Finding the Value in Public Value Partnerships. Lessons from Partnerships Strategies and Practices in the United Kingdom, Netherlands and Flanders

This chapter addresses the value of partnership projects and the constituting elements that contribute to their success. In repositioning themselves as public service media [PSM] organisations, broadcasters have increasingly incorporated the pursuit of partnerships in policies and strategies. A focus on public value partnerships [PVP] is considered key in deploying a full-portfolio strategy while also staying true to the traditional rationale and core values of the ethos that legitimates PSB. Partnership is popular among policymakers, encouraged through media regu¬lation and formalised in management contracts, pushing the partnership agenda as essential to overarching ecosystem and for a multi-stakeholder approach. In partnerships, PSM has found a strategic mechanism to legitimate operations and safeguard the organisation. In this chapter, we approach public value with an emphasis on two ques¬tions: how do partnerships contribute to value, and what are the underlying factors contributing to the value of projects? Evidence is derived from analysis of policy documents (strategy documents, press statements, vision notes, reports, management contracts) and interviews with twenty-two experts who are PSM representatives and other stakeholders involved partnership projects with PSM organisations. The interviews were conducted between February 2010 and June 2012.