Ensuring Child Friendly Online Content of Public Service

Transcription

ENSURING CHILD FRIENDLY
ONLINE CONTENT
OF PUBLIC SERVICE
BROADCASTING
IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
USAID's Strengthening Independent Media (SIM)
Project in Bosnia-Herzegovina
2014 / Sarajevo
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Civic Media Fellowship Program
ENSURING CHILD FRIENDLY ONLINE CONTENT
OF PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Asim Šahinpašić is PR and Communication director at SOS Children’s Villages Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is a PhD candidate in
communication at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Mostar. He holds a MSc degree in communications from the Faculty of
Political Sciences at the University of Sarajevo. He studied public relations at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Mostar and
marketing/economics at the School of Economics and Business at
the University of Sarajevo. Mr. Šahinpašić began his career as a print
and broadcasting journalist, and worked for number of media outlets (including PSB BiH), and later as PR expert and communication
consultant for different not-for-profit, commercial and civil society
organizations. He has more than twenty years of professional experience in media and communications. He published papers on media
and PR (including one on PSB BiH), and participated in seminars and
scientific conferences dealing with communications’ issues.
Title ENSURING CHILD FRIENDLY ONLINE CONTENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING IN BOSNIA AND
HERZEGOVINA
TOWARD RECONFIRMATION OF BIH PSB’S SOCIAL & MEDIA ROLE VIA E-CONTENT FOR THE YOUNGER
AUDIENCES
Publisher INTERNEWS IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, Sarajevo,
Hamdije Kreševljakovića 50, 71000 Sarajevo,
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
www.internews.ba
Author Asim Šahinpašić
Design Mersel BUJAK
Lay out Mensur MUZUROVIĆ
USAID’s Strengthening Independent Media (SIM) Project in Bosnia-Herzegovina
This paper is made possible by the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID). The contents are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views
of Internews, USAID or the United States Government.
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SUMMARY
The policy proposed in this paper focuses on one of the most serious challenges for Public
Service Broadcasters in Bosnia and Herzegovina (PSB BiH), which relates to the social role of
public media in this country. The aim of this study is to address the problem of lack of adequate
content for children as the youngest and the most important PSB’s audience in the long run.
The paper makes a case for the development of policy and practice which will enable PSB BiH
to provide younger audiences with programs in the format and platforms most appealing and
suitable for them – in this case e-content narrowcasted via online platforms.
In order to make this happen, all public broadcasters within the PSB BiH system will have to
unite their creative, technical, financial and (most importantly) human resources and develop
joint child focused and child friendly online platforms (on national and even regional levels).
These changes would pave the way for reconfirmation of BiH PSB’s social & media role via providing child friendly e-content for the younger audiences. Without these changes the younger
audience will not have access to appropriate educational, informative and entertaining e-content that only public media can provide. At the same time, PSB BiH might lose a unique opportunity to create, develop and maintain mutually beneficial relationships with younger audiences,
which will grow with ‘their’ PSB in a similar way as older generations grow with the radio and
TV programs of state and public broadcasters. In a long run, by ignoring the children of today,
PSB BiH might ‘lose’ its audience forever. This potential consequence means that ensuring child
friendly online content is one of the key preconditions for the survival and development of PSB
BiH as an audience-friendly public media in order to justify its role in society.
This study elaborates on different policy options related to the development of child friendly
PSB BiH content and platforms based on ten criteria for justification of each option, including:
values for children; effectiveness in provision of child friendly e-content; cyber security measures; political, social and public feasibility/acceptance; as well as the assumed level of financial
costs and additional investments needed in technical capacity and human resources. In addition,
the paper proposes recommendations for all relevant stakeholders that should be involved in
the process of change (PSB BiH, BiH authorities, ombudpersons, parents and CSOs). Of course,
the children are the most important stakeholders and they should be involved in all steps, under
the moto “nothing for us, without us!”. It is important to stress that the main aim of this policy
paper is to serve as a platform for dialogue on the future of public broadcasters in BiH, as well
as to open discussion on different forms of relationship management between public media
and its audiences, especially children and youth which usually have no (loud) voice in society.
Therefore, the ultimate outcome of this policy paper would be advocacy initiative directed towards PSB and BiH authorities to create policy and establish media practice which will provide
adequate public media services for the children of tomorrow.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 5
Definition of the policy problem .............................................................................................................................................. 5
Statement of intent ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Problem Description ................................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Background of the problem ....................................................................................................................................................... 6
Online media influence on children ........................................................................................................................................................ 9
PSBs’ BiH online content for children .................................................................................................................................................. 10
BHRT’s e-content for children ................................................................................................................................................. 11
RTRS’s e-content for children .................................................................................................................................................. 11
FRTV’s e-content for children ................................................................................................................................................. 12
The best European practices and possible areas
for improvement on BiH PSBs’ online media: content, platform, security .................................................................................. 14
The best PSBs’ practices - BBC & NRK ................................................................................................................................... 14
Online goes mobile/choosing child-friendly communications platforms .................................................................... 15
Cyber security and child protection measures on BiH PSBs’ online platforms ............................................................ 15
Policy options ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 17
Non-preferred policy options and explanations ................................................................................................................ 18
Preferred policy option and explanations ............................................................................................................................ 19
Conclusion and recommendations ........................................................................................................................................................ 20
Literature /References ............................................................................................................................................................................. 23
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INTRODUCTION
DEFINITION OF THE POLICY PROBLEM
In order to survive in a turbulent post-transition media market in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Public Service Broadcasters
(PSB) have to address a few burning issues. PSB has to justify its role in BiH society and provide an adequate response
to the different needs and expectations of its audiences. PSB have to define what kind of services they could provide
better than commercial media to targeted audiences. They have to give a strong argument to citizens and governmental
institutions to invest their money into PSB BiH. These burning issues impose a big challenge to PSB BiH.
If PSB BiH cannot identify audiences they serve via their programs, they have no reason to continue to request public
funding. If PSB BiH cannot provide adequate content that will benefit the public, they cannot ask for taxpayers’ money,
nor for RTV taxes, which citizens pay from their own pockets. Every right is connected with some obligations and responsibilities. Therefore, if PSB BiH ask for funding, they need to justify that spending with concrete benefits to very
specific audiences. In order to avoid a “capital punishment”, PSB BiH have to overcome these challenges and find a
unique way to serve their audiences with content only PSB could produce and broadcast.
The change must encompass practically every area of PSB activity, from technology to programming to financing, but
the key and decisive change must concern the public service broadcaster’s relationship with the audience, because without fundamental change in this area, PSB can hardly look forward to a long future (see Jakubowicz, 2006). All members
of the general public are relevant stakeholders of PSB BiH, but among all of these groups, children deserve the most
attention from PSB in a long run. Without younger audiences, there is no future for public broadcasters. Children prefer
online platforms, such as web and social media, to radio and TV as traditional broadcasting channels, which imply that
PSBs BiH should develop and maintain a child friendly online format in order to address these new challenges.
However, BiH PSB currently do not provide their younger audiences with adequate child focused online content, which
may have a negative impact on PSB’s ability to fulfill its public service role. It seems that PSB’s online platforms have to
be significantly upgraded in order to provide child friendly and child focused content. Therefore, BiH PSB should ensure
that child focused programs are available on their online platforms and that all contents on their web portals are suitable for children.
STATEMENT OF INTENT
The key problem that will be addressed in this policy paper is the uncertain future of BiH PSB in the online environment.
The public broadcasters in this country seem to neglect one of the key audiences they have – the children – and in that
way lose connections with the younger audiences. The overall goal of this study is to determine how PSB in BiH could
address this issue to ensure the survival of public media and provide children with programs they need and deserve. The
study will explore options to provide adequate child-focused and child-friendly online content on all web portals and
social media platforms of three BiH PSB members: BHRT, FRTV and RTRS.
The fact that there is no mention of online content for children in BiH PSB program reports and plans and that there is
no media policy to address this issue represents a significant challenge for public media and policymakers alike. Therefore, it is important to develop the adequate media policy framework for children’s online media content on BiH PSB
web portals in order to ensure adequate educational, informative cultural and entertaining web content, appropriate
rating systems of different web content, and protection of children on the Internet. The child friendly content should
be created in accordance with the highest ethical and media standards related to safe and fair treatment of children in
an online environment.
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PROBLEM DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM
Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) is a complex media model created to satisfy the different communication needs of citizens and to serve the broad interests of the general public. The broadcasting model in the European media landscape
is dominated by the coexistence of commercial broadcasters and strong public ones, while media in North America is
primarily dominated by the corporate broadcasters. However, PSB in Europe have to provide adequate responses to
defend the role of public media in society. Siune and Hulten tried to provide answers to the challenging question: “does
public service broadcasting have a future?”, and asserted that “public service broadcasting will continue as long as there
is a dual system at the national or European level with enough support from the political system as well as the audience
for its services” (1998). Nevertheless, the two pillars within a dual system are shaking, and PSB will have to reconfirm its
media function in society. One of the pillars on which PSB rests – support from the political system – is beginning to waver, requiring it to strengthen the other pillar: support from the public (Jakubowicz, 2006). Therefore, all PSB, including
PSB in Bosnia and Herzegovina, have to justify their social and media functions in society via production and dissemination of programs that serve the different needs of diverse public audiences, including the most vulnerable groups, such
as children and youth. That will be especially challenging for PSB that recently faced numerous transitions, such as the
Public Service Broadcasters in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The concept of public service broadcasting in Bosnia and Herzegovina (and the whole region of the former Yugoslavia)
evolved from a state-owned radio and television system, which functioned as part of the national Yugoslav Radio Television system and had a monopoly on broadcasting media in this region. Public Service Broadcasting of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PSB BiH) is a complex system, which consists of three public broadcasters: Radio Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT), which operates on national level, the Radio-Television of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
(RTVFBiH) and Radio-Television of Republika Srpska (RTRS) – both of which are entity broadcasters. PSB BiH nowadays
has a complex structure that follows the territorial and ethnic divisions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, yet tries to defend
the principles of equal representation, political correctness and so call “ethnical key” – equal representation of different
ethnic groups (see Udovičić, 2012:127). In principle, public service broadcasting in BiH should fulfill the key function of
all public media – to serve diversified communication interests of different audiences. The statutes of the public broadcasters, as well as the Editorial principles of the Public System Broadcasting in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2003), stipulate
the importance of serving the public interests and ensuring accountability to the public. In that context PSB BiH follows
a similar mission to all the other PSB in Europe.
To ‘inform, educate and entertain’ has been the public media credo ever since it was proclaimed by John Reith, BBC’s
first Director General in 1920’s. Since then, all public broadcasters in Europe have included these “Reithanian’s principles” into their missions. In doing so, all European public media, including PSB BiH, commits to producing high-quality
multimedia programs and content that fulfills the people’s need for information, education and entertainment. This is a
distinctive role of PSBs, as public media outlets are usually seen as producers and broadcasters of worthy content that
commercial media would not otherwise provide. This implies that without public media, different audiences, especially
children and youth, would be deprived of their right to information, education and entertainment.
However, is it true? Are PSBs really the only media that can address these challenges and provide worthy content to
the public? Can commercial media provide better services to all citizens than PSBs? According to Berry, “while few think
public service broadcasting has no role in the contemporary media, many have argued forcefully that state-funded
broadcasters should not replicate services that the market can already provide” (in Jakubowicz, 2006). In Bosnia and
Herzegovina, competition for funding is very tough, partly because both public and commercial broadcasters are competing for their part of the shrinking ‘advertising cake’. At the same time, there are a number of commercial broadcasters in BiH, which provide news, entertainment and even educational programs that could compete with PSB content on
all multimedia platforms. So how can BiH PSB address these challenges and justify its media role in BiH society?
To get support from the public, PSB need to focus on audiences’ interests and develop different types of relationships
with the public with an interactive role in programming, not just a passive one, as it is now. This implies that public service broadcasting should not only produce programs for the public but at the same time, should offer a variety of interactive communication forms for establishing and maintaining relationships with the audience. Public service broadcast-
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ers need to produce the highest quality programming that is politically, culturally or ethnically unbiased, for all citizens,
under equal conditions; all social groups, including children and youth, should have the ability to communicate via the
public service (see Veljanovski, 2005) in a format and via channels which are the most suitable for them. Public service
broadcasting faces an increasing identity crisis, and its future can be secured only if PSB is redefined and restructured
and as a new, conjoined, interactive multimedia public service, provides citizens with access to a wide range of informational, educational, and entertaining content (Car, 2007).
The urgency to develop mutually beneficial relationships between public media and children is best described by BBC
Director-General Mark Thompson who “warned that unless the BBC worked harder to reach younger audiences and
those that felt increasingly distant more effectively, the BBC could lose a generation forever” (BBC, 2006).
Commercial media is interested in children as well. Mainstream Western-based commercial media owners DO take children seriously, at least insofar as they are the readers, listeners and viewers of the future – they represent new media
markets that must be wooed (Jempson, 2003). There are a number of commercial broadcasters in BiH and the region
that produced programs for children. Some of them even launched special child focused channels such as Hayatovci
(the first TV channel for children in BiH), and Pink Kids (regional channel available via most cable networks in BiH). Paul
Robinson, senior Vice-President & Managing Director of Branded TV, Walt Disney International said: “When you distill it
down we are all interested in the same thing: producing media of high quality, appropriate for our children, that teach
as well as entertain while, at the same time, preserve local identity,” (in Jempson, 2003).
That puts BiH PSBs in a challenging position. PSB BiH has a long tradition of producing high quality programs for children because it is a legal successor of RTV Sarajevo, which used to be well known as a producer of some of the most
popular TV programs for children in the former Yugoslavia. Good examples are edutainment weekly TV shows for children, such as “Sunday Magazine” (“Nedjeljni zabavnik”), “On the Trail of the Dodo” (“Tragom ptice Dodo”), “Musical
Notebook”, and “Open the Window!” (“Otvori prozor”). Generations of children and young people grew up with these
programs, produced in 80s and 90s by Timothy John Byford (a famous BBC TV director and laureate of BAFTA award for
the best children’s television program). These programs entertained, educated and informed children, and helped them
learn new stuff through fun and games. These programs also helped children develop a long-term relationship with
their favorite radio and TV stations, compelling them to continue following the program tailored toward teenagers, and
later as adults as well. In this way, public broadcasters cultivated generations of viewers and listeners who remained
loyal to them even when PSBs faced strong competition from commercial stations.
However, with the advent of new media, the situation has changed overnight. The rapidity with which children and
young people are gaining access to online, convergent, mobile and networked technologies is unprecedented in the
history of technological innovation and diffusion (Olafsson, et all, 2013). These changes also significantly influence children’s relationships with online media. Today’s children are growing up with the Internet, and do not have such a strong
connection with the radio and TV programs of public broadcasters.
Unfortunately, PSB BiH do not recognize the importance of making
necessary changes and therefore did not provide multimedia online
content for children, which seriously jeopardized their chances of
reaching the younger generation and surviving in the future. BiH
PSBs included online portals into their multimedia platforms very
late, and started to broadcast content mainly for adults, not for
children. There are very few pages with child-focused informative,
educational and entertaining content. Public broadcasters lost their
connection with their younger audiences because they did not satisfied this audience’s media and communication needs. Therefore,
PSB BiH may lose its younger audiences forever. This will ultimately
lead to jeopardizing the fulfillment of PSB’s media function in BiH
society, as well as raising questions of the purpose of the overall
existence of the current concept of PSB BiH. Therefore, the production and dissemination of child-focused online content becomes the
critical issue for social, political and economic survival of PSB in BiH.
PSBs BiH failed to provide younger audiences with child-focused informational, educational and entertaining content in a multimedia
According to BiH PSB’s Editorial
Principles (article 1.1.), “Public
broadcasters are obliged to provide
diversified and balanced radio
and television programs, which
also applies to contents that are
distributed over the Internet,
teletext and the other modern
methods of dissemination of
information”. That implies that
BiH PSB’s online content has the
same ‘status’ as audio and video
materials broadcasted via radio
and TV platforms.
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format appropriate for them – via online platforms – and in this way deprived the children from valuable content that
could only be produced by public media. It is important to stress that all members of PSB BiH have a legal requirement
to produce and broadcast programs for children (as stipulated in number of legal and internal acts, including: the Law on
Public Service of Radio Television of Federation BiH - article 38, the Law on Radio Television of Republic Srpska -article 7,
Statute of RTRS-article 8, as well as article 1 of Editorial Principles adopted by all members of PBS BiH). However, there
was no PBS BiH website that included information about children programs on their portals in the annual program report, although Internet based media is a legitimate part of the PSB BiH broadcasting portfolio.
BiH PSB failed to establish a connection with the children and youth as one of their most important audiences by excluding them from online access to valuable materials. Negative consequences of this approach imply that, if BiH PSBs
ignore younger audiences, public broadcasters risk becoming irrelevant to young people. BiH PSBs may lose whole
generations of young followers of their programs if they do not invest in building mutually beneficial relationships with
children.
The consequences of such negligence would be even broader, because PSB BiH might lose not only its public, but also
the main arguments to justify its existence. After that, BiH PSBs could not argue that only public media services are able
to produce and broadcast high-quality informational, educational, entertainment and cultural programs for audiences
of all ages and all tastes. This challenge is an additional burden on PSBs’ shoulders, since public broadcasters are already
struggling to survive financially due to problems with collecting license fees (RTV taxes) and strong political pressure on
public media. Under these circumstances, the loss of a whole generation of young viewers is the greatest threat to the
continued functioning of PSB BiH and for justifying PSB’s cause in this country.
While PSB BiH does not have an adequate supply of child-focused e-content, at the same time, children often have no
demand for PSBs’ multimedia programs on the Internet either, since young people fulfill their needs for specific shows
with content found on other online media. If PSBs do not change their offering and miss the opportunity to provide
younger audiences with child-focused e-content, the whole generation will not understand PSBs’ media function in the
society. At the same time, children will be deprived of suitable child friendly media content that only public media can
produce and broadcast. Children’s right to access educational, informational and entertaining content, produced by
public media without commercial influences, will be jeopardized. Therefore, PSBs have to provide children with appropriate content via broadcasting and narrowcasting platforms (such as websites and social networks of public services).
So, in order to find a proper response to this burning issue, it is important to understand how online media content influences children. In addition, current online content BiH PSBs provides for children will be compared to best European
practices in order to analyze the gap and possible areas for improvement. These elements are relevant for formulation
of policy options, which PSB BiH could use to ensure adequate child focused and child friendly content on their online
multimedia platforms.
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ONLINE MEDIA INFLUENCE ON CHILDREN
Media has significant influence on children’s lives in the contemporary world, with kids extensively consuming different
types of media on a daily basis. Children spend more time with media than any other activity, except for sleeping, and
the result is that children today are completely immersed in media experiences from a very young age (Children Now,
2014). Today’s youngsters live and grow up with the media (especially television and the Internet) as an integral part of
their socialization and education (Maksimović, Stanisavljević Petrović, 2014). Online media is currently overtaking the
primacy of traditional mass media providers, which are developing their own online platforms, in providing information
and entertainment. Online media can enable children to access child-focused and child-friendly educational, informative, cultural and entertaining online content, enriching their media experience as well as their lives. Online services
provided by public media services may offer a number of benefits and opportunities for younger users in particular.
The benefits are to be found in relation to learning, participation, creativity and communication (Olafsson, et al, 2013).
Some authors think that digital media should be included in the education of children at an early age (Nadrljanski, at all,
2007). However, a study on mass media used by children found that, though media has an education role, the primary
function of mass media for this age group is entertainment (Ilišin, 2003). Deputy Ombudsperson for Children in Republika Srpska Zlata Hadžić Bajrić, warned that “children use media for education, but they use all available programs not
only those that are labeled as educational”, adding that “today’s children from an early age grow up with media and
media contents which are not sufficiently adapted to children and their age and needs” (Matić, 2013). This is especially
relevant for online media because children spend a lot of time on web portals and social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, which have a significant influence on children’s development. A survey conducted on 1000
children in the UK showed that half of children under the age of 12 years and 60 percent of teens were sad if they didn’t
have access to the Internet (Aljazeera, 2012). Children are often eager to use online media content if available, but
many children lack the judgment necessary to assess the longer-term impact that online content may have on their lives.
Therefore, public media in any country, including BiH, should be actively engaged in providing adequate child-focused
contents for their younger audiences. This proactive approach would benefit both younger users and PSBs as content
providers, enabling them to build mutually beneficial relationships in the long run.
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BIH PSBS’ ONLINE CONTENT FOR CHILDREN
There is a strong need to research online content for children to determine how this online content reflects high journalistic standards, media principles and polices that are mandatory for public media services in Bosnia and Herzegovina
and beyond. According to media laws and regulations, all BiH PSBs’ media platforms have equal status, implying that
content produced by public media services should adhere to the same high quality standards, regardless of platforms
for dissemination (see Zakon o Javnom radio-televizijskom sistemu Bosne i Hercegovine, 2005, article 7; Zakon o Javnom servisu RTV Federacije BiH, 2008, articles 7, 9, 39, 40, 42; Zakon o Radio-Televiziji Republike Srpske, 2006, articles
14,15,17, 21, 29; Uređivačka načela/principi Javnog radiotelevizijskog sistema/sustava u Bosni i Hercegovini, 2003). This
implies that PSBs BiH should create and narrowcast high quality child friendly online content on all four web portals
(www.bhrt.ba, www.rtvfbih.ba, www.federalna.ba, www.rtrs.tv) and social media platforms. In addition, information
about child focused online materials should be posted on official web portals, included in program reports (and plans),
and make available to the public. However, there is neither analytic nor policy information related to media content for
children, ratings of different content, and protection of children on BiH PSBs’ online portals. In order to determine the
scope of the problem, an analysis of BiH PSBs’ current online programs for children was conducted.
To determine the ability of public media services to address the needs of children and youth for accessible and userfriendly online content, the analysis started with a review of BiH PSBs’ accessibility requirements and the existence of
technical infrastructure necessary to establish online dialogical communication with children. Potential problems with
access to online content and inadequate technical infrastructure may prevent children from establishing and maintaining online dialogical communication with BiH PSBs. These changes also represent a significant challenge for BiH PSBs’
members as content providers, which have to follow the latest technological trends in order to address needs and requirements of its users, especially the youngest ones.
An analysis of BHRT, RTVFBiH and RTRS websites showed that the web portals of public service broadcasters in BiH met
the basic technical requirements for establishing a web-mediated online communication, but they were not maintaining
a dialogic online communication with their publics because they had an inadequate approach to development of interactivity, multimedia convergence and public participation (Šahinpašić, 2013).
When it comes to child-focused programs, PBS BiH web portals and social media platforms have an evident lack of adequate online content for children. This online content is analyzed in accordance with the research material gathered
from two types of sources: internal program reports produced by all members of Public Broadcasting Services in Bosnia
and Herzegovina (secondary sources), and online media content analysis of BiH PSBs’ web portals and social media (primary sources). I also conducted interviews and had correspondence with editors of BiH PSBs web portals and programs
for children, as well as PSB BiH management.
The current offering of programs for children, produced and broadcasted by BiH PSBs (on broadcasting platforms),
is very limited, if judged by annual program reports. According to the program report for BHRT in 2012, “the editorial
team for children and youth program, according to the rationalized budget, has focused, for the most part, to broadcast
reruns of the program, purchased and processed in previous years.” In that period BHRT broadcasted 8,13 percent of
programs for children, which is slightly higher than RTRS, which aired seven percent of programs for children (this is
share of children’s program in overall program schedule of these RTV stations/ total amount of all broadcasted programs in 2012, as presented in BHRT and RTRS program reports for 2012). RTVFBIH did not provided information on its
child-focused content in program reports, and the only available source of information is their 2011 plan, which stated
that it plans to develop edutainment morning programs for children.
However, it is important to stress that there is no information, in any of these report, related to online content for children (nor for other program segments of PSB BiH online platforms). Therefore, in August 2014, I conducted content
analysis of all four BiH PSBs’ web portals (www.bhrt.ba; www.federalna.ba; www.rtvfbih.ba; www.rtrs.tv) to research
quantity and quality of available child focused materials.
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BHRT’S E-CONTENT FOR CHILDREN
National public broadcaster BHRT targeted younger eaudiences with one subsection dubbed ‘youth’. BHRT
recently included four social media sites to its online narrowcasting portfolio: Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and
Google +. However, there is no child-focused content
on any of BHRT’s social networks. In addition, BHRT’s
social media pages were not updated for a quite long
time. During content analysis, the last post on Goggle+
was five months old, the last post on YouTube was two
months old, the last post on Twitter was one month old,
and the last post on Facebook was two days old. Unsurprisingly, there were very few visitors’ comments, posts
http://www.bhrt.ba/vijesti/mladi/ accessed 15/8/2014.
or likes on any of these pages. Keeping in mind that organizational online social networks have to be updated
hourly, not even on a daily basis, this practically mean that BHRT’s social media communications with all stakeholders
is actually “dead” and dysfunctional, which implies that BHRT does not fulfil its online role as a public media. When it
comes to BHRT’s web content for younger audiences, it is very poor. The content of the ‘youth’ subsection consisted of
daily news that might be relevant for younger audiences (scholarships, job related information, child and youth focused
events throughout the country, etc). News in this ‘youth’ subsection is gathered via news feed and there are no editorial interventions, nor classification or segmentation of the content in accordance with different age or gender groups
(among youth audiences). Although, this subsection could eventually (partly) cover the presence of information element of program/content structure on one of BHRT’s websites, it is a striking fact that there is lack of presence of other
core elements: educational, cultural and entertainment contents for children and youth.
RTRS’S E-CONTENT FOR CHILDREN
RTRS is the only public broadcaster in BiH that has a
special page with child-focused content on its main web
portal, the web page www.djeca.rtrs.tv. This web page
is for the “Đurđevdanski festival”, a children’s song festival that is RTRS’ largest media project for children. This
is one of the largest regional festival for children, with
21 years long tradition. On this web page, there is a complete online archive of multimedia content, including a
discography with records from all previous festivals as
well as shows, commercials, videos, news and photos.
The video content on the site is very rich, and the online
http://djeca.rtrs.tv/ accessed 15/8/2014.
archives have all the shows related to the festival. This
festival is a very large and complex project, which RTRS
prepares for almost a year and TV records enough material, which is then broadcasted through the whole year within the scope of child-focused TV shows. Within the website,
there is a list of RTRS’ active programs, which are distributed in line with the newsrooms that produce them, and the
entire online archive of all programs that RTRS produces and broadcasts. Every show, including child-focused programs,
has a special page with basic information as well as video and audio archive of broadcasted shows.
In the case of children’s and educational programs, RTRS regularly posts on its website the TV show “Nidžo radoznalac”,
dedicated to the younger audiences (this TV show is entirely produced within RTRS), as well as the TV program “Kvadrat
na znanje”. When it comes to online radio broadcasts, RTRS regularly posts the radio show “Zvjezdano nebo djetinjstva”,
12
a program that has been produced for more than 20 years on Radio RS (formerly Radio Banja Luka). There is also a part
of RTRS’ website that displays inactive shows and serials that were once broadcasted with a notice stipulating that
these shows are not broadcasting on TV programs. Uploads of other shows on RTRS’ website is restricted (especially
when it comes to cartoons and TV programs from private production) due to copyright protection. So far, RTRS has only
one web page devoted to one festival of children’s songs as well as an audio-video online archive of radio and TV shows
from their own production, which is available on their web portal. There is no other specially produced child-focused
content.
According to Đorđe Vujatović, RTRS’ Multimedia Editor and Head of Multimedia Department, the number of child-focused programs produced by RTRS “probably, should be much higher, but unfortunately, the volume of this content
for a specific audience is limited. He stated that difficult economic and financial conditions and production complexities limit BiH public broadcasters in the production of online programs for younger audiences. Vujatović argue that
production of child-focused online content is a very complex and costly activity that is difficult to implement under
the current circumstances, so RTRS mainly posts online audio-video materials produced by their TV or radio sector
(Šahinpašić, 2014a).
FRTV’S E-CONTENT FOR CHILDREN
RTVFBiH is the only member of PSB BiH with two official web pages: www.rtvfbih.ba and www.federalna.ba. The first one - www.rtvfbih.ba – is a static
website, which serve mainly as RTVFBiH’s electronic
program guide. The other site www.federalna.ba is
organized like a web portal with different subsections and multimedia content. The only child-focused content on this portal are TV shows and video
materials produced by RTVFBiH’s TV sector for children and youth programs.
According to Boris Šiber, RTVFBiH’s editor of programs for
children and youth, all content on www.federalna.ba has
always been available to the youngest audiences. Howwww.federalna.ba accessed 18/8/2014.
ever, he claims that, due to financial difficulties caused by
Communications Regulatory Agency’s decision to reduce
amount of time available for broadcasting of commercial on PSB programs, RTVFBiH was forced to broadcast only re-runs
of programs and TV shows for children. He believes that the government should seriously understand the need to invest
in programs for new generations, and thus support RTVFBiH’s production of child-focused content. In order to make that
happen, Šiber stressed the importance of future investment into RTVFBiH and PSBs in general, to support development
of BiH’s creative industry and external media production because only financially strong and independent public broadcasters can produce high-quality media contents with an impact on the market (Šahinpašić, 2014b). Radenko Udovičić, a
member of the RTFBiH’s Board and professor of media and communications, also insisted on investing into the development of child-focused content on RTFBiH’s online platforms. He emphasized necessity for continuous development of
technical capacity and human resources in this sector as one of critical pre-conditions for production and dissemination of
high-quality programs for children and youth on PSBs web portals (Šahinpašić, 2014c).
So, currently there is no specially produced online content for children on FRTV’s web and social media platforms.
However, there is content that is completely inappropriate for children on this portal.
A page dubbed “Vrući klik” (“Hot Click”) on RTFBiH’s web portal www.federalna.ba has explicit nudity and erotic
content, which has no password or security measures and is accessible to everyone, including children and youth; this
page evidently violates BiH PSB’s legal requirements (see Zakon o Javnom servisu RTV Federacije BiH, 2008, article
40). This example indicates the need to research child protection issues and cyber security measures on BiH PSBs’
websites. RTFBiH’s web platform has serious problems with cyber security measures to protect children. The fact that
RTFBiH’s www.federalna.ba, one of BiH PSBs’ members, has “Vrući klik” is an alarming signal that highlights the need to
advocate for the emergency adoption of adequate cyber security measures to protect children on the Internet.
13
According to Boris Šiber, RTVFBiH’s editor of programs
for children and youth, it is important that relevant ministries should work on solving the problem of protecting children from inappropriate content on the Internet
(Šahinpašić, 2014b). Radenko Udovičić, member of the
FRTV’s Board and professor of media and communications also stresses that it is unacceptable that any BiH
PSB has content with explicit nudity such “Vrući klik” on
their web sites (Šahinpašić, 2014c).
…
Based on the media content analysis, it is evident that the
presence of informational, educational, cultural or enterwww.federalna.ba accessed 18/8/2014.
tainment contents for children on BiH PSBs’ platforms is
very limited, with only some sporadic posts of reruns of
shows and news on youth-related activities. Most of the
public broadcasters presented a certain percentage of children and youth related radio and TV programs in their annual
reports and daily program schedules, but there is no information about child related content. In addition, although two
of PBS BiH’s members– BHRT and RTVFBiH – opened social media sites, there is no child-focused content on these social
media platforms. Since there is no adequate child focused content on PBS BiH’s web platforms, it is important to examine
what BiH PSBs have to provide in order to address these challenges and develop child-friendly content for their younger
audience, which is relevant for the future of public broadcasting in this country.
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THE BEST EUROPEAN PRACTICES AND POSSIBLE AREAS
FOR IMPROVEMENT ON BIH PSBS’ ONLINE MEDIA:
CONTENT, PLATFORM, SECURITY
THE BEST PSBS’ PRACTICES - BBC & NRK
The leading European public media services, such as the British
Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Norwegian public broadcaster (NRK), developed a broad portfolio of online multimedia
platforms for children and youth. Content-wise, this diversified
portfolio of child-friendly web portals could serve as a role model
for BiH PSBs.
BBC offers online portals for both
pre-school and older children via
child focused web portal
(www.bbc.co.uk/children) with
three different web based
platforms with child friendly
content (www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies;
www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc; www.bbc.
co.uk/bitesize/primary).
BBC focused on making great creative content, which their audiences love, and that is relevant to their lives (see Thompson, in BBC,
2006). Worrying that they could lose younger audiences forever if
they do not provide adequate programs for them, BBC developed
specialized content for kids and teens: they decided that all children’s output including radio, online and learning will be consolidated under the CBeebies and CBBC brands which will be given tighter
audiences targets – ages up to 6 and 7 to 11 years respectively. BBC also created a broadband based teen brand aimed
at 12 to 16 years, including a high volume of drama, comedy, music and factual content (see BBC, 2006)
The BBC has a long history of production and broadcasting programs for children, which started in the 1930s. The
first child focused TV program on BBC was “For the Children” broadcasted in 1937. After the Second World War, BBC
launched programs for pre-school children dubbed “For The Very Young”. Since 1952, programs for younger children
“Watch with Mother” were broadcasted on BBC One, and replaced by “See-Saw” in 1980. In 1985, that block of children’s programs was rebranded as Children’s BBC, and in the 1990s, it began to be referred as ‘CBBC’.
In 2002, BBC launched the CBBC Channel and the CBeebies Channel, which offered a variety of new and archived programs for children. From 2011-2013, due to the digital switchover, all programs for children were moved from BBC One
and Two to the CBBC and CBeebies digital channels (see BBC 6, 2014).
“Children’s programmes are absolutely fundamental to the BBC and that is why we have protected investment in them
in the light of cuts elsewhere. Only a very small percentage of children still solely watch these programmes on BBC One
and BBC Two alone, so moving them to digital channels is merely following current viewing patterns and reflects the
fact that CBeebies and CBBC will be universally available on digital TV(…) And because of the way young audiences
now consume television, there is unlikely to be a drop in viewing figures,” said the BBC Trust (BBC, 2012).
The BBC offers a variety of child friendly e-content for children aged 6–12, on its CBBC websites. It includes a number of
online edutainment activities, such as games, videos, puzzles, print and makes. The BBC integrates children’s programs
on television output and online content, and provides follow-up information on websites. Children have the opportunity
to view the CBBC iPlayer and replay CBBC programs for almost a month. Children can use message boards on CBBC’s
website discuss all topics that bother them such as bullying and personal problems (see CBBC, 2014; CBEEBIES, 2014).
The website of Norwegian PBS -NRK (www.nrk.no) is one of the
most visited in Norway, and provides online platforms such as nrksuper.no (for children) and p3.no (for young people), as well as www.
nrk.no/skole (school service). NRK stated that “the adaptation of
such useful services represent a natural development of traditional
public service content and are recent innovations that provide the
public with content in a more user-friendly manner through the use
of new technology” (www.nrk.no).
These web portals for children and youth show that BBC in the UK
NRK provides online content
for children and youth via three
different online platforms:
nrksuper.no (for children) and
p3.no (for young people), as well
as www.nrk.no/skole (school
service).
15
and NRK in Norway, as the leading public broadcasters in Europe, recognized the importance of relationship building
with their younger audiences. Therefore, they offered online platforms and developed a special website with childfocused content. This approach enabled them to fulfill their media function in society, by providing children and young
people with the opportunity to satisfy their need for information, education, culture and entertainment via e-content.
In that way, all public broadcasters (including BiH PSBs) could use their online platform for building, maintaining and
reinforcing long-term, mutually beneficial, relationships with generations of dedicated audiences and stakeholders on
whom their future depends.
ONLINE GOES MOBILE/CHOOSING CHILD-FRIENDLY
COMMUNICATION PLATFORMS
The selection of the right communication platforms is another important element for establishing and maintaining online dialogical communication between BiH PSBs and their younger audiences. Young people prefer to communicate via
mobile platforms such as smartphones and tablets. As a result, it is important that BiH PSBs’ online content is available
for Android smartphones and tablets as well as for iPhone/ iPad/iOS and Windows Phone users. However, out of four
BiH PSBs sites, only RTRS has an Android application for mobile devices.
Even the most influential public media in Europe is not immune from these challenges. As BBC Director-General Mark
Thompson stated, “The BBC should no longer think of itself as a broadcaster of TV and radio and some new media on
the side. We should aim to deliver public service content to our audiences in whatever media and on whatever device
makes sense for them, whether they are at home or on the move. We can deliver much more public value when we think
across all platforms and consider how audiences can find our best content, content that’s more relevant, more useful
and more valuable to them.”
The new multimedia technology has strongly influenced relationships between PSBs and their younger audiences.
Technology has also impacted relations between public and commercial media. The conflict between public and commercial broadcasters has deepened with the development of new media platforms, since users are no longer limited by
a small number of providers, and competition for audiences is much more intense (see Berry, in Jakubowicz, 2006). The
changes, influenced by the development of new media, forced PSBs to provide a quick and adequate response to these
technological and relationship challenges. PSBs have to re-develop strategy for the new multimedia age and respond to
demanding public needs in the online environment.
BiH PSBs should also include mobile applications to enable younger audiences to access online content via smartphones,
tablets and other mobile devices. Therefore, investing in new mobile technology is a must for public broadcasters in BiH,
since technological upgrades are one of the key elements of BiH PSBs’ relationship building with children and youth.
CYBER SECURITY AND CHILD PROTECTION MEASURES ON
BIH PSBS’ ONLINE PLATFORMS
Recent research clearly illustrates that access to online content on the Internet may bring children some benefits, but
also expose them to various risks. Researchers warned that children might be exposed to a wide array of online risks
such as bullying, pornography, grooming, abuse of personal data and privacy, geo-location tracking, unwelcome forms
of sexual messaging and harassment (see Olafsson, at all, 2013). Children revealed their fears online in research which
showed that pornography and violent content top children’s online concerns (see Livingstone, et all, 2013). The salient
risks in children’s eyes are online bullying and harassment, unwelcome contact from strangers, misuse of personal information, issues related to sexual content or communication, and commercial content (Vandoninck, et all, 2014).
In order to analyze potential risks for children on PSBs’ web sites, it is important to understand that children and adults
see online risks from different perspectives – something editors of BiH PSBs’ websites should take into consideration.
Livingstone, et all, (2013) stated that younger children are more concerned about content, and as they get older, they
become more concerned about conduct and contact risks. Olafsson, et all, (2013) stressed the importance of developing strategies and tools to ensure that any harm associated with the risks of Internet use is appropriately minimized.
16
PBS BiH’s journalists should also respect and follow international conventions and guidelines related to media and
protection of children’s rights, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as Guidelines and Principles
for Reporting on Issues Involving Children (Barry, Jempson, 2005). Therefore, it is important to develop such media
policies, which could serve as a set of guidelines for child friendly online content for children in the public broadcasting
“infosphere”.
In order to address the online risks and challenges, leading European academics and industry experts define tools that would make
the Internet a better place for children and minimize risks for youth
on their portals (see Livingstone, et all, 2012):
These four guiding principles could be a very useful framework for
web editors and managers to develop a set of cyber security measures and tools on BiH PSB’s online platforms.
Another tool that could be useful in addressing safety issues on PBS
BiH’s websites is a rating system, which would classify websites with
regard to suitability for children or adults, and provide objective information about online content so parents and children could make
informed choices. There are a number of rating systems used worldwide as well as initiatives to adopt a more universal system such as
a pan-European cross media rating system. According to Childnet
International (2014), a starting point for a cross media rating system
could be based on the following inputs:
Guiding principles to make
internet better place for children
(Livingstone, et all, 2012)
• Simple and robust
reporting tools
• Age-appropriate privacy
settings
• Wider use of content
classification
• Wider availability and use
of parental controls
•
Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA)
•
British Board of Film Classification
•
Pan European Game Information (PEGI)
•
Rating of commercial content on mobile phones, using the IMCB
•
The classification board- UK’s independent mobile classification body
•
The US ratings provided by Commonsensemedia.
Currently, there is neither child protection measures nor a rating system related to PBS BiH’s websites, and therefore,
these inputs could be used as a starting point to develop cyber security tools to protect children on these online platforms.
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POLICY OPTIONS
There are ten criteria used to evaluate and recommend public policy options. These goals and criteria include:
1. providing child-focused/child friendly online content, valuable for children;
2. effectiveness in provision of child friendly online content;
3. providing adequate cyber security measures and ratings on all BiH PSBs’ web platforms;
4. ensuring political feasibility and acceptability
5. ensuring social feasibility via developing socially acceptable solutions for child-focused content on BiH PSBs’
web platforms
6. high level of public support;
7. offering solutions which would be cost effective, with sustainable financial investment;
8. adequate level of additional investments in human resources;
9. investments in technical capacity;
10. potentials for long-term financial, technical and programmatic sustainability of BiH PSBs’ child-focused online
platforms.
On the basis of these ten goals and criteria, three policy options are evaluated:
•
Option 1: Status Quo – No specialized webpage with child-focused content on PBS BiH web platforms
•
Option 2: Development of special ‘child friendly’ subsections within existing PBS BiH web platforms
•
Option 3: Specialized ‘child friendly’/‘child focused’ BiH PSB web platforms
Outcomes Matrix:
Option 1
Goals/ Criteria
Status Quo – No
specialized child
focused BiH PSB
web pages
Option 2
‘Child friendly’
subsections within
existing BiH PSB
web platforms
Option 3
Specialized ‘child
friendly’/‘child
focused’ BiH PSB
web platforms
Providing child- friendly
online
1.
content/ Value for children
low
medium
high
Effectiveness/Provision of child
2.
friendly online content
low
medium
high
current level
high
Cyber security/ Adequate
3. measures, ratings
Political Feasibility
4.
current level
medium
medium
low
5.
Social Feasibility/Social Acceptance
Public Acceptance/Level of support
6.
low
medium
high
low
medium
high
7.
Financial/ Cost/ Level of additional
financial investments needed
current level
low
high
Investments/Level of additional
8.
investments in technical capacity
current level
low
high
Investments/Level of additional
9. investments in human resources
current level
low
medium
10. Financial
Sustainability Potentials
low
low
high
Political Acceptance
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NON-PREFERRED POLICY OPTIONS
The two policy options - 1 and 2 are not acceptable for various reasons:
Option 1: Status Quo – No specialized webpage with child-focused content on PBS BiH web platforms
The first policy option would be to leave content for children on BiH PSBs’ online platforms as it is. This means
that public broadcasters would effectively leave the younger audiences without adequate child-focused content.
The only option for children would be to continue to watch and listen to re-runs of programs produced for radio
and TV, on BiH PSBs’ online platforms. This is not an adequate solution because that would practically imply that
BiH PSB would not undertake any steps towards developing child friendly online media content on its web platforms. This option is not supported by the current legal framework for public broadcasters in BiH nor in the rules
and regulations for BiH PSBs, which stipulate the importance of provision of programs for children. In addition,
this option effectively deprives children from their rights as well as from access to informative, educational, cultural and entertaining online content. This option neglects children as one of BiH PSBs’ audiences. According to
the outcome matrix, this option would have very low value for children, in terms of providing child-focused online
content on BiH PSBs’ web platforms, and effectiveness in the provision of child friendly online content. Currently,
there is neither adequate cyber security measures nor ratings (related to child safety issues on the Internet) on
BiH PSBs’ web platforms, which further jeopardize narrowcasting of child-focused e-content. In terms of political
feasibility, this option could get a medium level of political acceptance because politicians, generally, do not put
child related issues as top priorities on their agendas. However, social feasibility, social acceptance and level of
public support for this policy option would be low, because key stakeholders have different opinions than politicians, and understand the importance of providing quality (informative, educational, cultural and entertaining)
online content for children. With this option, there would be no additional financial cost or investments in human
resources and technical capacity. However, limited financial and human resources would limit BiH PSBs’ potential
for further development of child-focused online content and marginalize children as an audience.
Option 2: Development of special ‘child friendly’ subsections within existing PBS BiH’s web platforms
The second policy option would be to create subsections with youth-focused and child-friendly content on current
BiH PSBs’ web portals and social media. In that case, each BiH PSB website would include a special section with
child focused content, and all BiH PSB members will offer specially created informative, educational, cultural and
entertaining online content for children on their online platforms. However, this option is not recommended, for
a number of reasons: Cyber security measures, related to child safety issues on the Internet, would be on current
level because it would use the existing web organization structure of BiH PSB’s online portals. In practice, there
would not be an adequate rating system in place that would clearly separate child friendly and adult content, nor
web security measures which would allow children to freely search BiH PSB’s online platforms. In terms of political and social feasibility, this option could ensure a medium level of political and social acceptance among key
stakeholders because it would provide socially desired content, in line with legal and regulatory framework, without advocating for changes in the politically based structures of BiH PSBs. This option would have medium value
for children in terms of providing child-focused online content on BiH PSB’s web platforms and effectiveness in
provision of child friendly online content because the web editor could use quality programs from TV and radio
and adapt it for online formats. However, that option has limited opportunity for interactivity and participation.
The expected level of public support for this option would be medium, because it would provide children with
some e-content for them but not adequately address this issue. This option would require low levels of financial
cost, and additional investments in human resources and technical capacity, because PBS could use the existing
staffing and IT infrastructure, with minor increase of operational costs related to human and technical resources
necessary for functions of interactivity and participation. However, financial potentials for external funding are
limited. In addition, the current organization structure of BiH PSB members might cause a problem because radio
and TV have separate editors and teams for children’s programs. So problems may occur if different editors (from
radio and TV) jointly assume responsibility for the third, online, platform.
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PREFERRED POLICY OPTION
Option 3: Development of specialized child friendly PSB BiH’s web platform
Development of a specialized child friendly web platform within the BiH PSB system is the preferred policy option, for a number of reasons. Positive aspects of this option are effectiveness in provision of child friendly online
content, adequate cyber security measures and ratings, which will increase child safety on the Internet. Development of online content would be based on best practices from other European public media services (such
as BBC and NRK), and it would offer high quality programs for children. The children will get adequate online
content on BiH PSBs, which would ensure that this option gets a high level of public support. The specialized child
friendly online platform would operate independently from official websites and the portals of the three BiH
PSBs’ members. This BiH PSBs’ multimedia platform would consist of web portals and social media (Facebook,
You Tube, Twitter, etc). In line with that approach, implementation of this option would enable BiH PSBs to create
and maintain child focused online platforms that would provide the youngest generation with content in a more
child friendly manner through the use of new technology.
This platform would provide adequate content for all children in the whole country, and will not be affected by political divisions among public broadcasters in BiH. In this way, all (financial, human and technical) resources would be
distributed among BiH PSB members, and an editorial team will be able to create synergy, which will enable them to
produce high quality content for children and youth. There will be a separate editorial team for online content for
children on BiH PSBs’ online platforms, which would be fully in charge for all child focused multimedia online content. The editorial team for children and youth related online content would operate in a similar way as the teams
who are producing and broadcasting radio and TV programs for children and youth on BiH PSBs. The team would
be structured on a program basis (editors for news, education, culture and entertainment content), and not on a
political or state/entity level basis. The team will also include multimedia experts for web portals, social media, and
mobile media. In addition, for the development of a specialized editorial team for child-friendly online content, it
is important to engage a broad array of highly skilled professionals such as pedagogues/educators, psychologists,
teachers, sociologists and social workers as well as producers, directors, screen writers who will conceptualized appropriate contents for children, IT experts, programmers of video games, web designers and a whole crew of online
multimedia editors who will participate in production and narrowcasting of child-focused contents.
The challenging issue is that the expected level of political feasibility and acceptance, a critical factor in the decision making process, is low, and implementation of this option would require addressing significant political challenges, including changes in organization of public broadcasting system in BiH. In addition, implementation of a
new BiH PSB online platform for children would require a high level of financial investment as well as a high level
of investments in human resources and technical capacity, but this could be repaid in the long run. This option
also paves the way for BiH PSBs’ long-term financial stability, due to potentials for future investments from local
governments and international donors.
It is important to notice that this option paves the way for regional cooperation of four public broadcasters in
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro. It is evident that none of the PSBs in these countries
have special child focused online portals. Keeping in mind high cost of production of multimedia content for children, as well as the high level of investment in human resources and technical capacity, it is wise to consider the
option to develop a joint regional online portal for children, which will include PSB BIH, HRT, RTS and RTCG. This
portal could feature content on Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian and Montenegrin language(s), which is understandable to all children in the region. This could also create a synergy among regional media and creative industry
professionals, as well as various experts in the field (psychologists, pedagogues, educators, web masters, programmers, etc), who could jointly develop desired child friendly content. This will also require involvement of
various ministries and institutions for children on the local, national, regional and international level as well as
child focused organizations such as UNICEF and the donor community. The key issue would be to ensure a strong
connection and full participation of all relevant stakeholders. In that way children will exercise their right for child
friendly online content, and public broadcasters in BiH and the region will establish mutually beneficial relationships with their younger audiences as a bridge for future development and justification of their media role in
society, Therefore it is important to advocate for the development of special child focused PSB online platforms
on national and regional levels.
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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This policy paper addressed the issue of inadequate and inappropriate content for children on BiH PSBs’ online platforms. Program reports as well as media content analysis clearly show a lack of child friendly and child focused online
content on BiH PSBs’ websites and social media platforms. Special child friendly and child focused online platforms,
with diversified informative, educational, cultural and entertaining content would be an optimal solution. However, it
would be challenging to implement it on BiH PSBs in the short-term. Therefore, long-term investment into BiH PSBs’
online capacity is important in order to develop child-focused content. This would be investment into BiH PSBs’ future,
because it would serve as a bridge between public broadcasters and their younger audiences. In order to implement
this objective, it is important to develop a set of media policies to support the realization of BiH PSBs’ child friendly
and child focused online content. Below are a set of recommendations to key stakeholders in policy creation and the
implementation process.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO MANAGEMENT AND EDITORIAL
TEAMS OF BIH PSBS
1. Management and editorial teams of all members of BiH PSBs should develop and implement media policy related to child friendly and child focused content on their online platforms in line with the current legal framework
and the best European practices.
2. This approach should ensure consistency of treatment for child focused and child friendly online media content
on BiH PSBs’ web portals with the legal requirements as well as media standards, norms, principles and practices
that are applicable for BiH PSBs radio and TV programs.
3. There is a need to establish an editorial team for child focused online content, on BiH PSBs’ level.
4. The team should have a capacity to develop child friendly and child focused online content in line with the best
European standards and practice of public media services (which imply investment in human resources and technical capacity on BiH PSBs’ level)
5. The team should create a system that will protect children from violent and harmful online content BiH PSBs’
level online platforms. This includes the development of adequate rating systems, and a set of measures that
will enable children and their parents to avoid unfriendly content or activities on BiH PSBs’ web portals and social
media platforms.
6. It is important to develop a set of procedures for continuous monitoring and evaluation of BiH PSBs’ child focused online content in line with the best European standards and practices
7. Management and editorial teams of BiH PSBs should explore opportunities for development of regional cooperation of four public broadcasters in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, which will pave the
way for the creation of a joint child focused regional online portal, which will include PSB BIH, HRT, RTS and RTCG.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO POLICYMAKERS/LAWMAKERS/
LEGISLATIVE & EXECUTIVE AUTHORITIES AT STATE AND
ENTITY LEVELS IN BIH
1. “State has a very important role in regulation of internet” and “states have rights and obligations which refer to
issues of international Internet-related public policy”, as stipulated in OSCE’s Guide for self-regulation of online media (Hulin, Stone 2013). Therefore, the recommended solution for implementation of the preferred policy option is
21
to advocate to different levels of governments in Bosnia and Herzegovina to take an active approach in the creation
of online media policy. The media policy should enable public broadcasters to put content provided on BiH PSB web
portal platforms in the same context as programs broadcasted via BiH PSBs’ radio and TV channels.
2. In addition, lawmakers on state/national and entity levels should amend laws on BHRT, RTVFBiH and RTRS, with
articles which will reinforce rules and regulations which stipulate legal requirements for producing and broadcasting of adequate programs for children with a special focus on online multimedia platforms (websites, web
portals and social media – Facebook, You Tube, Twitter, etc.). These new amendments should enable equal treatment of new media as a public media platform, and make it mandatory for all public broadcasters in BiH to treat
their web portals and social media the same way they treat their radio and TV channels.
3. In that way, lawmakers should ensure that all media channels have an equal status and the program/content
provided via different platforms will be treated in the same manner, which is in line with the legal regulations,
professional standards, and internal acts of PBS in BiH.
4. Furthermore, these new amendments should make BHRT, RTVFBiH and RTRS responsible for adequate cyber
security measures on their online platforms. Public broadcasters in BiH should be legally responsible for protection of children from inappropriate and potentially harmful online content.
5. However, lawmakers should take into consideration another important principle from OSCE’s Guide for self-regulation of online media which stipulates that “the sphere of state’s legal regulation of Internet must be limited
by the fact that the law does not violate the sphere with the functional standards and rules adopted by the selfregulating organization” (Hulin, Stone 2013:40)
6. The authorities on all levels in BiH should legally and financially support production and dissemination of child
focused and child friendly online content on PSB’s e-platforms, within their scope of work. Ministries from all
levels should participate in implementation of this task, in line with their responsibility (including ministries for
culture, health, education, social welfare, etc.), and should provide funding from their budgets for the creation
of concrete, niche segments of these programs (culture, education, health, child wellbeing, etc.)
RECOMMENDATIONS TO OMBUDSPERSON
FOR CHILDREN IN BIH
1. Ombudspersons for children in BiH to serve as the leading state actor for development of child friendly online
media policy and protection of children human rights on the Internet
2. To create a team or appoint a person who will carefully monitor how PBS BiH implementes national and international media policies, laws, conventions and standards related to protection of children human rights on the
Internet
3. Conduct research and analysis based on monitoring of PBS BiH’s child related issues on broadcasting and online
platforms
4. Regularly present findings and media policy recommendations within the scope of child focused public advocacy
activities in BiH
RECOMMENDATIONS TO PARENTS AND PARENTS
TEACHERS ASSOCIATIONS IN BIH
1. Parents and PTAs in BiH, should be actively engaged with PBS BiH in all aspect of creation and maintaining childfocused and child-friendly content on online platforms of public media services in BiH,
2.
Parents/PTAs should work collaboratively and participatory with PBS BiH’s editorial and management teams, in
order to ensure implementation of high quality standards for online content
3. Parents/PTAs should be involved in process of development of adequate cyber security measures, necessary for
protection of children and youth on the Internet.
22
4. Parents/PTAs should be proactively involved in e-dialogue with PBS BiH, within the scope of the process which will
enable children to use PBS BiH’s online contents as valuable sources of informational, educational, cultural and
entertaining materials and actively participate in sharing their online experiences and knowledge with their peers.
5. Parents/PTAs should take into consideration virtual safety challenges and obey cyber security measures created
and developed to protect children and youth on the Internet.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO CHILD FOCUSED CIVIL SOCIETY
ORGANIZATIONS
1. National and international child focused civil society organizations (CSOs) should actively participate in development of programs/content for children on PSBs online platforms.
2. CSOs should provide know-how and expertise in production of content appropriate for children
3. They should recommend security measures necessary to protect children on the Internet and prevent any risk related to exposure of inappropriate content
4. CSOs should advocate for strong support from local authorities and institutions in the production of child-focused
content on BiH PSBs (without negative influence on editorial independence and professional media standards)
5. Big international CSOs should work with major donors to provide funding for production and narrowcasting of
child-focused content on BiH PSBs
If implemented, these recommendations will enable production and dissemination of high quality child-focused content on BiH PSBs. However, it will be even more important to create a foundation for children to excise their right to
have appropriate child friendly content on public media in BiH. In addition, BiH PSBs will be able to establish a strong
link with younger audiences and a mutually beneficial relationship with children, youth and their parents. In a long run,
these changes will create a foundation for the future development of public oriented BiH PSBs services, which will justify the long-term existence of public service broadcasting in this country.
Therefore, there is a need to develop a set of media policies related to child focused online content on BiH PSBs (including respect and protection of children rights, and cyber security measures and ratings). This policy paper provides
relevant information and directions for the development of these policies, and bridges the information gap in this field.
The paper could be used as stimulus for public debate and provide a platform for mutually beneficial dialog on these
issues among all stakeholders in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
23
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Ensuring Child Friendly Online Content of Public Service

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