In the public interest
IRIS Plus 2011-3: Media Literacy
Continuous learning is a well established concept to guarantee that graduation from school or university does not mark the end of studying the subjects related to one’s profession. The more an area of knowledge is apt to change the bigger the need to stay on one’s toes. Training on the job is...
IRIS Plus 2011-2: An Insight into Selected Film Funding Systems
Film aid is not only designed to promote creativity, but it can also be remarkably creative itself in terms of the way it is organised. This is presumably linked to the fact that the definition of common film aid objectives, such as the protection and promotion of cultural diversity and identity...
IRIS Plus 2011-1: A Landmark for Mass Media in Russia
When on 15 June 2010 the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation adopted Resolution No. 16 “On the Judicial Practice Related to the Statute of the Russian Federation ‘On the Mass Media’”, the first international voice applauding this step was that of Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE Representative on...
IRIS Plus 2010-6: Switchover to the Digital Dividend
Like Siamese twins, the switchover to digital television is inseparable from the spectrum liberated as a result of the process. The twin of the switchover is called digital dividend. If we look closer at these twins, we realize that they are non-identical, as far as at least one important point...
IRIS Plus 2010-4: Public Service Media: Money for Content
There have been many public statements on the funding of public service broadcasting and the expectations associated with it. As far as the European Union is concerned, mention might be made of the Communication from the Commission of 27 October 2009 on the application of state aid rules to...
IRIS Plus 2010-2: Digital Cinema
The European cinema of the near future will be digital. This much seems to be agreed upon by anyone who has a say in the matter. But the road there requires special efforts and may indeed be long and winding. This IRIS plus asks where we stand in the roll-out of digital cinema and it does so with...
IRIS Plus 2010-1: Digital Television
Imagine turning on your television and not receiving any signal. For an increasing number of television viewers this could have been the case had they not re-equipped themselves for digital television. To mention only the early birds: Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden completed the...
IRIS Plus 2009-6: The "Telecoms Review": New Impetus for Audiovisual Media?
This IRIS plus examines the review of the European telecommunications regulatory framework. The lead article is as multilayered as the theme itself. Market regulation, spectrum policy, new distribution methods, interoperability, network neutrality, investment protection, "must-carry" obligations,...
IRIS Plus 2009-4: The Public Service Remit and the New Media
This IRIS plus discusses the involvement of public service broadcasting in the new media. The author examines to what extent and under what conditions the public service remit covers such an involvement and where the limits to legitimate state funding currently lie. She therefore goes in some...
IRIS Special 2009: Creativity Comes at a Price
The signatories to the European Social Charter underline in its Preamble the fact that the standard of living and the social-well being of their populations are key to safeguarding human rights. In all likelihood they were similarly aware of how central this is for the prospering of their markets.