Making sense of the public service mission in media: youth audiences, competition, and strategic management

ABSTRACT

Our study examines how the public service mission in media is being redefined as a strategic issue in legacy public broadcasting firms. Our research interest particularly focuses on the challenge of competition for youth audiences. The study investigates perceptions and responses among strategic managers (N = 16). The authors use a blended framework of two theories: dominant logic and sense-making. Content analysis of interviews in Finland (Yleisradio [Yle]), Germany (Norddeutscher Rundfunk [NDR] and Radio Bremen [RB]), and Sweden (Sveriges Television [SVT]) clarifies correspondence and contradictions among strategic managers of legacy mass media firms as they struggle to adapt their organisations to the demands of today’s digital media environment. Findings indicate continuing commitment to legacy public service ideals that are perceived as beneficial but also pose complications in fulfilling the universal service mission’s historic mission today. The dominant logic of heritage broadcasting is juxtaposed with the logic of digital communications in the management work required to balance countervailing pressures for change and continuity in pursuit of digital transformation.

KEYWORDS:

• Dominant logic
• sense-making
• public service broadcasting
• public service media
• legacy media
• universalism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The research was independently undertaken, not funded by any agency or grant, and not previously published.

Notes on contributors

Gregory Ferrell Lowe

Gregory Ferrell Lowe (Ph.D. 1992, University of Texas at Austin; M.A. 1988, Ohio State University) is Professor in Residence and Director of the Communication Program at Northwestern University in Qatar. He is thecurrent Chair of the World Media Economics and Management Conference (WMEMC) and a former President of the European Media Management Association (emma, from 2012–2016). Dr Lowe has published extensivelyon public service media and media management, the two fields of personal expertise. He earlier worked ten years as Senior Advisor for Corporate Strategy and Development at Yleisradio (1997–2007), the Finnish Broadcasting Company.

Päivi Maijanen

Päivi Maijanen, D.Sc. (Econ. & Bus. Admin.), is Post-Doctoral Researcher at the School of Business and Management at the Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), Finland. Her research interests are focused on strategic management and organizational change, and in particular, on issues related to media management and digital transformation, such as changes in managerial and journalistic practices and culture. In the media sector, public media is one of her special research areas. Before her career in academia, she has a long experience of working as a journalist and manager at the Finnish Broadcasting Company.