Saskia Cluistra, a Master Global History and International Relations student, has received the Media Studies Grant from FIAT/IFTA (International Federation of Television Archives) for her proposal on the pan-European broadcasting channel Europa-TV. Currently Cluistra is finishing her master’s thesis on the history of the initiative to create a pan-European broadcasting service in the 1980s, supervised by prof. dr. Hester Dibbits. The grant enables Cluistra to travel to other European archives, beyond the The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision, to extend, as well as to present and publish her research.
Europa-TV
When the European Economic Community attempted to become a political and cultural community in 1980s, it supported Europe’s first European Television channel: Europa Television. The channel was the result of a consortium of five European Broadcasting Union members: the Dutch NOS, the German ARD, the Irish RTE, the Italian RAI and the Portuguese RPT. This study offers a view on the increasing transnational broadcasting industry in the 1980s. The aim of this research is to answer the question of how Europa Television’s identity was shaped through negotiations between European public broadcasters, the European Economic Community and Europa Television staff. Not only the eventual Europa Television broadcasts, but also documentation such as notes of meetings of the consortium partners, reports by the European Commission, and Europa Television policies will be examined. The FIAT/IFTA Media Studies Grant allows Cluistra to travel to various archives in Europe, publish an article, as well as present her findings at the FIAT/IFTA World Conference 2018 held from 9 - 12 October in Venice, Italy.
FIAT/IFTA Media Studies Grant
The International Federation of Television Archives (FIAT/IFTA) provides a forum for exchange of knowledge and experience between its members, to promote the study of any topic relevant to the development and use of audiovisual archives and to establish international standards on key issues regarding all aspects of audiovisual media archive management. Within FIAT/IFTA, the Media Studies Commission promotes academic research of the holdings of member audiovisual archives. To enhance collaboration between research and archive communities and ensure the valorization of academic knowledge for archival practice as well as to promote research of holdings of member television archives, the Media Studies Commission of the International Federation of Television Archives has set up the Media Studies Grant to which Master, and PhD students, and researchers affiliated to a universitycould apply.