Idea Transcript
UNIT 3 NEW WORLD INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION ORDER Structure Objectives Introduction Debates and Deyelopments 3.2.1 Nomenclature 3.2.2 News Row Controversies 3.2.3 Pree Flow Ideas
Information Imbalance between Developed and Developing Countries The Demand for NWICO 3.4.1 'Ihe Algiers Summit
The MacBride Repart NWICO: Character and Content Probl I s and Prospects of the N W O Measures to be Adopted by the Developed and Developing Countries India and NWICO Let Us Sum Up Check Your Progress: Model Answers
.
,
3.0 OBJECTIVES After going through this unit, you would be able to : m describe the backkgroundoT%e&mnd for the New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO), explain how the various proponents of the developing countries perceived NWICO, analyse the character and content of the NWICO as seen by the MacBride Commission and the UNESCO,and i,
explain the problems and prospects of establishing NWICO.
Activity 1 Before you proceed, engage yourself in an activity. This 'exercise will help you to grasp the concept of 'imbalance' which we shall deal with in this unit. Take a news item from a newspaper. Read it carefully. Now, analyse it by taking into consideration the following: The parties about whom the news is written The content The words used The tildslant given to it (if any) The side taken by the reporter (if any) You may use the format given below:
Parties involved
Content
Wordsflanguage
Do you think the report/news item was balanced? [ lY=
[ IN0
tildslant
Side taken by Repartes-
.b
New Wodd Inlormatlw
3.1 INTRODUCTION
and Communfcatlan Order
In the first two units of this block on "International Communication", you were exposed to the role of the international infonnation agencies, including the functioning of the transnational news agencies, as also the yhole question of international infonnation flow and imbalance. The latter covered, in detail, the historical dimensions of international information, the concepts of the "free flow of information" and the entire "imbalance" debate. Given this scenario in the internauonal information flows, the non-developed countries (mcludifig the Third World and Socialist countries) demanded that these imbalances in the infonnation flow be corrected, and measures be taken to redress their grievances. The demand for a "New World Information and Communication Order7'gained momentum. We shall discuss this demand in this unit.
3.2 DEBATES AND DEVELOPMENTS
-
We have already familiarized you with the essentials of the international communication the monopolization of news and information flow by a handful of transnational media giants, such as AP, AFP, Reuters, UPI, ITAS -TASS, VISNEWS. International organisations and regulatory bodies llke ITU; and the imbalances in news and information flow ansing out of the monopoly by transnational media conglomerates and the guiding principles of 'free flow' of information. A major consequence of the monopoly of news and infonnation flow was the 'one-way flow' of news and infonnation, generally from the developed to the dev$oping world. The nature of flow, as the eminentjournalist, D.R. Mankekar, describes, was "imbalanced, iniquitous, sometimes even biased and West-oriented,impervious" to the needs of the developing world. As this was detrimental to their interests in more than one way, the developing nations attacked the fkeeflow concept and its concomitant -the transnational media empires. For they believed that the monopolistic media empires of the west created and sustained distorted pictures of the world that were far away from the reality. These developing nations carnpaignedfor a 'new order' in the field of international information and communication, which wopd facilitate a 'free and balanced flow' of information capable of brealung through the stereotypes created and nurtured for over 50 years by the Western media empires. The new order, they maintained, would create a new international information c l m t e that would foster a closer and better understanding among nations and individuals.
UN ASSEMBLY
~ t l o n r rComm'mlcauon l
The ensuing debates in the international forum lasted for nearly a decade, beginning from the early 1,WOs. 'his period is reckoned as a watershed in the histmy of infernational communication. Indeed, it was a period of many signiftcant developments. First, the developing nations, under the Non-aligned umbrella resolved to address themselves to the international communication issues. Second, to offset the ill effects of One-way flow. alternativemeans of exchange for meaningful and relevant news and infomation among the non-aligned nations took roots. The most important step in this directiortwas thehunching of the Non-aligned News Agencies Pool, in 1975, followed by the establishment of many other news distribution systems at national, regional and international levels. 'Ihird, notable revisions also occurred in the concepts and thoughts governing international Eommunicatim. The 'free-flow' concept was amended to 'free- and balanced flow', when a declaration on the role of the media in the promotion of international understanding and peace (generally referred to as themass media development) was approved by the UNESCO, in 1978. Commensurately, the corollary doctrine, the 'the right to know' was bansformed into 'the right to communicate'. Fourth the new order debates led to the setting up of an InternationalCommission for the study of communication problems better known as the "MacBrideCommission", whose report was accepted by UNESCO,in 1980. Fifth,resolution 4.19 of the 21 UNESCO General Assembly, held in 1981, outlined the basic character and content of the 'new order'. Sixth, in the same year, the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) was set up to provide assistance for the developqnt of the communication infrastructurein the developmg countries. Check Your Progress 1
Note : i) Use the space given below for your answer. ii) Check your answer with the one given at the end of this unit
1) During the 70s and 80s. there were many developments in the field of 'international communication*.Please mention at least three major developments.
..................................................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................................................... 3.2.1 Nomenclature Before we proceed further, please note that there has been no uniformity with regard to the nomenclature of the 'new order' concept. The non-aligned nations coined the phrase, New International Information Order (NIIO), ?he MacBride Commission broadened the schism by substituting the term 'world' for 'international' and incorporating 'communication' along with 'information*. Since then the phrase the 'New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO), or its shartened form the NWICO, has been widely used. In this unit the nomenclature NWICO is used. Also note that the terminologies of the Third World and Developing World, and the First World and Developed World are used interchangeably.
3.2.2 News Flow Controversies Most of the scholars m e the origin of the demand for new mternational infoamaton and communication order to the cold war era, and the emergence of the Third World consciousness in the 1950s. Some of the contentions and problems aired now by the mind World that a handful of media-rich countries detemined the nature and kind of news and information flow between nations, that the international news and information business operations benefitted only the media-richnations, and that such operations are detrimental to the interest of mediapoor countries, were as fundamental to the media controversies of the early decades of the 20th century as to the 1970snew order debates. Ever since the birth of the international news agencies, the monopolistic practices in the intemationalnews business have been in evidence. Fit, their home regions came under
j
their monopoly. Subsequently, through the cartel agreements of the 1870% the European agencies extended their monopoly in regions un&r the influence of their home countries. But, in several aspects,the relations@ among the cartel members was unequal. In terms of territory, Britain's Reuters had an area as vast as the British empire, spread across Africa, Asia, America, Australia and Europe, covering almost one-mth of the globe. In teams of influence too, it was the Reuters that mattered. Its extensivenetwork supported by Britain's control of the world's transoceanic cables, helped it to become the most powerful agency in The monopoly of the internationalnews business by the E v a n triumvirate was not to continue unchallenged in the fast changing political climate of the 20th century. Much of the resistance to the European agencies came from the US, which, by the end of World War I, was switching its role from an international debtor to that of a major creditor. Its increasing control over transoceanic cables and an expanding media at home provided the much needed muscle power to its agencies to challenge the European cartel. Many in the US had come to realize the advantage that would accrue out of the international news business. At this juncture, the AP synthesized its commercial interest with diplomatic interest of the US by stressing how the Reuters, through European news cartels, controlled all foreign news sent into the US, and all American news to the rest of the world, and how such practices promoted Britain's interests while affecting the interests of both the US and the AP. Finally, the AP ceded h m the cartel, in 1934, and independently went mto the business of news collection and distribution around the world, heralding the impending domination of the US in the coming years.
Check Your Progress 2 Note : i)
Use the space given below for your answm.
ii) chckk your answers with tho one given at the md of this unit. 1) How did the Reums newa agency becane a monapoly?
..................................................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................................................... 2) Why did the Ae break the mo"nopolyof the Reurn?
..................................................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................................................... 3.2.3 Free Flow Ideas A major factor that helped the growth of US agencies was the wireless transmission technology, perfected at home, which reversed the world communication imbalance to the overall advantage of the American interest. Yet another f m r responsible for the growth of the US communication network abroad was a general redhation in the US of the advantages that world communication control bestowed on fareign trade and commerce. , Following such realizations, ideas on unreslxicted flow of communication between nations began to crystallize m the US. Fit,the American Society of Newspaper Editors adopted a resolution urging the political parties to support freedom of information and unrestricted flow of communication throughout the world. Subseque-ntly, with the Democrats and Republicans adopting these aims, the free flow doctrine became an integral part of the US political ideology and foreign policy. The UN too came under its influence. Its declaration on Freedom of Information (UnitedNations General Assembly Resolution 59.1), issued m 1946, made the first reference to the free flow of mformation: "All states should proclaim policies under which the free flow of information, within countries and across frontiers, will be protected. I b e right to sell and transmit
New Wodd InfamaUm d C ~ e P t l m O r Q v
I
InternationalCommunication
information should be insured in order to enable the public to ascertain facts and appraise events." The US was also successful in incorporating some of its viewpoints in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was passed by the UN General Assembly in 1948. Article of the declaration reflects the American concept of free flow. It reads: "Every one has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; thls right includes freedom to hold opinions and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers." With its lead in communication technology, the US had everything to gain from the free flow doctrine. In about two decades, its grip on international communication was complete.
Check Your Progress 3 Note : i) Use the space given below for your answer.
t
i i ) Check your answer with the one given at the end of this unit. 1)
Where did the free flow doctrine originate? And how did it get incorporated in world bodies like the United Nations?
..................................................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................................................... .....................................................................................................................................
3 3 INFORMATION IMBALANCE BETWEEN DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES Before going into the issue of information imbalance, one has to become familiar with concepts that are central to international communication International communication,at a simple level, could be conceptualized as a communication process between two or more national and cultural systems. Theoretically, nations are free to assume any role in this process. But the ground realities are different. The status of a given nation and its media institutions in the international news flow system is determined by the role a national media system is destined to play: the role of a producer-distributoror that of a consumer-buyer. Economics determines the ability of a nation to establish its own infrastructures for newsgathering and transmission. The importance of the Technology factor hardly needs any emphasis. Those having access to modern communication technology as the 'producer-distributor' of media products. The UNESCO was made a willing tool in promoting the interests of the 'producer-distributors' of the media products and technology. In 1961, the UNESCO proposed that for each 100 inhabitants of a country, the minimum standard be, at least, 10 copies of daily newspapers, 5 radio receivers, and 2 television sets. Lacking the financial resources, manpower and technology, the new nations had no other option but to be "consumer-buyers" of what the Western media produced and distributed world wide in terms of hardware and technology, end software programmes. The major implications of such a domination are that : i) these agencies determine the very nature of the news flow in the world, ii) the news consumers everywhere view the world as these agencies report it, iii) the news flow, by-and-large, is one-way from the developed nations to the developing nations, iv) in the one way flow, the developing nations are under-reported and, when reported; they are presented in a bad light. These being the consequences of the spread of the Western media, in general, and the US media, in particular, it was not surprising that by the early 1970s a large number of new \ nations began to complain about the ill effects of the monopoly of international communication. In the preeminent position of the US and a few of her allies, a threat to 'national sovereignty' was &en; in the US export of cultural products such as books, films,
*
the W programmes and magazines, a growth of a new kind of imperialism, 'cultural imperialism', was perceived, and the free-flow doctrine was accused of having promoted one-way flow, from the US to the rest of the world. Check Your Progress 4 Note : i)
Use the space given below for your answer.
ii) Check your a s v e r with the one given at the end of this unit. 1)
I
\
Why did the Third World countries perceive that there was an 'imbalance' in the information flow between the West and the Third World?
..................................................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................................................... .,...................................................................................................................................
3.4 THE DEMAND FOR NWICO The following overlapping and mutually complementing factors are at the base of the demand for a new order in the field of information: 1) The emergence of new nations following the dissolution of the colonial empires after World War 11.
2) The asymmetrical economic relationship between the new nations and the Western industrialized nations which, while strengthening the latters' wealth and power, perpetuated the new nations' dependency, not merely economic but political and cultural as well. 3) The coming together of the new nations under the umbrella of non-alignment in the wake of aggressive bloc-building by the US and the USSR.
4) The new nations' realization that their under-development was related to their dependence on rich nations followed by a firm resolve to assertive actions to correct imbalances in world trade and commerce, and cultural exchanges.
5) Their gaining in strength in international organisations, such as the UN and the UNESCO. Four stages can easily be identified in the history of the NWICO. The first stage, from 1973-76, marked the evolution of a new order. The second stage, from 1976-79, saw the accumulation of data and empirical evidences to give credence to the new order demand. The third stage followed the publication of the MacBride reportin 1980. The fourth stage is the period following the adoption of the NWICO Resolution in the UNESCO, and the setting up of IPDC. See Table 1 for a chronology of major events in the history of the NWICO, from the birth of the UN in 1945 to the withdrawal of the US from the UNESCO in 1984. Table 1: Major Events in the History of NWICO Year 1945
1948
1961
Venue and Events The UNESCO adopts Constitution Article 1.2 states that "the organisation will collaborate in the field of adv&cing the mutual- knowledge and understanding of peoples through all means of mass communication and to that end recommend such international agreements as may be necessary to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image." The UN adopts The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 19 of the UDHR states, "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression. This right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through frontiers." Birth of Non-alignmentat the Nrst Non-aligned Summit, Belgrade The Summit, attended by 25 Heads of State and Governments, defined the goals and tasks of the policy of non-alignment.
New World Information and Communhtlon Order
The UNESCO Meeting of Experts on Mass Communicationand Society, Montreal The first reference to the concept of the two-way news, marking the beginning of a shift in the UNESCO's position free-flow to balanced and two-way flow. The 16th General Conference of the UNESCO resolves to assist member states in the formulation of national communicationpolides. Several publications that resulted from this thrust led to a greater awareness in the developing countries of the one-way flow from the west. The 17th General Conference of the UNESCO adopts resolution for the formulation on the Declaration of the Use of the Mass Media (MMD) The resolution opened acrimonious debates that span six years, often bringing the West, on the one si& and the East and the South, on the other side, into irreconcilableideological war. The Fwrth Non-aligned Summit at Alglers calls for cooperative action in the field of masp cormnunication and to reorganise communication channels The Summit's call marked the beginning of the Third World cooperation in newdinfornation interchange as also the need for a new order to end communication imperialism. The 18th Gem Conf. of the UNESCO discusses draft on MMD TO avoid further controversies, the Conference referred the draft to an intergovernment meeting of experts to examine and present a new draft to the next session in 1976. The UN General Assembly adopts resolution on the establishment of the New International Economic Order
Non-aligned countries set up the Non-aligned News Agendes Pool Pool, an interregional news exchange mechanism, proved to be an excellent new model for several developing countries to emulate at regional levels in later years. The UNESCO Intergovernmental Meeting of Experts on MMD at Paris New controversies surfaced at the meeting on the question of including the word 'Zionism' in the preamble and over article XII, which stated that "States are responsible for the activities in the international sphere of-all mass media under their jurisdiction." The West boycotted the meeting. Non-aligned symposium on Information,Tuda :Call for NWICO The symposium in one of its resolutions refers to the new international information order for the first time: "Since information in world shows disequilibrium in favouring some and ignoring others, it is the duty of the non-aligned to change this situation and obtain the decolonisation of information, and initiate a new order in information". The Nrst conference of the Pool, New Delhi The Conference Declaration (DELHI Declaration) demanded that a new international information order was essential to a new international economic order, and called for coordination of their activities in the UN and its organs to achieve this objective. The Nfth Non-aligned Summit at Colomboendorses the Delhi Declaration; approves Pool Constitution: forms Pool Coordination Committee .The 19th 6en. Conf. of the UNESCO at Nalrobl: debate on MMD continues; MacBride Commissionconstituted The Conference (a) decided to prepare a final draft on MMD, which could meet the largest possible measure of agreement, (b) approved of support to the Pool, and (c) decided to organize conferences on communication policies in the developing countries. The UNESCO constitutes a 16-member International Commission for the study of communicationproblems under the Chairmanship of Sean MacBride. The Nrst IntergovernllkentalConferenceof UNESCO on CommunicationPolicies for Latin America and the Caribbean, San Jose, Costa Rica. Following this, the UNESCO organized similar conferenceon communication policies for Asia and Oceania at Kuala Lampur (Malaysia) in 1979, and for Africa at Yaounde (Cameroon) in 1980. The Second Meeting of the MacBride commission Tunisian delegate Masmoudi presented a paper to the MacBride Commission detailing the essentials of the NWICO as seen by the Third World. The 20th Gem Cod. of the UNESCO adopts the Mass Medla Declaration End of the six years long debate on MMD. Declaration took note of the "aspirations of the developing countries for the establishment of a new, more just and more effective world information and communication order".
At the Conference the US delegate's request for an institutio6al arrangement or international cooperation for communication development in the developing wuntrie served as a catalyst fortbe settingeupof the IPDC, following two rounds of meetings, first a preliminary meeting in Washington ih 1979, and latea on intergovernmental conference in Paris in 1980.
1979 1980
1981
The 33rd Sesslon of UN Gen. Assembly adopts resolution afNrming the need for NWICO Pnbllcation of the MacBrlde Commbsion's Report The UNESCO Intergovernmental Conference at Pads reaches consensuson a draft for Mtutlonal arrangement for cooperation oh communicationdevelopmentin the developing countries, and recommends the UNESCO to set up International , Programme for Development of Cammunication (IPDC). The 21st Gen. Cont of the UNESCO at ~ e l k a d accepu e the M d r l d e Cpmmisaon Repart, and adopta Re~llntlan4.19 w M o u h the baalc dwactm and amtent of the NWJCO. The IPDC b atablbhed wlth an InWgovmmmtal Cormdl of 35 membars Volcea d Freedoy Conference at Tallolrea (Frmce), a gathertrig of the delegates of the Wwtern me& attacks UNESCO and NWICO, and a& the UNESCO to abandon attempts to regulate and restrict free !low of news and tonnulate d e a far the press. The FLrst Seslon of the Intergovernmental Council for the IPDC, at Parls works out procedtual details for Its conduct. Fmm the second session, held in Acapulco in 1982, the IPDC got down to operationalise its objectives by soliciting and allocating funds for communication development projects such as the national news agencies, regional news. exchange systems, the journalists' training and the like.
1982 I
1983
The Fourth Extraordinary Session of the UNESCO, Parls; the US threatens to withdraw Dom the UNESC0,shouldit contlnueto follow its present course of polldes and actions. The 22nd Gen. Cont of the UNESCO appeals to member states to increase contributions to the IPDC, and approves programmes to support the NWICO objectives. The Fint NAMEDIA Conference at New Delhi calls to intensify effort+ for the establishment of an equitable world order, of which the NlEO and NWICO are essential parts. The US ceases to be a member of the UNESCO with effect from Dec. 31,1984. A year later Britain follows suit to be followed later by Singapore.
F t v
I
Generally, the evolution of the new order concept is credited to the Non-aligned Movement WAM). However, the mtribution of the UNESCO cannot be ignored But m the early years the UNESCO also played the willing tool role to the hilt It propagated the dochine of the free flow of information because of its domination by the West. But, with the continual addition of newly-freed status to the UN in the '60s and '709, the UNESCO underwent changes not only in its structuralmakeup, but also in its concerns, policies,and programmes in several areas including communication.
I I
Much of the credit for the enlarging communication agenda of the UNESCO in the 1970s goes to the Non-aligned Movement, which saw communication,at least in the early 70s, as a means to an end, the end being economic development of the poor nations. It was in this context that it laboured at the international level for the formulation of the UN Anti-colonial Declaration (1960), for the launching of the UN development decade in 1964, for the creation of the UNCTAD in 1964, the UNDP in 1965 and the UNlDO m 1976, and also adopted Western developmentmodels in which development was to be achieved through modernisation and industrialization. Very soon, it realized that the development was not forthooming; most of the newly independent nations remained where they were. This failm, which led to a process of re-examination,eventually culmiinated in the demand for a New International Economic Order (NIEO). Soon followed its natural corollary, new ordex in the field of international information and communication, the NWICO.
1
3.4.1 The Algiers Summit
I i
I
i
From the viewpoint of the NWICO history, the Algiers Summit of the non-aligned countries, held in 1973, is a major landmark, for it was here that communication concans were
New Wodd InPonnaUon and Commmdcatlon Order
InternationalCommunication
addressed directly in more than one paper in the context of their economic developr;1ent programmes. Around this time, the UNESCO was in the midst of a crisis, which had arisen out of a resolution moved by the Soviet Union, with the support of the Third World, at the 17th General Conference of the UNESCO, held in the 1970s, calling upon the UNESCO Director General to prepare a declaration on the Fundamental Principles Governing the Use of the Mass Media, with a view to strengthening of peace and understanding, and combating War, Propaganda, Racialism and Apartheid, hereafter referred to as the Mass Media Declaration (MMD). This resolution was to influence significantly the tone and tenor of the infomation flow debates. While it provided an opportunity for the Third World to bring forth its views on the free-flow concept and its consequences of inadequacies and imbalances in international news and information flow, it opened a new chapter in the East-West struggle, which was to last until 1978. To avoid further deepening of the crisis, the 19th UNESCO General Conference postponed the consideration of the draft on the MMD to its next session to be held in 1978, and adopted a resolution inviting the Director General to undertake a review of the problems of communication in modem society. In response to this, the Director General constituted a 16-member Commission for the study of Communication Problems under the chairmanship of Sean MacBride, a distinguished diplomat and winner of both Nobel Peace Prize and Lenin Peace Prize. The Commission's work, a major landmark in the international communication history, is one of the major outcomes of the NWICO debates. The 20th UNESCO general conference, held in 1978, was marked by a spirit of compromise. The behind the scene negotiations for reconciliation bore fruit: the new MMD text now retitled as 'Declaration on Fundamental Principles Governing the Contribution of the Mass Media in StrengtheningPeace and International Understanding and in Combating war Propaganda, Racialism and Apartheid' was approved. The six-year long controversy finally ended. The new text satisfied all. It must, however, be made clear that though the declaration called for a free-flow and better-balanced dissemination of information, it did not define the new order, and thus, in reality, the issue remained unresolved. Nonetheless, the Third World was very clear about the meaning of the NWICO. What is wrong with the existing system? Why a new order? And what measures need to be taken to bring about a new order? Answer to these could be found in Mustapha Masmoudi's paper, 'New World Information Order', submitted to the MacBride Commission, which presents a complete catalogue of the Third World complaints against the VJestern nations and their media empires, and also outlines the measures needed in the pdlitical, legal, and technical-financial spheres for the realization of the new order. Masmoudi's indictment of the international communication system and exposition of the' essentials of the hew order did not go unquestioned in the West. For many, Masmoudi's new order was restrictive in character and content. hof. Elie Abel, a member of the MacBride Commission, while agreeing to the presence of gross imbalances in the international communication system, attributed those to the historical process resulting in an uneven spread of development. Denying Masmoudi's allegation that foreign news agencies imposed unsuitable Western values and perspectives upon the l e s developed countries, he pointed out that, in most developing countries, the, subscriber is the government or government controlled agencies, since newspapers or broadcasting stations are not allowed to subscribe directly to the foreign agency services. Prof. Abel also opposed Masmoudi's suggestion that restrictions be placed on rights such ,as the right of free circulation of information and of access to information so as to eliminate imbalances. The only constructive approach, according to him, was a "massive international effort to increase the capacity for communication at every level -the individual, the community, the nation, and among nations".
3.5 THE MACBRIDE REPORT The most important outcome of the NWICO debates of the 1970s was the formation of the International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems as per the decision of the 1976 general conference of UNESCO. The 16-member commission comprised experts representing world's diverse ideological,political, economic and geographical zones. Popularly known as the MacBride Commission, it met eight times at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris for facilitating discussion among its members. In addition, it organised
four round table discussions in Sweden, Yugoslavia, India and Mexico, received some one hundred background papers from professionals and scholars around the world, and investigated the new order issues more thoroughly than any previous f o m had done. Its final report, published as Many Voices, One World, stands out as a complete s o m of i&ormation on communication in today's and tomorrow's world.
The Commission viewed communication as a basic social need of individuals, communities and nations with an inseparable relationship with politics, as an economic force, with decisive influence on development, as an educational tool, and as an integral part of culture. Thus, any change in any aspect of communication within and among nations would call for changes in all these aspects of communications. The issues of imbalances and inequalities were fully recognised by the Commission. Attributing the imbalance to a historical process of unequal growth of nations and complex political, economic and socio-cultural realities, the Commission supported the view that 'free flow' was nothing more than 'oneway free flow', and also that the principle, on which it was based, should be restated so as to guatantee 'free and balanced flow'. It identifid imbalances in flow between the developed and developing countries. The Commission took note of imbalaoces in the flow of news through the insauments of technology. The developed world, which have access to modern technology, have had both positive and negative influence on the Political, economic, socio-culturalfabric of their home regions and other nations, whkh have come to depend on them for their news and information needs. A positive influence was that they extended facilities for cultural development. Their negative effect was the promotion of alien values across cultural frontiers. Thus, they were practicing cultural imperralism through their control of communication infrastructure, news circulation, cultural products, educational software, books, films, equipment, and training. The Commission concluded that the primary factor in imbalance and inequalities was an economic one. It said that the one way-flow in communication is basically a reflection of the world's dominant political and economic structures, which tend to maintain or reinforce the dependence of the poor countries on the rich nations. Check Your Progress 5 Note:
i) Use the space given below for your answer. ii) Check your answefwith the one given at the end of this unit.
1) Why was MacBride Commission set up?
..................................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................. . ..................................................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................................................... -
3.6 NWICO: CHARACTER AND CONTENT The exhaustive MacBride report, though not a defmitive work, received bouquets and brickbats in good measures from scholars around the world. Notwithstanding several
New Wodd Informstion and Commdcathm Order
shortcomingsand deficiencies,the 21st General Conference of the UNESCO, held in 1981, accepted it, aid unanimously adopted Resolution 4.19, outlining the b&ic character and content ofthe N'WLCO.Paragraph 14 of the Resolution is reproduced here in its entirely as it contains the essence of the resolution: The General conference considers that a) this new world information and communication order could be based among other consideration, on ,
i
elimination of the imbalance and inequalities which characterizethe present situation;
il)
elimination of the negadve effect of certain monopolies, public or private; and excessive amcentrarions;
iii) removal of the Internal and external obstacles to a free flow and widex and better balanced dissemination of information and ideas; iv) plurality of sources and channels of information; v)
the freedomof the press imd information;
vi) the freedom of journalism and all professionals in the communication media, a ' freedominseparable from responsibility; vii) the capabilities of the developing countries to achieve the improvement of their own situations,notably by providing their own equipment, training their personnel, improving their infrastructuresand making their information and communication media suitable to theit needs and aspiration; viii) the sincere will of the developed countries to help them attain these objectives;
ix) respect for each people's cultural identity, and for each nation to inform the world public about its interests, its aspirations and its social and cultural values; x)
respect for the right of all peoples to participate in international exchanges of information on the basis of equality, justice and mutual benefits;
xi) respect for the right of the public, of ethnic and social groups, and of individuals to have access to inforl~lationsources, and to participate actively in the communication process;
b) thi new world information communication order could be based on the fundamental pr$ciplcs of the inmational law, as laid down in ~e c h t m of the united htions; c) diverse solution to information and communication problems are required, because social, political, cultural and economic problems differ from one country to another, and within a given counby, from one group to another. The MacBride Commission's recommendationsand the resolution given above are of nonnative chawter only; nothing in these is binding on the member countries. In brief, the estabhhnent of the NWICO depended upon five major factors: (a) the will of the developed and developing countries to bring about changes in all ateas of communication within their respective regions; (b) coopemtion between the developed and developing nations for removing all obstacles to a yo-way and balanced flow of news and information among nations; (c) sharing of communication resources,including technologies, for countering monopoly of the international news flow by a few; (d) coopemtion among the developing countries to correct imbalances with their own regions by increasing horizontal flows and (e) coopemtion between the media-rich and media-pcmfor mdbilization of resources to strengthen communication infrastructurein the latter's region. At the 21st General Conference of the UNESCO, the NWICO conmversiesmoved from rhetoric to action. The Conferem approved the establishment of a new agency, the International Programmefor the Development of Commdnication(IPDC) within the framework of the UNESCO to reduce the gap between the developed and developing countries by strenghtening infrastructureand services through internationalcooperation and assistance. '
The objectives of the IPDC, which are to be implemented by a 35-member Intergovebnental Council, cover all facets of communication development. These could be collapsed into four Moad categories: 1) To assist the developing countries in analysing their communication needs, and to plan and develop their capacities so as to contribute to their economic, social and cultural development. Also, to promote reciprocity among the developing countries in the field of communication. 2) To cooperate and coordinate the activities of all nations engaged in international communication development, both withjn and outside the UN system. And also act as a link between those who need assistance and those who can offer assistance. 3) To serve as a center for collecting and circulating information relating to the international cooperation in the field of communication development, and contribute to increase awareness about the significanceof communication for the development process. 4) To seek and mobilize funds for communication development projects, and allocate funds to carry out the objectives.
Check Your Progress 6 Note:
i)
Use the space given below for your answer.
ii) Check your answer with the one given at theend of this unit.
L
1) Why-wasthe IPDC setup, and what were its objectives?
..................................................................................................................................... I ..................................................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................................................... I
...................................................................................................................................... 3.7 PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF THE NWICO The withdrawal of the US on December 31, 1984,and Britain and Singapore a year later, from the UNESCO, was not a deterrent to the objectives of the NWICO. As the UNESCO Director General, M'Bow observed: The New World Informati& and Communication Order has now acquired legitimacy in the world community ,the process in question is evolving and is irreversible. The need to reduce the imbalances observable in this area, including not only those affecting the North and South but also those found within each group of countries and within single countries, is keenly felt today by an ever-increasing number of population groups. Today the evolving goals of the NWICO rest with not just the UNESCO, but a large number of international organisations such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the International Telecommunications ~ n i o h(ITU),the IPDC, and the Third World and its organisations for moving the aims of the NWICO to a higher plain. The prospects are not bleak. Some work has already been done. The Third World has demonstrated through Pool that it is serious dbout increasing news-flow within its own region. The IPDC, which commenced work in 1982has done its best to help develop communication capabilities of the media-poor regions. It needs more resources than what are being dade available to it. As of January 1986, some 42 member states together pledged a little over US $10 million to the IPDC special account, and nearly US $4.5 million for funds-in-trust financing by eight member countries. Such monies are not enough to match the growing requirements. Between the second session, in 1982, and the seventh session, held in January 1986, it had allocated US $9.74 million for some 120 communication projects in the developing countries. n o s e included three regional news agency projects Pan Africa News Agency (PANA), the Agencia Latino Americana De Servcios Especiales do Information (ALASEI), and the Asia-PacificNews Network (ANN)- 14national news agency projects in Angola, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Tunisia and Zanzibar.
New World Infomatian and CommunicatlanOrder
Internationa'Communication
These agencies and news exchange arrangements operating within the developing countries, no matter how inadequate they are, indicate that the NWICO has set itself on its evolutionary path. But there is more to be achieved. Imbalances in the flow of news and information at the international level have not ceased to exist. The one-way flow is still very much in evidence. Most of the news flowing through the transnational agencies into the developing regions concerns the developing world. The agencies continue to view the developing world's events and issues from their own perspectives. As a result, news everywhere is seen through the prisms of the West, the developed world. The Western media giants continue to set the world's news agenda. This was amply demonstrated during the Gulf War. The Western-centric bias in internafional news flow becomes apparent even for a casual observer -the developments in the West, both in the US and Europe, including the erstwhile 'Soviet Union, dominate news everywhere, but the problems of the poor regions of Africa, Asia, and Latin America receive only a token coverage. The problems arising out of a unipolar world (if it exists), particularly in the context of the Developing World economies, are being treated as matters of less significance. The issue of cultural imperialism is as much in evidence today as it was in the last decade. In fact, non-access to the satellite technologies and financial constraints have enhanced the disadvantageous position of the developing world. Alien cultural values are being more freely distributed in the helpless regions of the world. As many point out, a contemporary example of cultural imperialism is the case of the Star TV in India, which has begun to make a serious impact on the domestic broadcasting. Viewed against these realities, the need for the establishment of the NWICO cannot be undermined. In fact, in the apparently unipolar world of today, the relevance of the NWICO stands enhanced. The geopolitical and economic uncertainties arising out of the developments in Europe and the erstwhile Soviet Union, and the strife between the new republics are bound to affect progress in realizing the goals of the NIEO as well as the NWICO. Therefore, renewed effort has to be made by both the developing and the developed world.
3.8 MEASURES TO BE ADOPTED BY THE DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES The developed countries should be more open to redress the ever-increasing asymmetrical economic relations between them and the poor countries. This calls for hastening the pace for the establishment of the NIEO as it is linked with the W C O . As funds for the media development in the developing world are scatye, the developed world could, either through bilateral agreements or through organisation such as IPDC, make available more resources for communication specific projects in the poor regions of the world.
In the area of techqology transfer and sharing, more action is needed. New technologies need to be viewed as resources for the benefit of the mankind, and not as a new tool for exploitation of the disadvantaged. The media in the developed world needs to take steps in establishing a balance in the infonnation flow by devoting more space and time to news and issues concerning the developing countries. The media professionals, in particular, need to tackle the developing world's problem with understanding and concern, and, in reporting, increased attention to the developmental activities, problems, and achievements also needs to be given. The developed countries shouldjoin hands with the devel6ping countries in making the telecommunications tariffs more suitable for a better use of the existing systems and, thereby, enhance the flow of communication material from the developing to the developed regions. The developing world, on the other hand, needs to formulate communication policies, keeping in view the sweeping changes marking the external as well as their own regions. Without clear-cut policies, the media development would get hampered, and this would make the media restrictive in its reach and out of step with the needs and interests of a vast majority of people. In the Third World countries, in particular, the press must make conscious efforts to free itself from the attitudes fostered by the Western news criteria. In this direction professional organisations and institutions, such as the Asian Mass Communication Research and Infomution Centre (AMIC), Singapore,the Press Institute of In*, New Delhi, the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, and the International Press Institute,just to name a few, can play a significant role by conducting refresher orientation courses for the working journalists. The IPDC can contribute substantially by providing the necessary inputs.
3.9 INDIA AND NWICO India has played a significant role in the development of the very concept of the NWICO, and in the realization of its objectives and goals. Both within the Non-aligned movement in the international for& such as the UNESCO, India has pasistently pursued the policy of advancing, defending and reshaping the NWICO tenets and aims.
1
I
,
The Indian delegation to the 20th General Conference of the 1978, played an i r n p m t role along with the Sri Lankan representatives in defusing the tension and reconciling the East and West on the text of the Mass Media Declaration. India's involvement was of value in ensuring incorporation of several aspects of the NWICO in more than one article of the
MMD. Of greater importance is India's contribution to the realization of the NWICO goals. As you have already read, one of the aims of the NWICO is increased flow of news among the developing world. The POOL, established in 1975as a means to ensure mutually relevant news flow among the non-aligned countries, has had India's support in multifarious ways. The PTI, the premier news agency of India, has been one of the seven redistribution centers of the POOL news ever since 1976. India has also taken a lead in providing training for young men and women in the developing world in news agency journalism. Such a training programme is being offered at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication,New Delhi Similarly in the setting up of the NAMEDIA, under the auspices of the non-aligned movement and in the promotion of a better understanding among the citizens of the SAARC, through exchange of audio-visual material on development themes under the SAVE programme, India's contribution has been noteworthy.
3.10 LET US SUM UP The developing world's demand for the establishment of New World Information and Communication Order was based on their realization of the ill-effects of inequalities and
New Wodd Int'onnatlon and Communication Order
htematimd
inadequacies in the field of information/communicationbetween the rich and poor nations. International communication, which was under the monopoly of a few western media empites, was found to be detrimental to their social needs, p&rities, and national interest. A major consequence of the news and information flow was the 'one-way flow of news', and information generally passing ftom the developed to the developing world. The content of such flows was found to be hiquitous, and even biased against the poor regions of the world. Therefore, they campaigned for a NWICO to facilitate 'free and balanced flow of infomution, capable of breaking the stereotype of the developing world created by the Western media, and to usher in a new climate for a closer and better understanding among nations and individuals. ,
The new order envisioned restructuring of the philosophies of fi-ee-flow, which governed news and information flow among nations, rethinking on the rights and responsibilities of the media professionals, elimination of imbalances and inequalities m communication flow at national and international levels, demonopolization of the media and the media development in poor countries. The debates, commencing in the early 70s, lasted for a decade. Often, the debates within and outside the UNESCO were contentious with a clear division between the Western developed world and the Eastern block and the developing countries. The debates, finally, ebbed in 1981, when the 21st General Conference of the UNESCO accepted the MacBride report, which viewed the NWICO as a multi-stage dynamic and evolutionary process, the goals of which would be "more justice, more equity, more reciprocity in information exchange, less dependence in communication flows, less downward diffusion of messages, more self-reliance and cultural identity, more benefits for a l l mankind". The conference also adopted a resolution outlinking the basic character and content of the NWICO the realisation of which depends upon five factors: (a) the will of the developed and developing countries to bring about changes in all areas of communication within their respective regions; (b) cooperation between the developed and developing nations for removing all obstacles to a two-way and balanced flow of news and information among nations; (c) W n g of communication resourca, including technologies, for countering the monopoly of intnmationrrt news flow by a few; (d) coopration among the developing counaies to comct imbalances within their own regions by i n a i n g horizontal flows; and (e) coopaation between the media-rich and media-poor for mobilization of resources to strengthen communication infrastructure in the latter's region. The conference also constituted an agency, the IPDC, to coordinate, mobilize, and allocate resources for the development of communication capabilities of the poor nations. This was a major international initiative designed to achieve some of the goals of the NWICO. Yet another landmark in the evolution of the NWICO is the POOL, set up by the Non-aligned Movement, in 1975. Since then, similar news exchange arrangements have come up m different regions of the developing world. Above all, a major outcome of the NWICO debates is that the NWICO has earned legitimacy in the world and there are efforts to remove flaws and reduce imbalances in communication within and among nations. What has been achieved is inadequate, as the NWICO issues are very much in evidence today. The need now is to consolidate the achievements, and step up efforts so that, at least, in the coming decades, there is equality and balance among nations in all aspects of coqmication.
3.11 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS: MODEL ANSWERS Check Your Progress 1 Non-aligned News Agencies Pool was formed.
1)
MacBride Commission was to study the communication problems. International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) was set up to provide assistance to the growth of communication infrastructure in the developing countries.
/
/
I.
'
Check Your Progress 2 1)
The colonial British empire covered one-fifth of the globe. By agreement among all the colonial powers, the Reuters news agency had a monopoly in the British empire. The Reuters had also the largest number of correspondents,and Britain had control over transocianic cables. These made the Reuters news agency become a monopoly in the business of news.
2)
The Associated Press found that the Reuters news agency had total control over the news flowing into the USA and American news flowing out of the USA. After World War I, America was beginning to emerge as a world power. Moreover, the huge domestic media network made the AP come out of the previous agreement, and launch its own business worldwide, without the help of other European news agencies.
+ \
1
Check Your Progress 3 1)
The free flow doctrine originated in the United States of America. The American Society of Newspaper Editors adopted the concept of free flow of information among nations without any restrictions. Later on, the editors urged the political parties to adopt this concept. The American political parties did so, and through diplomatic channels, this concept got incorporated in the United Nations.
Check Your Progress 4 I
1)
The free flow of information doctrine made the Western media, particularly the US media conglomerates, control the content and form of the media in the Third World countries. The citizens of the Third World countries could easily find out that their culture, life style, aspirations were not being reflected in the media. Moreover, news and information of the West flooded the media of the Third World countries. With these facts, the people of the developing wuntries perceived that there was an imbalance in the information flow between the West and ths Third World countries.
, ,
I
Check Your Progress 5 1)
The MacBride Commission was set up to study the communication problems of the world, and suggest some possible solutions. After the Second World War, the western countries or the developed countries set up huge networks of communication and information. So, in a very short period of time, these giants had complete control over almost all the communication set-ups in the developed as well as the underdeveloped countries. Thus, the argument of imbalance in the flow of information between the developed and underdeveleped countries came up. It created a lot of confusion and dismay among the member countries of the UN. In this context, the MacBride Commission was constituted.
Check Your Progress 6 1)
The International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) \ was set up mainly for the following tasks. To help the developing countries to set up infrastructurefor the development of communication. To raise, collect, and distribute funds for the projects of communication. To help the countries of both the developed and underdeveloped countries to minimise the imbalance in the flow of information. /
Y
New World Information and Communication Order