Summit provides new impetus for Europe’s public radio stations

By Vatican News

At a time marked by fake news, international geopolitical tensions, and widespread polarisation within European countries, public service radio can play a fundamental role in defending democracy, according to participants at the 31st EBU (European Broadcasting Union) Radio Assembly, which took place this year in Paris.

Radio stations from no less than 33 countries took place at the summit of European radio broadcasting at the Radio France headquarters in Paris including Vatican Radio, represented by Alessandro Gisotti, deputy editorial director of Vatican Media.

This year’s Assembly saw the election of members of the “Radio Committee,” the body that within the EBU that coordinates strategies and initiatives to strengthen the presence of Radio in an ever more rapidly changing media environment. Sibyle Veil, Director General of Radio France, was reconfirmed as head of the Committee; while the BBC’s Graham Ellis who is also a Consultant of the Holy See's Dicastery for Communication, was re-elected as Deputy Director. Other members of the Radio Committee, which will be in office for the next two years, include Andrea Borgnino, head of RAI Play Sound, in his fourth term on the EBU body.

During the two-day summit in Paris, participants expressed solidarity with colleagues from Ukrainian Public Radio who, despite the war, have never failed in their task of informing the population. The summit also featured appeals in favour of Radio Free Europe, which, like Voice of America, is threatened with closure due to funding cuts imposed by the White House. At the same time, the Assembly reiterated the urgent need for closer cooperation between European public service media in order to defend freedom of the press, which is increasingly at risk due to economic and political pressure.

The Assembly devoted ample space to consideration of programmes for young audiences who, EBU research shows, are very demanding when it comes to information. Members of the younger generations seek news first and foremost on social platforms, but do not spurn radio content (and even more so podcasts) when they are creative and humorous.

Artificial intelligence, with a focus on audio and the possibilities offered by the use of synthetic voices, aroused particular interest, as did the panel on music and its special relationship with radio. Today, 60 per cent of young Europeans consider music to be their main interest; and this opens up great possibilities for Radio, as seen during the dramatic period of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. “During Covid,” said Graham Ellis, long-time chairman of Prix Italia, “music was a great comfort to people. Music brings people together and this is also thanks to Radio.”

Concluding the event, Sibyle Veil said that credibility remains the greatest asset of public service media, and in particular of radio. For the Director General of Radio France, technological innovations push radio stations to find new ways of reaching their audiences. She therefore scheduled the EBU General Assembly to be held in July in London, hosted by the BBC.