When public service is the name of the game: the evolution of British and Spanish Public Service Broadcasters in online journalism

Abstract

This chapter places the online migration of public service broadcasters against that of commercial news media to argue that the former’s public-service remit itself – based on a relative freedom from commercial concerns – has been a crucial contributor to their remarkable and distinctive online news successes. In order to do so, we explore the key moments, decisions and strategies of two of the biggest European PSBs – the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Radio Television Española (RTVE) – in the history of their online news operation.

These PSBs are based on two very different funding and regulation models, with two notions of what a PSB should be, and therefore experienced quite opposite trajectories in the online news environment. Both, however, enjoyed quick successes after their launch, thanks to their underlying public service principles. The implications for the future of online news will be briefly discussed in the context of recent commercial media’s attacks on what they call the unfair competitive advantage of public service broadcasters in the online world.