Communication Technology and New Media Commons^™

Digital Radio Policy In Canada: Fragmentation Or Evolution Of The Medium, Brian O'Neill

Conference Papers

In December 2006, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) issued its review of Digital Radio Policy. This replaced the transitional digital radio policy of 1995, and sought to implement a framework designed to support multi-platform digital radio broadcasting in an increasingly complex technological environment for the medium. Drawing on policy analysis, interviews and expert group perspectives, this paper traces the background to the legislative provision for digital radio development in Canada. While Canada was an early adopter of the Eureka-147 or Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), the policy of DAB as a replacement technology approach proved to be mistaken. Subsequent …

Digital Radio In Canada: From Dab To Multi-Platform Approaches., Brian O'Neill

Conference Papers

This paper examines the position of digital radio in Canada. It examines the Canadian experience of digital radio development from its introduction in 1995 to the present and asks whether the approach adopted and the lessons learned provide useful models for application elsewhere. Three main strands form the background to digital radio’s current stage of development: firstly, the introduction and early support for Digital Audio Broadcasting or (DAB) in the mid 1990s; secondly, the response of the radio industry to the internet and new media as complementary to traditional radio broadcasting provision; and thirdly, the more recent experience of the …

John David Bourchier: An Irish Journalist In The Balkans, Michael Foley

Articles

No abstract provided.

Digital Watermarking And Self-Authentication Using Chirp Coding, Jonathan Blackledge

Articles

This paper discusses a new approach to ‘watermarking’ digital signals using linear frequency modulated or ‘chirp’ coding. The principles underlying this approach are based on the use of a matched filter to provide a reconstruction of a chirped code that is uniquely robust, i.e. in the case of very low signal-to-noise ratios.

Chirp coding for authenticating data is generic in the sense that it can be used for a range of data types and applications (the authentication of speech and audio signals, for example). The theoretical and computational aspects of the matched filter and the properties of a chirp are …

Digital Radio Cultures In Europe: Progress To Date And Prospects For The Future:A Review Of Research Produced By Drace, Brian O'Neill, Stephen Lax

Conference Papers

Digital Radio Cultures in Europe (DRACE), was established in 2004 under the COST Action A20 “The Impact of the Internet on Mass Media in Europe”. The original configuration of the COST A20 group included provision for an internet and music research group but this was re-focussed following a re-organisation in which DRACE was more formally incorporated. The group comprises 14 researchers with specific interests in radio from Norway, Finland, Denmark, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Portugal, Croatia, the United Kingdom and Ireland. The objective of the research group is to be at the forefront of empirical research on changes in radio cultures …

Experiences Of Interaction And Participation In Media Communication In A Digital Environment, Brian O'Neill

Conference Papers

Digital technologies, it is claimed, provide enhanced opportunities for interactivity and participatory engagement in media communication for ordinary audience members. Whether arising simply from the enhanced functionality offered to media consumers, or through utilising the various channels available to audiences to talk back to media providers, it would appear that audiences are empowered in new ways, previously unavailable in the analogue era. This paper examines what use ordinary audience members make of such opportunities. Drawing on a comparative study of layperson participation in broadcast media in three European countries (Norway, Portugal and Ireland), this paper presents findings from the study …

Layperson Participation On Radio And The Internet In Three European Countries, Brian O'Neill

Conference Papers

Digital Radio Cultures in Europe (DRACE), the radio panel of the COST A20 action on The Impact of the Internet on Mass Media, has launched a qualitative research project in a number of European countries about participation in broadcast media among the public. The project involves a reception study and analysis, with a focus on experiences of interaction with the media, attitudes towards media participation and evaluations of the context for interactivity provided by digital technologies. This paper introduces the methodology and rationale of the study in the context of previous European studies. We start from the broad category of …

Digital Technologies And The Future Of Radio: Lessons From The Canadian Experience, Brian O'Neill

Conference Papers

This paper reports on an ongoing comparative study of the development of digital radio in Europe and Canada. Focussing on the Eureka 147 Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) platform in Canada, of which it was an early adopter, the paper examines the complex interaction of industry, government regulation and the difficulty of policy formation matching the pace of technology development. Based on interviews with leading radio professionals, the paper presents a critical review of the ‘transitional policy’ towards the digitalisation of radio and examines the international market pressures that led Canada to largely abandon this approach in favour of the current …

Play And Technology:A Study Of Icts In Play Activities Of Irish Children (4-8 And 8-12), Brian O'Neill, Noirin Hayes, Stella Downey

Conference Papers

Defined in the Ireland’s national play policy as ‘freely chosen, personally directed, intrinsically motivated behaviour that actively engages the child’ (NCO, 2004, p.10), play now more often than not is a technologically-mediated activity. This paper focuses on the role of technology in play and explores the impact of technological change on children’s play activities. Drawing on our study commissioned by Ireland’s National Children’s Office, we present a detailed exploration of the play activities of Irish children, identifying the range of technologies accessed by children and how they are used in their daily play patterns. The project provided children with an …

Does The Internet Fundamentally Change Anything?: European Research And The Cost A20 Action On The Impact Of The Internet On Mass Media (Television, Newspapers And Radio), Brian O'Neill

Conference Papers

The subject of this paper represents one attempt at a more balanced approach and consists of the research undertaken under the COST A20 action, ‘The Impact of the Internet on Mass Media’. The paper presents a brief overview of some of the principal themes under discussion in relation to radio, television and newspapers as well as offering some reflections on the emerging issues for communications research at a cross media level. The central theme is whether there the Internet (with a capital ‘I’) has had the transformative effect its proponents might once have claimed or whether there has been a …

New Technologies And Changing Work Practices In Irish Broadcasting Revisited, Ellen Hazelkorn

Books/Book chapters

At the end of the century, the challenges posed by ‘the pace of change affecting both the technology and the public policy of broadcasting’ required that RTE , the Irish broadcasting company, embraced a strategy of continuous change. To meet these challenges, the Executive Board instigated a ‘thorough review of the organisation…not merely anticipating the imminent arrival of keener domestic and international competition…[but] to project itself into the future’. Following an intensive six-month review, the RTE Authority and senior management issued a blueprint for the future, Review of Structures and Operations; at the same time, the trade union group within …

Facing Challenges: Irish Public Television In The Digital Age, Ellen Hazelkorn

Books/Book chapters

This paper traces some of the main challenges facing public television in Ireland.

Broadcasting Law And Broadcasting Policy In Ireland, Wolgang Truetzschler

Articles

No abstract provided.