This time next Friday, I'll be attending the 2008 ABC Digital Media Forum, an internal strategy conference that aims to develop innovative approaches to engaging with digital media (and importantly, digital media users) for our national broadcaster. I won't be blogging the full conference itself, as much of what will be discussed there will remain confidential for the moment, but I'm sure I'll be able at least to post my overall impressions. For some years now, the ABC has taken a markedly proactive stance towards exploring the potential of participatory new media models; it will be exciting to see what's already in the pipeline for the near future, and what may be possible a little further down the track.
I was invited to the conference by Tony Walker, Manager of the ABC's Digital Radio division (and the driving force behind the ABC Digital Futures blog), and will provide a few thoughts for a session titled "Content Production in the Age of Participation". I've now posted a draft of my remarks over at Produsage.org - any comments, especially from current or potential users of the ABC's services, would be very welcome...
Beyond Public Service Broadcasting: Produsage at the ABC
By Axel Bruns
Let me begin by thanking Tony for the invitation to join you today; it's great to be here. Before coming to Australia in the 90s, I grew up in what was then West Germany, which as you may know has had a very strong tradition of public service broadcasting since the war - so I'm very well aware of how crucial public service media organisations are as a place for informing and engaging citizens, and I'm delighted to support the ABC in its work.
Of course the shape of the media has changed a great deal over the last decade or two, and as far as I'm concerned it's set to change even further (and perhaps, faster), which raises the question of what the role of PSBs may be in this new environment. I don't mean to say that radio and television are no longer very important factors in creating a shared public mediasphere that we can all take part in (at local, state, and national levels), but as our media mix changes further in favour of online media, and as radio and television are themselves delivered increasingly also through online means, with their own opportunities and challenges, we - or mainly, you - will have to work out what that means for the ABC's role in society.
What I can offer you are some insights into what's happening in the hotspots of the online environment - and here, particularly those spaces which directly involve their users as content creators and collaborators (or what I'll call produsers - and I'll get back to that term).
