RTVE exposes the challenges of public media at the 90th General Assembly of the EBU

Elena Sánchez Caballero, interim president of RTVE, has inaugurated the 90th General Assembly of the UER, held in Madrid on June 29 and 30.

In his speech, Sánchez expressed his satisfaction at hosting “this event of global interest that brings together professionals, experts and leaders committed to public service.”

The interim president of RTVE has also highlighted the mission of public television to inform, educate, entertain and “explain the complexity of the time in which we have lived”, just as he has exposed what he considers to be the main challenges of the meeting: "These days we will immerse ourselves in interesting topics for the public media, from the impact that Artificial Intelligence has and will have; the European law on freedom of the media; impartiality in information or the Olympic Games and how important major sports events and competitions are for Europe. We hope that the assembly will be a meeting center to share best practices, ideas, and the conversations will be enriching and fruitful to fulfill our common objective, which is none other than to serve and be useful to society. We are very important for democracy.”

Next, the president of the EBU, Delphine Ernotte, has highlighted the transformation as one of the most important topics to be addressed at the Assembly. Also the media freedoms law, funding that protects independence, and ensuring that legislation supports these requirements and advocacy efforts “to remain relevant, that we transform and evolve our organizations to serve the needs of our public.”

The General Assembly of the EBU, the supreme governing body of the EBU, will have the participation as speakers of the Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, Carme Artigas; former New York Times president Mark Thompson; the president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, and the vice president of the European Commission, Vêra Yourová (from Brussels), among others. This summer session is open to all members and associates, and organized by a member organization, in this case RTVE. The December session, limited to members, will take place at the EBU headquarters in Geneva.