European Community audiovisual policy, and particularly public service broadcasting (PSB), exhibit tensions between different types of policy objectives: the social, political and cultural on the one hand and economic on the other. Thus, while the Community recognizes the importance of PSB as a public good (i.e. non-individualized goods or benefits, which are for the benefit of, and enjoyed by, the community), which has democratic potential, it also subjects any state funding for PSB to the limitation that `such funding does not affect trading conditions and competition in the Community to an extent which would be contrary to the common interest'. This article aims to identify the Community view of PSB as necessitated by its perceived role in society and juxtapose those requirements against the operation of Community competition policy.
European broadcasting policy has attracted attention from many disciplines because it has dual nature: cultural and commercial. This 2007 book offers a detailed treatment of European broadcasting law, set against an overview of policy in this area. In this respect the authors identify tensions within the EU polity as regards the appropriate level, purpose and mechanism of broadcast regulation. Key influences are problems of competence, the impact of changing technology and the consequences of increasing commercialisation. Furthermore, the focus of the analysis is on the practical implications of the legal framework on viewers, and the authors distinguish both between citizen and consumer and between the passive and active viewer. The underlying question is the extent to which those most in need of protection by regulation, given the purpose of broadcasting, are adequately protected.
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