Match number two | Bergen should look to England

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Media City Bergen It is an indisputable boost for Bergen as a media city. However, the tendency is to move the environment of production and decision-making power out of the city to the capitals. From a power perspective, Bergen is a media-related sub-city.

Is it important to be like this? Does not mean. However, this requires political and media work, at the local and national levels.

Central goal In media policy is media diversity, which also includes the presence of editorial media and production environments across the country. Media support of almost eight billion (more than six of them go to NRK), exemption from value-added tax, NRK label and agreement on second public broadcasting are the means to ensure this.

The question is whether the measures are strong enough to counter the trend of concentration.

It is essential that TV2 strengthen its editorial and technological activities in the city. Similarly, we can ask if NRK should not have a larger presence in the second largest city in the country. The transition of the NRK from Marienlyst should be a good opportunity to rethink the organization of the NRK, not only by the district department, but also by other departments of the state broadcaster.

Ironically, it is enough It may be worth looking forward to the commercialization of liberal Britain. Following political pressure, the BBC developed its “out of London strategy” in the 2000s. In 2011, the BBC moved four departments and more than 2,000 jobs to Manchester, and in the same year the broadcaster set up a studio to produce National Drama in Cardiff.

Production capacity, experience, and decision-making power were transferred from the capital to the “regions and nations,” as they are called, and both of these places had significant cascading effects. The once grueling seaside city of Cardiff has become one of the fastest growing centers of the UK’s audiovisual industry.

BBC Studios was the beginning It has a number of newly established production companies and studio facilities in the city. Within a short time, Cardiff was attracting productions for both Netflix and Disney, but also giving a boost to locally themed dramatic productions. Netflix recently produced its first Welsh-language drama series for a global audience. It would not have happened had it not been for the move of the BBC studios to Cardiff more than ten years ago.

The “London exit strategy” continues. For example, the BBC recently made Manchester the home base for its technology and digitization division, along with its children’s and sports divisions and a couple of radio stations. At the same time, the studio continues to develop further drama and entertainment productions in Bristol, Glasgow and Cardiff.

Norway is different from Great Britain, but Cardiff, despite being the capital of Wales, is slightly larger than Bergen in terms of population.

no. 2: The smallest continent in the world

Barcelona, Rotterdam, Porto, Milan, Manchester, Bruges… Bergen? A number of the “second rank” international cities have actively used their status as “something other than a metropolis” to make the city more attractive culturally, in terms of identity and economics.

Now BSc, by NR Debate efforts. 2: “The Smallest Part of the World” invite everyone who cares about Bergen to debate how the city can think bigger, create more value and enjoyment, and bring out the potential we know the city has. Becoming the ‘number two’ best city for Western Norway, the coast and the nation.

How does Bergen manage its position as number two? How can Bergen, on the one hand, accomplish something without relying on the central government, but at the same time get better at national politics? How can we talk more about Bergen and less about Oslo? How can Bergen be “enough of herself” without having “enough of herself”? What cities can Bergen learn from?

Or, as Uli Paus put it: How can Bergen be “the smallest continent in the world” for the good of the city and the world.

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Manchester was chosen As the location of what has been dubbed Media City UK, this is probably due to the fact that the city, along with neighboring Liverpool, has had a large film and television production environment before, but also that the University of Salford has entered into a collaborative association with both the BBC and ITV. and other smaller players to develop talents and skills.

Conditions in Cardiff were weaker, but as the Welsh capital with an important cultural sector it may have been an advantage in the election.

Also in Cardiff Al-Madinah University has played an important role in creating new areas of cooperation and dialogue across sectors. Following an initiative from Cardiff University, Creative Cardiff was set up in 2014 and has since served as a platform for dialogue between the media industry, culture, technology and the city’s start-up ecosystem.

The organization has also been behind a number of policy initiatives and facilitated research and innovation projects in collaboration with the media and cultural industries. Creative Cardiff has resulted in the creation of a media cluster in the region, ‘Media.Cymru’, in strong competition with other major British cities – and was inspired by, among other things, the media cluster in Bergen.

Media City Bergen A good starting point for further development of the already strong news, technology and production environment outside of Oslo. But the city has great untapped potential to enhance collaboration and knowledge exchange between the media, cultural industries, and research and educational institutions in the city.

I think we have a lot to learn from the entrepreneurial spirit that created MCB, but also from cities like Cardiff and Manchester.

strong regional centers It requires political decisions at the national level, but the essential work must be done locally. Bergen Municipality can start by taking the initiative to survey the media and cultural industries in the city and the region. A targeted policy requires a solid knowledge base.