Citizen participation, public service and digital convergence. The perception of RNE public media professionals

Abstract

This article analyzes how public service professionals, specifically Radio Nacional de España, perceive citizen participation within the framework of public service and in the context of digital convergence. Methodology relies on interviews with a purposive sample of 16 editors and managers employed at the Spanish public service radio. The questionnaire deepens the values attributed to participation and to the interactive potentials associated to social networks. The results show a somewhat dispersed conception of the notions of participation and public service which reflects the lack of definition observed in the regulation of RTVE. Participation is associated both to democratic values and to a minimalist vision centered in professional criteria and its utility for radio programming.  Although social networks have diversified the channels to incorporate audience interaction, their use seems to replicate the private radio model and results in formal changes rather than in a renewal of the traditional contents and repertoires traditionally attributed to participation.