Public Service Media and Sustainability? A Critical Debate of the Value of Public Service Media in Supporting the SDG18 (Communication for All)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the role of Public Service Media (PSM) in supporting the Sustainable Development Goals 18 (Communication for All), from facilitating dialogue within the community to acting as a critical watchdog over business and government. We look to issues of public value theory and performance measurement with a view to strengthening PSM’s role toward remaining strong arbiters of SDG18. We view the lineages of the curent debate on public value for PSM as a useful exercise for answering questions surrounding the fundamental change in the news media industry and independent journalism, the challenges that PSM are currently facing under the impact of sustainability, and the grounding public value theory and performance management thinking offers for PSM research and practice in understanding the breadth and complexity of these challenges. We argue that PSM benefit from improving the efficacy of their public value remit by exploring the Public Value Scorecard (PVSC) model which measures public value from an audience perspective. If PSM output and services are to improve the public value for audiences, it needs to consider criteria such as improving the well-being of individuals and communities across a wide range of dimensions.