend for public broadcasting to move information andcultural programming out of peak viewing hours and also to suffer a decline inaudience. The overall effect is probably some loss of diversity in television experiencefor average viewers.Tabloidisation and cultural decline?There has been a good deal of debate and some research about another effect of“Americanisation”, arriving on the back of commercialisation. This concerns thequality of information that is made available by media to citizens, especially inrelation to participation in political life. The thesis of “video-malaise” and “TVtabloidisation”links the quantity and type of typical television (info-tainment)with lower levels of information, more cynicism and less willingness to participatein civic life. Schulz (1997) presents some supporting evidence of this in relation tothe German audience. Brants (1998) casts doubt on the reality of any decline in thequality of politics on media. Some other studies in Germany also support thiscounter-view. 2Some media researchers, especially in the cultural studies tradition, do not acceptindicators of change in the form of “popularisation” or even “Americanisation” atface value as evidence of “decline”. 3 While there is probably more superficialityand sensationalism, there are many examples of new popular genres and formats(talkshows, breakfast television, debates, phone-ins) which have a capacity ofconnecting personal and emotional concerns with public issues. They are alsomore likely to involve women in the public sphere than did the older, elite, maledominatedand newspaper-led form of politics (Livingstone and Lunt, 1994). Theycan also offer opportunities of access for cultural minority voices (Leurdijk,1997).Sub-nation, region and languageAt the sub-national level, a good deal of research has inventorised the survival andeven flourishing of media in the regional language and indicated some of the preconditionsfor survival and the pressures to fail. 4 Policy and subsidy can often bevery helpful, although there must be some base in popular support as well andsome potential financial viability. In general it is agreed that any regional identityhas to precede any successful media provision. The question of language is closely__________1. See Chaniac, 1994; Hellman and Sauri, 1994; Krüger, 1997; McQuail and Siune, 1998; De Bens andDe Smaele, 2001; Moragas and Prado, 2000; RAI, n.d.2. For instance Bruns and Marcinkowski, 1996.3. See Dahlgren, 1995; Hermes, 1997.4. See Garitaonandía, 1993; Cormack, 1998; Bulck and Poecke, 1996.79