5. Co-creation as the Basis for Cultural Intermediation

The introduction to this chapter outlines the incorporation of social media platforms and PSM globally. It then moves towards the background of the ABC and how they have incorporated social media platforms, co-creation and user participation historically since developing their online presence. The scholarship acknowledges that public service broadcasting has developed beyond the production and procurement of programming, to also include innovative public services distributed across a range of digital platforms and technologies. Further, globalization has an enormous impact on the policy and regulation aspect of public service media (PSM), especially with digital technologies and social media use as interactive tools for content production, where scholars are exploring concepts around a PSM 2.0 model. After introducing the ABC and PSM as a particular type of non-commercial media organization, this chapter outlines ABC Pool (abc.net.au/pool), a now defunct platform that was developed and facilitated by the ABC to enable users to contribute user-created content (UCC). This UCC was hosted on ABC supported servers, and in some instances, ABC long-form radio documentaries, web productions, gallery exhibitions and television productions used some of the more suitable contributions. Users could contribute content as audio, photography, video or text to themed projects that were mostly facilitated by Radio National producers, who would remix the contributions into 53-minute feature documentaries around that theme. Users also had the opportunity to create their own themed projects and co-create with the other ABC Pool users. The platform operated under a Creative Commons licensing system which enabled content to move seamlessly between mediums, for example, online to television, while maintaining the original contributor’s authorship. ABC Pool was one of the first user-created content sites of the ABC and challenged many of the Editorial Policies, the legislated regulatory framework under which the ABC operates. This case study demonstrates how the ABC experimented with user contributions included in co-creative production models and highlights emerging governance models that incorporate participatory production between institutions and audiences.