As public service broadcasters like the BBC and DR have moved online, they have celebrated a new role: engaging audiences in public conversations - on the web, by mobile phone and IPTV, on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. As former BBC managing director Greg Dyke noted some years ago the old mission to "inform, educate and entertain" has extended to "connect and involve".

In her presentation Dr Fiona Martin, from the Department of Media and Communications at the University of Sydney, presents a critical historical analysis of this transformation. She discusses the political, economic and ethical challenges of managing dialogic interaction in Australia's ABC Online, and considers how the risks of this engagement have been understood.

In his presentation Niels Brügger, from the Centre for Internet Research will discuss what role the idea of public service did play in the early history of DR Online. Did DR interpret its role and mission on the web in light of its broadcast history, based on old media such as radio and television, or in light of the history of the web and the affordances made possible by this new medium? The presentation’s focus is on the foundational period from 1994 to 1996, when the website was conceptualized and established.

The Centre for Internet Research will serve a light refreshment during the seminar.

The seminar will take place either 15, 16 or 17 August, 16:00-18:00, depending on which of the dates most people can come. If you want to attend the seminar please sign up at this doodle no later than 9 August: http://www.doodle.com/g3wcxhagbskez4wu. 10 August CFI will inform the participants about the exact date.