Innovating Public Service Media Practice and Mission: Transmedia Campaigns for Activist Journalism and Brand Engagement

This article examines a series of special transmedia coverage initiatives identified under the EKIN! brand, developed by the Basque regional public broadcaster EITB. This brand operates as a media campaign in support of specific causes with an activist or social background, and also serves as an example of transmedia branding. The case under study is original and contributes to analytical objectives of current interest, which require further exploration from the perspective of media and journalism practice. Specifically, the results describe the creative characteristics of these campaigns and explain how they function as emotional branding actions linked to the Corporate Social Responsibility values distinctive of Public Service Media (PSM). The conclusions discuss the significance of EKIN campaigns in the context of the requirements public broadcasters must meet in the digital and social media environment, emphasizing their limitations and the need for new indicators to measure the fulfilment of the public service mission.