Public media striving to give taxpayers their money’s worth

In an era of Spotify and Netflix, where does public media fit in – and how can it stay relevant and true to society’s needs? To try to answer these and many other questions, nearly 200 globally active media professionals and analysts gathered in the Swiss capital for the first International Public Media Conference on Monday – exactly a year after Swiss voters rejected a proposal to drop the mandatory licence fee for public broadcasters. “The people of Switzerland know how important publicly funded media is for the media landscape,” said Swiss Communications Minister Simonetta Sommaruga in her opening remarks. Over the course of the day’s conference, many speakers – including BBC Director-General Tony Hall via video message – highlighted the importance of creativity, which was fitting considering the venue: Zentrum Paul Klee, a cultural centre dedicated to the versatile Swiss artist. “Surprising and delighting audiences so they feel they get their money’s worth out of their …