Eric Karstens

Will eurocrats redefine democracy?

admin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 08:50:34 +0000

Our current notion of democracy has developed within and for the modern nation state. Robert Menasse, however, advocates Europe as a post-national utopia, requiring a fundamentally new and different understanding and practice of democracy that still needs to be developed. “The nation states”, he suggests, “must fade away if we want a system of checks and balances at European level.” Related posts:

Eine kurze Geschichte des Privatfernsehens in Deutschland

admin — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:56:57 +0000

Das Privatfernsehen in Deutschland entstand in den 1980er Jahren aus einer historisch gewachsenen Mischung wirtschaftlicher Interessen mit politischen Wunschvorstellungen. Als es endlich soweit war, rieb sich das Establishment angesichts des tatsächlichen Programmangebots verwundert die Augen. Related posts:

Pluralismus-Algebra. Eine EU-Studie will die Informations- und Angebotsvielfalt der Medien messen

Legacy media, the Internet, and journalism: a roundup

admin — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 13:13:17 +0000

Legacy media are affected by a tectonic shift: First, declining audience translates into lower advertising revenue; second, the abundance of advertising space on the Internet lowers ad prices dramatically; and third, subscription and sales revenues are going down as well. Aside from volunteering, alternative ways of news media financing are therefore being considered. Related posts:

A primer on EU funding for NGOs

admin — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 15:20:00 +0000

Non-profit organizations which realise that some of their capabilities have a market value and deploy them accordingly can defend their autonomous status while reducing dependency from external donors, many of whom have an agenda of their own. Related posts:

EU research: Dealing with FP7 complexities

Joy and jeopardy: Revisiting the Anthem of Europe

admin — Sat, 01 May 2010 12:32:00 +0000

The main issue with the European anthem lies in the fact that it takes a short tune completely out of context and – even worse – re-arranges it into a syrupy, self-contained, instrumental piece of music. The fact that renowned Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan was put in charge of cutting it to size does not do much to alleviate the injustice to the original. No related posts.

German politicians discuss regulations for TV in the Internet era

admin — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 09:48:44 +0000

It rarely happens anymore that somebody suggests climate change could be a good thing. Yet at the annual conference of the German Association of State Media Authorities, it happened a lot, and for a reason. Related posts:

Micromanaging news on commercial TV?

admin — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:16:59 +0000

News consumption is a function of the education level of a society and of citizens’ sense of ownership of the public sphere. Forcing media businesses to dangle news as a carrot in front of an apathetic audience will not help. Related posts:

EU research: Dealing with FP7 complexities

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:28:38 +0000

The FP7 programme and application process are so immensely complicated and difficult that it basically takes a dedicated FP7 expert to identify the appropriate call and to draft a proposal to match the strict format and eligibility criteria officially prescribed for it. Related posts:

EU research: Why some FP7 projects fall short

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:04:45 +0000

The European Union disburses more than 7 billion euro a year for research. However, funding programmes and application procedures are also very complex and demanding. In this two-part article, I will discuss several related issues. Related posts:

Reputation management in times of social media

admin — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:47:57 +0000

When the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD) organised their annual conference, I was kindly invited to join a panel. Its title: The Internet as a Reputation Trap. Related posts: