Experts discuss challenges that public broadcasting face at TRT World Forum

ANKARA

Experts discussed the challenges that public broadcasting face as part of a session of the Turkish national broadcaster TRT's World Forum on Saturday.

Speaking at the "Digitalisation: A Rewarding Challenge for Public Broadcasting?" session, Gregoire Ndjaka, the chief executive officer of the African Union of Broadcasting, Ndjaka Ndjaka emphasized that digitalization is disrupting the ecosystem in Africa.

Stating that many newspapers were closed due to digitalization, he noted that public media could not cope with this rapidly changing ecosystem.
Jose Lopez de Araujo, the director of International Relations of Portuguese Public Broadcasting, said that about 80% of Europeans use social media.

Araujo pointed out that these platforms are a major threat to traditional television and said that no one sits at home and watches broadcasts once a week.

He stated that interest in traditional television viewing had been lost.

For his part, Alfonso Hurtado Ruiz, the head of co-production and content of Latin American Television, said that now everyone can produce content and that's why preventing the spread of fake information on digital platforms is important.

Ruiz called on people to trust public service broadcasts to avoid such disinformation.

Simon Spanswick, the chief executive of the Association for International Broadcasting, underlined that people's expectations have changed.
"No one waits for the evening news to get new information anymore," Spanswick said.

He stated that for the salvation of public media services, they need to draw attention back to their own direction.

The TRT World Forum 2022, a two-day annual event, started in Istanbul on Friday.

The gathering, which is held under the theme of Mapping the Future: Uncertainties, Realities and Opportunities this year, brings together academics, journalists, intellectuals, politicians, and members of civil society from around the globe.

Nearly 100 speakers and over 1,000 participants from nearly 40 countries are attending the forum, according to Mehmet Zahid Sobaci, the director general of TRT, Türkiye's public broadcaster.

The forum featured sessions on various subjects, such as the Ukraine-Russian war, global migration, and the energy crisis, as well as disinformation.

The event was held in person this year after it was held virtually for the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

* Writing by Beyza Binnur Donmez from Istanbul