Advancing knowledge and global collaborations on Public Service Media

About IAPMR

Our mission

The International Association for Public Media Researchers (IAPMR) advances contemporary theory and actionable research to clarify, support and facilitate the development of Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) and Public Service Media (PSM) as a vital requirement to safeguard democratic interests and practices in the 21st century. The Association links institutions, organizations and individuals in creative collaboration.

Our vision

A world with strong and sustainable PSM serving all citizens and available to all nations.

Our values

  • Commitment to the public service ethos and democratic ideals 
  • Commitment to diversity and equity in all its forms and features
  • Identification and promotion of empirical and theoretical research
  • Encourage innovation in conceptualization and practices in PSM/ PSB
  • Integrity in all activities to ensure responsibility and accountability

Our activities

  • Access to knowledge. IAPMR is a digital-first networked association that produces online events and shares research and other information such as newsletter and policy briefs, to increase the visibility of theoretical and empirical research on PSM.
  • Cross-disciplinary networking. IAPMR  facilitates novel cross-disciplinary discussions and collaborations on and around research about the development and sustainability of PSM. The Association engages researchers from disciplines within and beyond the traditional fields of PSM scholarship to enable cross-fertilization, interdisciplinary development, and innovative results.  
  • Scholar-practitioner collaboration. IAPMR liaises with PSM organizations and any specifically related creative communities for common interests and a shared interest in co-operation.
  • Support for future PSM scholarship. IAPMR strongly supports young scholars in all its activities.
  • Continuation of RIPE. IAPMR assists the RIPE@ international initiative for public service in media, including organization of RIPE@ conferences.

The Leadership Team

  • Joint Presidents.
    Alessandro D’Arma and Maria Michalis (University of Westminster)
  • Vice President.
    Minna Horowitz (University of Helsinki)
  • Treasurer.
    Michael-Bernard Zita (University of Vienna)
  • Secretary & Young Scholars.
    Marta Rodríguez-Castro (University of Santiago de Compostela)
  • Industry Liaison Officer.
    Florence Hartmann (European Broadcasting Union – EBU)
  • RIPE Chairperson.
    Gregory Ferrell Lowe (Northwestern University, Qatar)

Our partners

We collaborate with the Public Media Alliance – PMA (see our joint resource page), with the University of Westminster, with the Central European University – the Center for Media Data and Society, and the Polish Communication Association’s Karol Jakubowicz Book Award.

Our supporter

the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)

European Broadcasting Union

SEE all Posts
SEE ALL OUR Newsletters

Webinars IAPMR@Dialogues

18 May 2022 Dr Florence Hartmann
EBU: Research foci and opportunities for academic collaboration

See all our Curated Playlists

29 November 2021 Prof. Christian Fuchs
The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere and Public Service Media in the Age of Digital Capitalism and COVID-19
04 November 2021
Prof Karen Donders
Building Bridges: PSM law, theory and practice
26 October 2021
Prof Lizzie Jackson
Bricolage & Fluidity: Towards ‘Post Channel’ PSM?

Public Service Media’s Contribution to Society

RIPE@2021

Publication Website • Open Access Repository

Universalism in Public Service Media

RIPE@2019

Publication Website • Open Access Repository

Public Service Media in a Networked Society

RIPE@2017

Publication Website • Open Access Repository

See all RIPE Publications

All RIPE publications are available in Open Access

The Public Service Media and Public Service Internet Manifesto

Publication Website (Open Access Publication)

Our history

IAPMR builds on the so-called RIPE initiative, a network, series of conferences, as well as widely known readers on trends in public service media. The initiative was started in 2001 by Gregory Ferrell Lowe, who was a Senior Advisor for Corporate Development at the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE), then a Professor at  the University of Tampere, and now a professor at the Northwestern University in Qatar. Colleagues supporting this initiative in the early years, and contributing significantly as partners to its launch and subsequent development, include Jo Bardoel, University of Amsterdam, Taisto Hujanen (University of Tampere), John Jackson (Concordia University), Per Jauert (University of Aarhus) and Alan G. Stavitsky (University of Oregon). 

Today the RIPE network continues its activities with hundreds of contributors and is growing every year. IAPMR, first led by President Lizzie Jackson (London South Bank University) and Vice President Christine Horz (the Applied University of Cologne), became an association registered in Austria,  in 2021, under the current leadership team. IAPMR continues to support the RIPE initiative in all its activities.