“mingled with regards that stand aloof from the entire point”*: EP-Resolutions on the media

Posted on September 27, 2008 | Filed Under digital content, public services 

wordle - EP Resolution on Community Media wordle.net - EP-Resolution on Media Pluralism

After the hard core legislative acts of the “telecoms package” had been voted on by the European Parliament on 24 September 2008 (see here), the next day Parliament approved two resolutions that contain a lot of big words (as shown in the images here that were created by feeding the resolutions into wordle), but will very likely not have any big consequences “in real life.” The resolution on media pluralism had given rise to fears that the blogosphere would be subject to regulation, but even the reference to blogs now is very opaque: in the “whereas”-part of the resolution it says:

“whereas weblogs represent an important new contribution to freedom of expression and are increasingly used by media professionals as well as by private persons,”

and then the resolution proper picks up the topic again and states that the European Parliament

“Encourages an open discussion on all issues relating to the status of weblogs;”

The main point of the resolution seems to be to bolster the position of public broadcasting, as member states are, for instance, called upon to “support high-quality public broadcasting services which can offer a real alternative to the programmes of commercial channels and can, without necessarily having to compete for ratings or advertising revenue, occupy a more high-profile place on the European scene as pillars of the preservation of media pluralism, democratic dialogue and access to quality content for all citizens”. The resolution also states that “in order to enable the public audiovisual media to fulfil their task in the era of digital technology, it is necessary for them to develop new information services and media over and above traditional programmes and to be able to interact with every digital network and platform” - which is something the German (and Austrian) public service broadcasters will be delighted to here, as they are currently trying to convince the Commission of the need for a quite extensive online presence.

Apart from that - on a more abstract level ;-) - the European Parliament in its resolution is

  • “having regard to” a variety of 15 directives, resolutions, recommendations etc,
  • considering (”whereas”) another panopticum of 63 issues,
  • and then urges (twice), believes (twice, once even firmly), notes, highlights (twice), points out, reminds (twice), calls on (five times), calls for (eight times), takes the view, welcomes (three times), considers (three times), underlines, recognises, encourages (four times), stresses (twice), supports, recommends (five times), maintains, asks, reiterates, agrees, draws attention, is concerned, and finally instructs

As I said, a lot of big words, and if you care to check it out, here is the link. On the same day, the European Parliament also adopted a Resolution on Community Media in Europe. It is somewhat shorter (although having more regards [21], but fewer “whereas” [13], and just 23 paragraphs of calling on, stressing, pointing out, recommending etc.), but to me it seems to provide a little more substance, as it focuses on a more specific issue and drawing at least some attention to community media as an “important means of empowering citizens and encouraging them to become actively involved in civic society”.

*) Shakespeare, King Lear, Act I Scene 1

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One Response to ““mingled with regards that stand aloof from the entire point”*: EP-Resolutions on the media”

  1. On bringing private citizens into public life on December 8th, 2009 6:38 am

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