Debate Spaces for Everyone? How Public Service Media Aim to Reshape Audience Engagement and Interactions

With the proliferation of commercial social networks, public broadcasters face significant challenges, including a growing dependence on these platforms for audience interaction. Algorithm logics, oftentimes ascribing high visibility to emotional contributions, could influence discourse and dialogue on social media to become more uncivil, and undemocratic. The Public Spaces Incubator (PSI) is an international research and development initiative by six public service media (PSM) organizations in different countries, in response to the growing need for constructive public dialogue and a disentanglement from commercial platforms. PSI aims to develop debate spaces that facilitate public engagement, strengthen journalistic audience engagement and reduce dependencies, by offering new tools for audience interaction directly linked to journalistic output.To gain insights into PSM’s goals surrounding these interactions, a case-study using qualitative interviews with journalists, community managers, strategic management and programmers working for the German PSM ZDF was conducted. By interviewing journalists about their experiences when testing three prototypes at an early stage of the project, we were able to analyze the aspirations, predictions, and hopes of those involved surrounding the new conversational tools. The study underscores the need for a respectful communication culture to counteract the detrimental effects of sensationalism and division prevalent on commercial platforms. By shaping self-owned infrastructures for value-oriented digital communication tools the involved PSM are trying to become more independent from social networks and to avoid normative failure-effects of innovations. By actively promoting their values, PSI seeks to redefine the role of PSM in fostering deliberative discourse.