Canada’s CBC On European Charm Offensive To Rally Support For Social Media Detox Initiative
29.05.2024 - 14:17
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Catherine Tait, who runs Canadian pubcaster CBC/Radio-Canada, has been meeting with counterparts in Europe this week to rally support for an online initiative aimed at detoxifying social media.
Tait revealed she has over the past week held meetings with the likes of BBC Director General Tim Davie and senior France Télévisions and Radio France executives to discuss the Public Spaces Incubator, which is backed by four public service broadcast organisations and MoveOn.org director and Avaaz founder Eli Pariser.
Regarding discussions with broadcaster counterparts, a spokeswoman said the BBC does not comment on “private meetings,” but added the corporation would meet with other public service broadcasters “to discuss their work.” France Télévisions hadn’t responded to requests for comment before press time.
These meetings followed CBC discussions with public service media counterparts in Australia and New Zealand, among other territories.
The Public Spaces Incubator is aimed at “redefining and reclaiming” conversational zones and audience engagement on social media. “We established this with the idea that public broadcasters have lost their direct connection to the public with the advent of social media,” said Tait. “That was the problem statement.”
The initiative’s goal is to find solutions to online problems, and more that 100 open-source prototype products and features have been developed through multi-million dollar research. Focus groups have been providing feedback and a final round of testing beginning on June 24. The ambition is for each partner making some of the products live by the end of 2024.
CBC/Radio-Canada, RTBF in Belgium, SRG SSR in Switzerland and ZDF Germany teamed with Eli Pariser’s New