The discussions at this roundtable session were informed by a series of questions posed at the event regarding the purposes served today by Italy’s national public broadcaster (RAI), and whether it still makes sense to talk of public broadcasting in this day and age.
It was remarked that, more than 40 years ago, Italy’s Constitutional Court upheld the legality of RAI’s monopoly on the grounds of the then scarcity of frequencies, declaring that the public broadcasting service was best-placed to guarantee constitutional freedoms. It called on Parliament to bear the responsibility of steering and controlling RAI and tasked the license-holding company with representing and documenting the social and cultural diversity of the country.
Today, there are over 800 channels available on digital terrestrial alone, more than double those on satellite platforms, to which the internet must be added. This transition from an analog to a digital age may have changed the very nature of the communications world, yet even so, this has not – it was suggested – negated the raison d’être of public broadcasting.
In today’s information society, where innovation is streamed via information highways, much has changed. Television audiences have become fluid and transient, with younger generations using the internet to create and enjoy snippets of TV while the middle to upper classes are setting their own programming schedule using video-on-demand.
It was stressed that, in this new landscape, it is essential to ensure a guaranteed minimum of reliable and quality content for all, regardless of level of income and culture, in order for every citizen to be able to fully exercise their rights in a digital society. Such content was viewed as including (but not limited to) news, sports, entertainment, drama, presentations of history and science, and children’s programs. Furthermore, it was emphasized that in order to preserve the national identity – which justifies an exception to the normal EU competition rules – the public broadcasting service must act as a “prime mover” in fostering the global competitiveness of the national factual and creative programming industry. Naturally, it must in addition serve as the main vehicle for spreading digital awareness, deemed a crucial prerequisite for overcoming the country’s digital divide.
At this stage of the proceedings, however, the participants pointed to a number of problems that need to be resolved. Cited as among the most important of these were two legal issues and one of a philosophical nature, with all three having major political ramifications. The two legal matters were described as touching on Italian constitutional concerns and European regulations respectively. Firstly, it was questioned whether the governance arrangements introduced by Law 220 of 2015 are in keeping with the spirit of the Constitutional Court’s rulings which establish the Italian Parliament’s editorial control of RAI. Secondly, with regards to European regulations, queries were raised as to whether the separate accounting arrangements in place for different resources are sufficient to distinguish what the public broadcasting company produces with the license fee, and what, on the other hand, stems from advertising revenue.
Last but not least, at a time when roles and functions in the sector are being redefined, many of the participants wondered whether public broadcasting continues to be of public service or to perform such. Put another way, the question was seen as amounting to whether the role of public communications (considered a perhaps more appropriate term than public TV or radio broadcasting) should be entrusted to a single entity or whether it might be assigned (with the consequent apportionment of license fee revenues) to several organizations based on what they produce and transmit.
In conclusion, it was felt that on the eve of the renewal of the public broadcaster’s license, charter, and service contract, the changing concept of “public broadcasting” calls for a rethink of the editorial offerings, the international clout and role, and the organizational structure of RAI. The participants urged that the goal should ultimately be to make Italy’s public broadcaster a living and vibrant player in the media landscape, the contribution of which is universally recognized.