Theme: Society & Culture | Content Type: Journal article

A ‘Public Service Internet’—Reclaiming the Public Service Mission

Helen Jay

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JJ Ying

| 1 min read

This article looks forward, locating debates on public service broadcasting firmly within contemporary and future debates about technology regulation. Public service broadcasting has been a dominant theme in UK media policy since the creation of the BBC in 1922, aimed at delivering positive democratic and cultural outcomes. However, despite this rich heritage, and amidst widespread concerns about the social and democratic implications of ‘digital dominance’, the public service mission has failed fully to transcend its broadcasting origins and provide a model for a ‘public service internet’. The article reviews the relationship between the for-profit business models of the dominant technology platforms and potential civic and individual harms, past and failed attempts to reimagine ‘public service’ institutions in a digital age and identifies opportunities for scholars, activists and policy makers to reimagine public service alternatives for a platform society.

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    Helen Jay

    Helen Jay is an AHRC-funded doctoral candidate in the Media and Communications Department at the University of Westminster. Alongside her PhD, she acts as an external expert, lecturer and adviser on media and communications policy.

    Articles by Helen Jay
Volume 97, Issue 3

Latest Journal Issue

Volume 97, Issue 3

Includes a collection on 'The Political Economy of Tourism', edited by Kira Gartzou-Katsouyanni. Contributions include a piece on climate change in tourism-intensive Alpine regions by Valentina Ausserladscheider; Fathimath Musthaq's comparison between restrictions on tourism in the Seychelles and the Maldives; and Lorenzo Mascioli's investigation into how public policy can be used to make local tourism more sustainable. In our opening commentary, Deborah Mabbett reflects that good policy making is often a tedious process. Other articles include Thomas Quinn, Nicholas Allen and John Bartle on Labour's "Red–Green electoral threat"; Eda Bektas, Korhan Mühürcüoğlu on the paradox of power in Turkey; and Nikhil Datta and Amrita Kulka on Labour's home-building plans. Book reviews include Stephen Coleman's assessment of Matthew Goodwin's latest book, 'Suicide of a Nation'.

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