The role of public media in guaranteeing democracy

Ingrid Deltenre
Director General, European Broadcasting Union
Brussels, 19 June 2013

Madam Chair, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon!

I was very grateful for the opportunity to address your important committee on the role of public service media in
guaranteeing democracy and human rights.

Since the abrupt and appalling closure of the Greek public broadcaster ERT last week, this opportunity
has become even more timely. That move – in the birthplace of democracy, of all places – was not only
unprofessional. It was also anti-democratic. (Many thanks, incidentally, to all those MEPs who have
shared and voiced similar opinions. Public service broadcasting is vital to European democracy, and
needs your support.)

More about Greece in a minute. But in case you don’t know the European Broadcasting Union, let me tell you
first that we brings together and represents the national public broadcasters of more than 50 countries in and
around Europe. So excuse me for boasting: the EBU is not only older than the European Union. (We were
founded in 1950.) We also have members in twice as many countries!

I must stress that the EBU is not a human rights organization. We exist to serve our Members. Nevertheless, the
EBU’s commitment to key human rights is clear from the very first Article of our Statutes. Our purposes, among
others, are defined as

• the safeguarding and improving of freedom of expression and information, as essential foundations of a
democratic society, and
• “enhancing the freedom and pluralism of the media, the free flow of information and ideas, and the free
formation of opinions”.

Over the past couple of years, we have put flesh on these principles by developing and promoting six core values
of public service media: universality, independence, excellence, diversity, accountability and innovation.
These values were adopted unanimously by all our Members at our General Assembly in Strasbourg last
summer. We explain and enlarge on them in this brochure we have made available to you. As you see, it is
entitled “Empowering Society”.

And we promote these values constantly in our Partnership Programme, which works to assist our poorer
Members – most of them in EU accession or neighbourhood countries.

The European Union has recognized the vital role played by true public service media in healthy European
societies. Which is why – last July – Commissioner Füle signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the EBU
to strengthen the public broadcasters in the countries preparing to join the Union.

We are now implementing an EU-funded action plan entitled “Enabling the Democratic Role of Public Service
Media in the EU Accession countries”. And we are in discussion with Commissioner Füle’s services on
developing similar MoUs and action plans for work in the Eastern and Southern Partnership countries.

1
But we must not forget the public broadcasters in those countries which are already members of the EU.
Which brings me back to Greece and ERT.

Of course, nobody would deny that Greece has financial problems. And nobody would claim that ERT has been a
perfect public broadcaster over recent years. But the abrupt decision of two Ministers to close down ERT will not
save the government any money, it is quite the contrary, it will cost them even more. ERT was funded from the
licence fee by the citizens it serves and it generated a small surplus. The channel was not bankrupt and this is
why these measures taken were not proportional and illustrate a fundamental lack of understanding of the
freedom of expression.

What can you do to help? We urge MEPs to continue to express their strong support for the concept of
public service media, denouncing any attempt to use the economic crisis as a pretext destroy it. And to
look at the situation in existing EU Members as well as future ones. Greece and Hungary come to mind.
There are no doubt others.

Turning back now to what the EBU is doing in candidate EU member countries, our activities in the Western
Balkans this year have included seven workshops on the meaning and practice of public service news, and on
the EBU editorial principles of impartiality and independence, fairness and respect, connectedness and
accountability, accuracy and relevance. In September we shall train the best workshop trainees as trainers, and
they will then spread their learning to all their journalist colleagues.

We have mounted a regional conference on the relationship between public service media and the citizen, and
another on public service media and Roma minorities. (You will find the conclusions and recommendations of
those conferences in your dossiers, and on the EBU website www.ebu.ch.) There will be follow-ups to both of
these conferences, a new regional event on minorities and another on the relationship between public service
media and Parliaments which we hope some of you will attend.

In the post-conflict societies of the Accession and Neighbourhood countries, free and independent media, and in
particular public service media, are essential to guaranteeing genuine democracy. Free and independent PSM
are:

- a source of impartial and independent information, not only for free and fair elections, but also on the
everyday life of citizens.

- a forum for pluralistic public discussion – a “national conversation” – which promotes democratic
participation.

- a platform for all groups in society, contributing to cultural diversity and understanding. This is all the
more important in highly fragmented post-conflict societies such as those in the Western Balkans.

Free and independent media are key weapons in the fight against corruption. It is no coincidence that corruption
is less widespread in countries which have high-quality independent journalism. And vice versa. This shows the
importance of fostering investigative journalism and a climate in which journalists can work without fear of losing
their livelihoods – or in the worst case even their lives.

The EBU was very pleased that the recent European Parliament resolution on media and press freedom
recognized the crucial role played by public service media in deepening democracy and empowering citizens.

2
And we welcomed the Resolutions on the 2012 Enlargement progress reports in which MEPs have called on
national authorities to ensure the independence and sustainability of PSM and their compliance with European
standards.

You may say that the EU can only do so much, as the Amsterdam Protocol leaves the establishment of legal
frameworks on public service media clearly with national parliaments. But while there is no ideal universal model
for the legal framework, the values and principles laid down in the conventions and recommendations of the
Council of Europe and UNESCO do provide an ideal vision of freedom, independence and media pluralism.

In the important area of governance, it is vital that appointment procedures do not endanger the editorial and
political independence of public service broadcasters.

Supervisory bodies should include representatives of civil society and different walks of life. And the director
general should be appointed by the supervisory body rather than directly by the prime minister or parliament.

Funding must be sufficient, appropriate and long-term. It must allow public service media to fulfil their remit,
ensure continuity of service, plan and introduce new technologies, and meet new audience demands.

A recent EBU study of 40 countries where we have Members showed that licence fee provides more than 64% of
total income. But in 17 countries – including in the EU accession and neighbourhood areas, public service media
rely mostly on public funds.

The licence fee system has the advantage of establishing a clear link between public broadcasters and the
citizens they serve. If respected by governments, it also provides a guarantee of independence. Direct financing
from state budgets is more problematic unless there are cast-iron guarantees that protect broadcasters from
short-term political decisions and political interference, including when governments change after elections.

Formulae which allocate a small proportion of the state budget to public service media do not give broadcasters
the certainty they need for medium-term investment and planning, as budgets can be subject to severe cuts from
year to year, and even during a year in course. Public service media need specific and sustainable income which
is predictable over the medium term. Where the licence fee system is not possible, a better solution than a
proportion of the budget is to base funding on a country’s gross domestic product, which is less liable to sharp
decreases.

We at the EBU work to strengthen our Members, the national public service media of the European Union and its
neighbouring countries. And we urge parliaments – including the European Parliament – to support this cause
through measures that will enable them to be strong, innovative, sustainable and independent.

Only when broadcasters attain that state can they fulfil the role they can and should play as watchdogs for
democracy and guarantors of human rights. That goes, of course, for the national public broadcaster of
Greece, as well as the national public broadcasters of the EU accession countries.

Thank you for your attention.