In 2020 my book on Danish media politics was published (in Danish). Its title in English is: “Politics between Emotions and Reason - the Game of the Future of Danish Media”
Report 2020
A year ago, I had finished several year’s work on a book to be published in February 2020 with the title (here in English) “Politics between Emotions and Reason - the Game of the Future of Danish Media”. It describes the profound changes taking place in the 2018 agreement on the political regulation of Danish Public Service Media (PSM) and explained how it was caused by a very controversial combination: the absence of both political ideology amongst the political decisionmakers concerning the role of PSM and their limited factual knowledge of the media market. A brief description of the book can be found in last year’s report (see link at the top of the right column).
The book was very well received by the reviewers, who – apart from a couple – gave it high ratings. During the first few weeks, I was invited to lectures and discussions about the book and looked forward to - like other conceited authors - thousands of readers and a heated public debate. A dream that did not come through. Seminars and meetings were cancelled and the expected debate about my "sensational" findings did not materialize.
Of cause, I have related this draw back to the corona pandemic and shutdown drawing all public attention. It might however not be the whole explanation. The book was by most (potential) readers, including the reviewers, received as yet another narrowly focused media study, in spite of its broader theme, clearly (I thought) signaled in its title and explained in its text. Adding to that, the book was – contrary to my explicit intentions – seen as a mere defense of PSM.
Well, looking ahead instead of explaining the past, I have thought on how to reach a broader international forum, because my findings might be a relevant pawn in the greater puzzle of understanding the challenges PSM is met with in resent years in most European countries. I therefor submitted a shorter piece in the form of a paper to the emma 2020 conference in Sweden, which sadly enough was pandemic-cancelled. The paper can be downloaded in a slightly revised version >> here.