Radio Landmarks...

I was asked to reflect on the key moments for radio for the opening session of RadioDays Europe this morning, so here it is in written form…  It has a momentous year for radio, a year which has shown the strength of the medium to reinvent itself.  Radio is increasingly digital. We have had the successful and bold Norwegian switch-over, offering an attractive range of new services and positive projections for radio listening in the future months. More countries are beginning to get on board the digital train: this month Serbia and Greece come to mind, since I have been in close contact with them as DAB start-ups.

Radio is resilient. A year ago, the Amazon Echo seemed quite new in Europe, an exotic new arrival in our homes, a device without a screen, which – research suggests – is facilitating the usage of radio in homes where they are present. In short, people are listening more. One year on, smart colleagues are inventing skills and pushing the device to its limits, even in countries where they have not officially been launched. Earlier this month, we had the first meeting of the new EBU VOX Group for colleague working with these devices, and we can feel the energy. That is exciting.

Another momentous media event was the Swiss vote to preserve the Billag licence-fee, the public funding which supports the Swiss media system. Without this public investment, not only the public service SSR-SRG would have been forced to close, but also 21 local radio stations, operating in the commercial sector. Providing a country with a quality media system is not possible in simple commercial terms. The fact that 71% of the public recognized that maintaining quality media was more important than having an extra 450 CHF in their pockets is a very encouraging result. With different language groups, and the ever-present possibility of cross-border listening, it was recognized that universal media provision was an essential element in defining Switzerland itself.

Collaboration with the commercial media sector is vital, particularly over platforms and technologies. It is also my belief that successful public media will flourish in an environment where there are strong alternatives. However, the Swiss situation has made us focus anew on the arguments for public investment in services which are not underpinned by financial gain; such services could never be provided by the market. Quality journalism is expensive; maintaining foreign correspondents who can form their own opinions, that costs money; making cultural programming available to all, certainly not cheap; and being fully embedded within regions and minority language groups – that is unlikely in financial terms to repay the investment. Public media, media with a declared purpose of serving the public, without any specific political stance, that is more necessary than ever in a world where opinions are becoming polarized, and where facts, analysis and thoughtful commentary are often replaced by strident, simplistic opinions. The public rightly has high expectations of its public media system.  Now the Swiss referendum is over, this is not the moment to relax – rather public media across Europe needs to be imaginative, energetic, and worthy of public trust.

Often at conferences such as RadioDays we naturally talk about technologies, and I started with digital just now. But whatever the technologies, we will continue to need great content. But how do we achieve that great content? Not, I suggest, by staying in our offices and studios locked away from our audiences. I’ve been impressed by initiatives such as the Dutch radio bus, driving around the country, collecting opinions outside the main centres.  And technology is making this possible, for instance, the Swedish possibility to run outside broadcasts from a backpack or iPad around comes from a desire to be closer to the audience. In a world where phenomena such as Trump and Brexit have shown the chasm between a supposed elite and those who see themselves as excluded, we, the radio broadcasters, not just public media, need more than ever to be engaging with the broadest range of people, haves and have-nots. The Swiss voted, wisely in my view, since the alternative would have meant weakening the invisible but vital ties which hold that country together socially, as well as contributing to its culture, education, economy and democracy.  Radio is fast, flexible and smart; it can be close to people, close to communities - we need urgently to exploit this to benefit our societies.