ABSTRACT

The BBC, one of the largest public service broadcasters in the world, often acts as a model for other public service media enterprises. It is therefore likely to be useful to examine how the BBC has been adapting to emerging participatory practices. The corporation has been particularly reassessing its relationship with the public since the launch of its website, https://www.bbc.co.uk" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">www.bbc.co.uk, in 1997, and the subsequent launch of a suite of ‘online communities’ services (from 1998 onwards). Two production and audience studies (firstly located in the BBC New Media and secondly in the BBC Children’s department), Participatory Public Service Media: Presenters and Hosts in BBC New Media (Jackson, 2009) and Children in Virtual Worlds—‘Adventure Rock’ Users and Producers Study (Jackson, Gauntlett, and Steemers, 2009), argue that a reorientation towards a creative, innovative, and interactive public is necessary in order to maintain currency in the present mediascape. Findings from both studies show the increasing importance of both reciprocity and reification in the participatory media; a level of responsiveness from all stakeholders in the media enterprise, and the making of meaning from what might otherwise be a cacophony of diverse media and communication sources.