The earlier sections of this book show the enormous pace of change: the media landscape is almost synonymous with technological innovations. Digitalisation is the driving force behind new equipment, new formats, new services and new relationships. Trying to create media policy to follow each of these new developments is not the approach that the Council considers very promising. It will not be effective, nor very efficient. It will be outdated before it can be seriously implemented. Moreover, there are still many uncertainties. The success of any new technology is not only linked to the technology itself, but to how people will use the technology in the context of their daily lives. The Council therefore believes that making a separate policy to regulate content on the Internet, a separate policy for mobile, a new policy for digital broadcast systems, etc. will result in the policy being continually challenged and finally outdated by reality – and therefore of limited use. Furthermore, a policy should stimulate useful innovation in the industry and not be seen as a barrier to progress.

The Council has therefore taken a different approach to that used in all previous studies by asking the question, what is the role or function that media play and are expected to play in our society now and in the coming decade? The Council proposes a new policy paradigm that takes these functions as a strategic starting point. The Council has defined the following six functions:

• a News and current affairs (independence and quality are especially important);

• b Opinion and debate (pluralism is especially important);

• c Special information (for consumers, special interest groups; independence is especially important);

• d Culture, arts, education (a function that comes in many ‘genres’; traditionally seen as a vulnerable kind of content and less interesting for commercial actors);

• e Entertainment (especially important in the audiovisual domain of the media landscape, a function that refers to a specific genre of content more than the others do);

• f Advertisements, persuasive information and other forms of commercial communication (important in nearly all business models in the field, contributes to the economic viability of the media landscape and the larger economy).