Abstract

The author, an economist who was member of the Commission charged by the Spanish premier José Luis R. Zapatero to set new guide-lines and a restructuring of the state presence in broadcasting, gives an account of the proposals and choices suggested and of the contentious reactions from press and radiotelevision editors and publishers. Choices are about the public service content and model, its costs, the human and financial resources needed and fit to realize it; the legal structure of the broadcaster, its independence from both the Government and the political parties in Parliament with regard to the method of appointments and the firm accountability; the financial model of state intervention aimed to promote national productions, even by the independent producers, the Spanish languages and cultures between Europe and Latin America and the RTVE role in the digital era.