RIPE@2006 Conference
November 16 – 18 in the Netherlands

CALL FOR PAPER PROPOSALS

Public Service Broadcasting in a Multimedia Environment:
Programmes and Platforms

We are pleased to announce that the third RIPE conference will take place in
Amsterdam and Hilversum next November. The conference will be hosted by
Netherlands Public Broadcasting and ASCoR (The Amsterdam School of
Communications Research) at the University of Amsterdam. The focus is on
public service provision in today’s multimedia environment, with emphasis on
trends and innovation in programmes and platforms.  Redefining PSB is a must
for its survival and development in the 21st century because the environment
is characterised by complex and co-related changes in technology, society,
culture, policy, organisation and production. Thus, there is great interest
in content innovation and development within, and especially across,
platforms for service delivery.

Conference organisers request abstracts for papers that will update
understanding and open avenues for fresh thinking about the following
topical categories:

1. PSB Remit – Research results and critical analyses about:
∑ How PSB companies are redefining their programme obligations and service
commitments to meet changing audience expectations for "personalised public
services" in addition to generalist and thematic channel formats
∑ The dynamics and consequences of moving beyond public service broadcasting
to develop into public service media companies
∑ How globalization and international integration drive PSB to create a
public sphere beyond national boundaries in order to impact trans-national
policy and decision-making structures and take account of multiculturalism
in its pursuit of cultural goals and social cohesion
2. Organisational structure – Research results and critical analyses about:
∑ How PSB companies are adapting management and production systems to
produce more content for more platforms, while responding to shrinking
resources, expanding competition and policy pressures from the EU and
domestic policy-makers
∑ Developments in commissioning systems, scheduling strategies, trends and
dynamics in format development, multimedia platforms, versioning for
platforms, and outsourcing vs. in-house production
∑ The modernization and renewal of PSB traditions, and especially critical
examination of argumentation about whether to preserve PSB institutions or
to instead pursue a "distributed public service" model
3. Popularity and support – Research results and critical analyses about:
∑ How PSB companies are evolving relations with audiences given the
increasingly segmented market and individualised users.
∑ Trends in content preferences and uses by comparative groups in terms of
age, ethnicity, culture, education, values, lifestyles, etc.
∑ Significant trends since 2000 and expectations for 2010 and beyond? What
are the essential goals for PSB relations with various groups and
sub-groups, and what impact should that have on production / programme
policies?
4. Production chain – Research results and critical analyses about:
∑ How public service media improve the targeting of content within and
across platforms to secure competitive success.
∑ Issues related to content legitimacy.  What is appropriate and what is
problematic in "full-scale" PSB – how full should full-scale be? What are
the advantages and disadvantages of public service entertainment content,
and how should public service institutions tackle legal challenges and
competition issues
∑ How to modernise the production chain to accommodate greater audience
control? In light of digitalisation, what should the chain look like in
2010?
∑ Issues and findings from quality research in PSB and comparative research
about distinctiveness when comparing PSB and commercial media in terms of
programmes, contents and offers
5. Institutional relations – Research results and critical analyses about:
∑ Trends and dynamics regarding PSB relations with other key actors
including government, commercial media and other non-profit organisations
∑ How PSB should balance political distance (how near or far) and editorial
freedom (how strong or weak) today
∑ The validity of the license fee approach to funding
6. Securing innovation – Research results and critical analyses about:
∑ How PSB companies are changing in-house work cultures to become creative
organizations and to secure innovation, and problems related to achieving
that 
∑ What PSB should be thinking about with regard to formats, recycling and
versioning strategies, cross-media development, and genre development
∑ How PSB is pursuing innovation in developing participation and
interactivity

PROPOSAL ABSTRACT CRITERIA

¸ Provide the working title for the paper
¸ Include your name, organisational affiliation with location, and your
e-mail address
¸ Specify the category or categories (from the above 6) that your
contribution fits
¸ The maximum abstract length is 400 words
¸ Format the document in Rich Font Text (.rtf format – not .doc format)
¸ Abstract submissions are due on or before March 13, 2006

Please send your abstract proposal as an e-mail attachment to both of the
following addresses:
    [log in to unmask]    Jo Bardoel

    [log in to unmask]    Gregory F. Lowe

Please be in touch with any questions or for more information about RIPE.

About 60 papers will be accepted for presentation at the conference. All
abstract submissions for the conference will be peer reviewed as the basis
for acceptance. Presented papers will be assessed after the conference for
possible inclusion as chapter contributions in the follow-on RIPE@2007 book
to be edited by Lowe & Bardoel.

Notification of proposal acceptance will be sent on or before May 2, 2006.

The conference registration fee is €275 for those with papers accepted for
presentation. This fee includes two nights of hotel accommodations in
Amsterdam as well as meals, amenities and conference materials. For those
attending the conference but not presenting a paper, the registration fee is
€350 plus all accommodation costs.

The RIPE conference does not have funds to supplement personal travel costs
or other fees.