How to Create and Measure Public Value for Public Service Media

Overview

This course aims to provide PSM organizations with a set of recommendations, basic tools, and foundational theories that will help them define, measure, and demonstrate their value and impact. The course will cover three areas:

1) Defining and operationalizing public value;

2) Assessing and measuring value to demonstrate impact;

3) Developing suitable organizational strategies and narratives.

These are the three key steps to develop a suitable definition and related measurement framework of PSM’s value that can be used internally and externally to demonstrate the positive impact that each organization brings at an individual, industry, and societal level.

Who it is for:

• Executives responsible for designing social impact strategies.
• Researchers responsible for assessing the social impact of media content.
• Journalists and content makers interested in creating stories that inspire societal change.

Schedule:

• Friday, 4 October 16.30-18.30 (CET)
• Friday, 11 October 16.30-18.30 (CET)
• Friday, 18 October 16.30-18.30 (CET)

Programme outline

Module 1: Defining value: how to operationalize a shared definition of public value.

Public service media can create and measure their public value in many ways, but the first step should always be a definitional one: how does your organization define public value? Depending on the mission and public service remit, each organization can develop the most suitable definition of public value as long as it is shared and clearly communicated both internally and externally. There are some useful steps that each organization can take to develop a comprehensive and shared definition of public value, which can in turn be operationalised and measured in practice.

This first module will therefore be dedicated to presenting and discussing how to define and categorize public value, and how this can be operationalized and adapted to different organizations. Firstly, we discuss how an organization can define public value through an inclusive and strategic process, unpacking both the challenges and limitations of this process, as well as its advantages. Secondly, we will present an example of a definitional framework that resulted from this process. Participants will be asked to apply this framework by bringing examples of each public value component from their own organizations, in order to evaluate it and understand how it can be used in practice. This interactive exercise will not only stress test an existing framework, but will prompt participants to reflect on how public value can be defined, categorized, and operationalized in their own organizations.

Module 2: From defining value to measuring impact: how to assess and measure an organization’s public value.

Once an organization has developed and agreed on a definition of public value that can be operationalized into more specific categories and sub-components, the second step is to develop an adequate measuring framework that can help the organization demonstrate its impact. Also in this case, there is not one framework that can be simply transposed from PSM to PSM, since each organization can have different evaluation and assessment systems already in place, with different metrics and datasets. The focus will therefore be on understanding and discussing the process that can help an organisation develop such a framework.

This second module will therefore start with a brief review of existing literature on how to measure the impact of PSM, and with a discussion of the key tools and steps that can be used at the organizational level to develop a measurement framework. This part will also intend to address and reflect on potential challenges and limitations of existing frameworks, and on the constraints that different organizations might face depending on the available resources and skills (e.g. financial resources, internal skillsets incl. data analytics skills, available datasets etc.). Secondly, we will use the scoping framework developed by the UCL IIPP research and its building blocks (direct measures, dynamic indicators, and market shaping effects) as an example of the kinds of metrics, indicators, and effects that could be used to assess and demonstrate in a more holistic way how PSM can create public value and bring a positive impact.

Module 3: From measuring to demonstrating impact: how to implement suitable organizational strategies and narratives.

For a framework to function and be efficiently used, the internal governance systems will need to adapt, and effective communication strategies and narratives will have to be developed. Both a change in governance culture and a narrative shift are often needed to develop the most suitable and effective strategy and the make the most out of the public value measurement frameworks, internally and externally.

This third and last module will therefore address these two aspects that are pivotal for the successful implementation and use of a new public value framework.

The first part will be focused on governance systems, outlining how in practice a value and impact strategy can be developed and what factors need to be taken into account (including existing constraints such as regulatory constraints, financial limitations and available resources). Examples will be taken from the EBU Social Impact Report and its recommended approach (define the issue and goals, identify resources and stakeholders, decide on the approach, execute, measure, and evaluate). Participants will be then asked to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of their own strategies (if there are any) and discuss concrete examples from their own organization to share with the group.