Les Quaderns del CAC, revue du régulateur catalan de l’audiovisuel (CAC), consacre son n° 37 à l’hybridation des genres en télévision et, donc, au rôle de l’Internet dans le paysage audiovisuel. S’y trouve notamment mon article relatif à la neutralité de l’Internet.
La revue, publiée en catalan, espagnol et anglais, est disponible ici : http://goo.gl/0CGiA
(“En corrigeant les examens écrits”, épisode 5239)
Q: “le citoyen européen peut-il faire contrôler la conformité à la CEDH d’une directive de l’UE ?”
R: “j’ai envie de répondre OUI !”
——
Hé bien, vas-y, fais-toi plaisir… et n’hésite pas à m’en dire un peu plus, à l’occasion.
It is a dismal future that awaits the printed press. The growth of the Internet cannot be considered the only cause of its decline[1] but there is no point denying that the development of Internet-based media services has only made a steep slope more slippery for the print business. In Belgium, the French-speaking newspapers have identified the public service broadcaster as an unfair competitor on the tense market of online press and advertising. While the Internet activities of private broadcasters are seen as a mere continuation of existing competition, the fact that the PSB admittedly relied on public funding to support its online presence allegedly causes a distortion of market conditions. To that argument, the PSB retorts that its remit includes a duty to develop its presence on the Internet and that its websites are nothing more than the continuation of its previously existing activities. In the last days of 2011, a tribunal ruled in favour of the public service broadcaster, bringing a provisional end to a dispute that started at the beginning of 2010.
In January 2010, RTBF, the French-speaking public service broadcaster, re-branded itself as RTBF.be as part of a strategy to increase its online presence. The Association of Belgian French-speaking newspapers (JFB) reacted by sending an official letter to the PSB requesting that it renounces its “online written press activities”. Following a suggestion from the French Community Minister for Audiovisual, the parties attempted to reach an agreement through mediation. After RTBF launched another website dedicated to culture, the discussions came to an abrupt end. In September 2010, the JFB took the matter to the court, seeking an injunction that the PSB immediately cease all “online written press activities” and online advertising.[2]
The use of that surprising notion might illustrate a certain state of confusion in the media market, where technological lines that separated audiovisual and written communication have definitely become blurred. To be sure, the concept of “online written press” is entirely absent from the legal and regulatory framework.[3] More importantly, it remains hard to link those words with any actual practice. Whether you are a print or audiovisual company, going online necessarily means that you will be doing something that will to a certain degree differ from your traditional craft. Since the Internet is by design a multimedia platform, the content of a website combines text, images, sound and video. As a consequence, online press recourses to words, pictures and videos.[4] The websites of the public service broadcaster and of the newspapers show a number of obvious similarities, and the same observation remains true if one compares their respective activities on social networks. All media editors face the same challenge of adapting to a fast-changing technological context and they do so by exploring and adopting the formats of the web, the social networks and the mobile applications.
Before the court, the newspapers argued that, even if they were prepared to admit a “certain presence” of the PSM on the Internet, RTBF’s existing online activities were exceeding the boundaries of its legal remit. JFB also argued that the PSB’s online activities infringed European Union rules on State aids and competition[5], but the tribunal found it had no jurisdiction to decide on that dimension of the dispute. The main discussions thus turned around the definition of the mission of the public service media in the online era.
To relate the Belgian situation to the broader European context, one should remember that a solid consensus has emerged among European institutions on the democratic importance of PSM in the online environment. Protocol 29 to the Treaty on the European Union expressed adhesion to the notion that “the system of public broadcasting in the Member States is directly related to the democratic, social and cultural needs of each society and to the need to preserve media pluralism”. In November 2010, the European Parliament insisted on “the fundamental role of a genuinely balanced European dual system in promoting democracy, social cohesion and integration and freedom of expression, with an emphasis on preserving and promoting media pluralism, media literacy, cultural and linguistic diversity and compliance with European standards relating to press freedom” and emphasised “the need to maintain strong and vibrant independent public service broadcasting, whilst adapting it to the requirements of the digital age”[6]. In an April 2011 draft resolution of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, it is underlined that PSM “through its content and services remains of utmost importance in the new dynamic media environment. Fundamental changes in the media reinforce public service media’s vital role in supporting such non-commercial objectives as social progress, public interest and ability to engage with democratic processes, intercultural understanding and societal integration” and Member States are reminded of their “commitment to firmly support the remit, funding, editorial and organisational independence of public service media operating on any relevant platform.”[7] And in a statement made on December 6, 2011, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights insisted that “well-functioning PSM can be decisive in the protection of human rights, particularly freedom of expression, and can provide space for all voices in society, not least for minorities, children and other groups which tend to be marginalised.”[8]
At the Belgian level, no public authority had taken side in the dispute between JFB and RTBF. However, in the June 2011 report that concluded the first workshop of the General States of the Information Media[9], the appointed experts wrote the following: “the mission of the PSB must be reinforced by an updated definition of its remit. On the one hand, it is recommended to support the digital developments of the PSB. On the other hand, these developments call for a clarification of the framework in which they take place, both from the point of view of competition and of the public interest. (…) The experts recommend that the use of public funding for the digital developments of PSB be submitted to an assessment of their impact on the private sector. By virtue of the principle of precaution, it might be wise to forbid or limit advertising on PSB’s websites and mobile services.”[10]
It is law (1997 Statutory Decree on RTBF) and a management contract negotiated between the RTBF and the French Community Government that define the remit of the public service media. The mission of the PSM consists mainly in the production and broadcasting of audiovisual services but extends to accessory activities. The current management contract runs from 2007 to 2012 and notably provides that the RTBF shall develop an Internet offer that serves as a reference in the French Community of Belgium, that it shall develop non linear media services, that it shall broadcast and promote its services online, and that it shall maintain updated information webpages that constitute an extension of its news programmes. Consequently, after a detailed analysis, the tribunal decided that none of RTBF’s online activities could be considered as exceeding its broadly-defined legal remit. The tribunal observed that every section of the PSM’s websites could be linked to its main public service remit either directly (i.e., the reproduction of broadcast programmes) or indirectly (i.e., the extension and development of topics included in the public service remit). The judges also confirmed that RTBF could legally use part of its public funding for such accessory activities. Finally, the tribunal admitted that the management contract authorizes the RTBF to include advertising in its digital platforms.
In sum, one may say that is the breadth of the future-proof provisions of the management contract that was agreed upon in 2006 that convinced the tribunal to decide in favour of the PSM. As the current agreement ends in 2012, it remains yet to be seen how influential the court’s decision will be in the course of the negotiations of the new management contract.
On the same topic, you should also read “Rtbf.be n’est pas un concurrent déloyal de la presse écrite: un blanc-seing pour France Télévisions?” by Jean-François Furnémont.
[1] See for instance, with statistics on France, http://www.erwanngaucher.com/mobile/Le-web-m39a-tuer-Le-gros-mensonge-de-la-presse-papier,4838.media?a=769
[2] The RTBF is funded by the French Community. Additionally, it may draw up to 30 % of its income from advertising.
[3] The notion of press is of importance in the Constitution as it commands constitutional protection (Art. 19, 25, and 150). Interestingly, the Supreme Court (cour de cassation) maintains that it should apply only to the printed press and not to the audiovisual media. This position is the object of much controversy in legal scholarship and judiciary practice.
[4] It is worth noting that recital 28 of the AVMS Directive excludes the websites of the printed press from the notion of audiovisual media service. One could argue that this non-binding consideration is at least debatable. To a regulatory body whose remit concerns the audiovisual media services, identifying which online activities – or even what section of a website – it should regulate, is not an easy task: see for instance Belgian CSA’s public consultation on the perimeter of regulation of AVMS (http://csa.be/consultations/16). See also the background papers prepared by EPRA (European Platform of Regulatory Authorities) at http://www.epra.org/content/english/index2.html.
[5] In February 2011, the European Commission has been seized of a complaint by the newspapers.
[6] European Parliament resolution of 25 November 2010 on public service broadcasting in the digital era: the future of the dual system (2010/2028(INI))
[7] Draft declaration of Committee of Ministers on PSM governance, Council of Europe (April 2011 – MC-S-PG(2011)002rev4)
[8] “Public service media needed to strengthen pluralism”, http://commissioner.cws.coe.int/tiki-view_blog_post.php?postId=199. This Declaration of the Commissioner for Human Rights was accompanied by a “Issue Discussion Paper on public service media and human rights”, which is a 27-page article that promotes a Human-Rights approach to public service media, an approach its authors describe as transformative for the public service media. (see https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1881537)
[9] The General States of the Information Medias (Etats généraux des medias d’information) are a broad consultative process held by the Parliament of the French Community. See http://egmedia.pcf.be/
[10] Translation from French. Report, p. 26. See http://egmedia.pcf.be/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Rapport-atelier-1.pdf
Durant l’examen écrit, une étudiante : “Dites, je peux pas changer un peu l’énoncé ? Ce serait plus facile pour répondre …”
Dans vos voeux pour l’an frais, il y avait “imagination” et “créativité” ?
Joyeuse inspiration, cette émission de Là-Bas si j’y suis (France Inter) qui présente Marinaleda, une commune d’Andalousie où se mettent en oeuvre, depuis 1978, organisation collective du travail (en commençant par une appropriation collective des terres) et procédés de démocratie directe.
“Pas de chômeurs, pas de promoteurs. Collectivisation des terres et des moyens de production. Et la démocratie, la vraie, la directe !
C’est ce dont parlent également les Indignés espagnols. Il y a un endroit où cela fonctionne depuis 1978. C’est le village de Marinaleda.”(reportage de Daniel Mermet et Antoine Chao)
A ré-écouter ou télécharger sur le site Là-Bas.org :
www.la-bas.org/article.php3?id_article=2329
Le site officiel de la municipalité : http://www.marinaleda.com/
Ce jeudi 15 décembre, le CSA a présenté le premier bilan sectoriel consacré à la radio en Fédération Wallonie Bruxelles.
Le paysage radiophonique en FWB englobe des radios publiques et privées, indépendantes, associatives, en réseau, et depuis peu, des webradios. Quel est le profil de ces radios ? Où et sur quelles fréquences les écouter ?
Après la télévision, la radio est le média le plus écouté, quel est le profil des auditeurs, quelles sont leurs habitudes de consommation ? Comment se comportent et se répartissent les audiences ?
La radio se caractérise par sa capacité à susciter le dialogue et la participation des auditeurs. Comment gérer cette relation directe à l’antenne ? Média de proximité, la radio peut véritablement renforcer le lien social et se révéler un moyen d’expression pour et par les minorités, quelles qu’elles soient.
Ingrédient essentiel en radio, sur quels formats et selon quelle approche la musique se décline-t-elle sur les ondes ? Quel est l’impact des quotas musicaux, conçus pour enrayer l’uniformisation des antennes et soutenir la production musicale ? Quels sont les artistes et les titres les plus diffusés ? Comment la protection et la rémunération des artistes et des interprètes sont-elles garanties ?
La radio est le média auquel les citoyens accordent le plus de confiance pour s’informer. Déontologie, traitement et qualité de l’information, quelles règles doit respecter l’info en radio ? Présents sur toutes les radios, quels temps d’antenne occupent les programmes d’information ? Comment se porte la création radiophonique en FWB ? Quels mécanismes sont mise en place pour la soutenir ? Quel rôle joue la radio dans la promotion d’autres secteurs culturels ?
Sur quelles sources de financement repose le secteur ? Comment s’y répartit l’emploi ? Comme le pluralisme et la transparence, la diversité de l’offre et l’équilibre des formats sont-ils garantis ? Selon quelle procédure et quels critères les fréquences sont-elles été attribuées ? Comment sont assurés le suivi et l’optimisation des autorisations d’émettre?Ce premier Bilan sectoriel consacré au média radiophonique répond à toutes ces questions et bien d’autres, il ouvre également ses pages aux acteurs et aux observateurs de ce secteur, qui ont accepté de partager, en toute liberté, leurs analyses, leurs témoignages, leurs expériences.
Sa vocation est double : mettre à disposition, dans une perspective transversale et pluriannuelle, toutes les informations dont dispose le régulateur à travers sa mission de contrôle, ainsi que d’autres sources publiques de données, qu’il a compilées et analysées par afin de les rendre les plus accessibles, utiles et pertinentes pour tous les publics, professionnels, académiques, politiques, journalistes et aussi pour les auditeurs curieux. Avec cette série de bilans sectoriels, le CSA a également la volonté de mettre à chaque fois en valeur un secteur et tous ceux qui le font vivre.
Le bilan peut être téléchargé à l’adresse www.csa.be/documents/1658
