National Conversations: Public Service Media and Cultural Diversity in Europe

Public service broadcasting is in the process of evolving into “public service media” as a response to the challenges of digitalization, intensive competition, and financial vulnerability. While many commentators regard public service as being in transition, a central dimension of its mission—to integrate and unify the nation while respecting and representing plurality—is being reemphasized and relegitimated in a political climate where the politics of migration and cultural diversity loom large in public debate. Through a series of thematic chapters and in-depth national case studies, National Conversations examines the reshaping of public service media and the concomitant development of new guiding discourses, policies, and program practices for addressing difference and lived multiculturalism in Europe.