The need for not more, but more socially relevant audience participation in public service media

In public service media (PSM) theory and policy, it is argued that more audience participation is needed in the production of PSM programs. However, little research has been done on the actual implementation and evaluation of audience participation in practice. Therefore, we investigate the values and meanings media users attach to participatory opportunities in PSM. We focus on the case of Bel10, a radio project of the Flemish public broadcaster VRT, as audience participation in radio is an under-researched field. First, we look at the literature to provide an overview of the main challenges PSM is dealing with in relation to audience participation. Subsequently, we conduct 24 in-depth interviews with participants in the Bel10 project and 10 focus groups with non-participating listeners. Finally, we conclude that audience participation is especially valued by media users when it contributes to societal objectives, such as being critical of the status quo.