Impact of prestige programs on production practices: the case of crossmedia and audience participation in public service organizations

Abstract

The 21st century and the rise of new media have accentuated socio-political as well as organizational/practical challenges to public service broadcasters. New political vision is needed to address fragmenting and pluralizing societies; however, the challenge in turn lies in program production. This article examines and relates developments in both areas via a seldom-applied approach to transformations in traditional media organizations, namely close-range production study of large, prestige programs. An underlying assumption is that prestige projects can highlight key institutional ambitions, dilemmas and obstacles of change, and it is brought to bear on a national participatory event in the Norwegian public service broadcaster NRK. The article studies how institutional practices can be twisted into a new course due to internal and external pressures condensed in large projects, and thus assesses the pace at which public service broadcasters are exploring their remit, a pace to which academics and policy makers alike need to be closely attuned.

Keywords:

• crossmedia production
• audience participation
• prestige programs
• organizational transformation
• public service media
• pluralism