Post photo: Control room of a transmitter | © Shutterstock
When my generation dies out, so-called linear television will be dead too. Media libraries will therefore become even more important.
A good opportunity to advertise a few media libraries.
The ARD Mediathek and the ARD Audiothek are joint offerings of the regional broadcasting companies that are members of the ARD. Offers that are no longer available there may be available on ARD Plus for a fee — in addition to the usual broadcasting fees.
ARTE offers a variety of content on the platform arte.tv, on TV and in social media. The entire program, including the media library, is freely available in Germany, France and throughout Europe.
The use of the ZDF program, including its media library, is also covered by the mandatory broadcasting fees in Germany.
What is alarming, however, is that these media libraries only reach a third of our population (as recorded by the public broadcaster using various survey and measurement methods).
It is gratifying that further networking is being attempted to make further offers available to at least the more interested citizens. Network Media Libraries Since its foundation in November 2000, it has made a significant contribution to ensuring that very different German institutions have worked together to secure, preserve and develop audiovisual sources. Audiovisual material is to be made available for education, science, research, teaching and art, and at the same time interested citizens are to be given easier access to these decentralized media collections.
As early as 1997, attempts were made at European level to make image, text, audio and video files accessible to an interested public. This led to the emergence of today's Europeana, which aims to make Europe's digital cultural heritage available to EU citizens.
Ultimately, however, it is the same as always: those who want to find out more can do so, and certainly more easily these days than ever before. The question remains, why don't more citizens make use of these offers?
Another question is why those who make little or no use of this offer also vehemently reject it?
The third question is what kind of services does the majority of the population have access to and what are their advantages compared to those offered by the public broadcaster?
Commercial providers will certainly want to serve the mainstream and will certainly be better able to do so. However, this also carries the inherent risk that less critical sections of the population will be indoctrinated in the process, particularly by those groups that are hardly subject to any public control.
And so, without a doubt, the public broadcasting media libraries can be seen as the last line of defence of our democracy; not because of their soap operas or “cultural films” like Tatort and other horrors, but because of those offerings that convey education, politics and culture to citizens, provide news and information that is as neutral and comprehensive as possible and also demonstrate the diversity of opinions in an open society.
“Within a democratic system, general elections are a most effective instrument to insure the steady maintenance of fraction σ [of stupid people] among the powerful.”
Carlo M. Cipolla, The BAsic LAws of HUman Stupidity (2011: 48)
