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International: CU International Panel at National Media Reform Conference02/12/2007
Ford Foundation, Fostering Basic Freedoms Through Global Information and Communications Policy Report on theNational Media Reform Conference Memphis, Tennessee, January 11-14, 2007 Information and communications policy affects fundamental rights like freedom of expression, freedom from repression, and the right to access to knowledge and information that will enhance quality of life and promote social justice in the developing world. At the recent National Media Reform Conference in Memphis, Tennessee, Consumers Union hosted a panel discussion, entitled Fostering Basic Freedoms Through Global Information and Communications Policy. The panel included six key leaders from NGOs outside of the United States who are engaged in media diversity and justice issues globally. It was our hope that they would benefit from a better understanding of the critical debates over media ownership and control in the US and from meeting leaders involved in U.S. media policy. The participants were asked to reflect on the value of the conference for their work and how efforts to bring leaders together from the U.S. and around the world can further the cause of freedom of expression globally. Those reports are included in this report and will be made available through Consumers Unions website www.HearUsNow.org. The panelists included: Moderator: Gene Kimmelman, Consumers Union Andrew Puddephatt is the director of Global Partners and Associates. He has been an expert member of both the Council of Europe and the Commonwealth Expert working groups on freedom of information and freedom of expression. He is the Vice-Chair of International Media Support; a Danish based NGO that provides emergency support to journalists in conflict areas. He has led human rights organizations in the non-profit sector for more than twelve years. Lisa Horner is currently working for Global Partners on 'The Freedom of Expression Project', funded by the Ford Foundation. The project is concerned with how new technologies are affecting the way people communicate with each other, and the implications this has for the human right to freedom of expression. Lisa is based in the UK and has recently completed a Masters degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. Bjarne Petersen is the Head of Policy and Advocacy at Consumers International where he is responsible for leading and managing the CI policy research team worldwide. Academic qualifications include a MSC in Human Nutrition, as well as a Masters in International Environment Policy. Recently Bjarne Pedersen has been Head of CI delegations to the Commission on Sustainable Development and the WHO World Health Assembly as well as the ISO SR WG. Bjarne Pedersen is also overall responsible for the various CI programs related to IP. Luis Fernado Marrey Moncau with IDEC of Brazil is currently with the litigation and institutional departments working on consumer rights and judicial procedures especially class actions and does research on consumer-related issues. Rosemary Okello Orlale (Kenya) is the Executive Director of African Woman and Child Feature Service (AWC). She is also a trustee, Media Council of Kenya, Secretary to the Kenya Editor's Guild and a Treasurer for the African Editor's Forum. She has extensive experience working as a journalist both locally and internationally as well as a researcher. She has been involved in media training in the region on gender mainstreaming. She was part of a team that developed reporting parliament, a book which is being used by the School of Journalism in Kenya as well as in the region. Rosemary is a trained journalist and holds post-graduate diploma research methodology, Population Studies and Research Institute-Nairobi University and currently pursuing a post graduate diploma in Journalism form London School of Journalism. She is also an award winner for the first prize as the best female reporter category of the 2004 African Information Society Initiative media awards. ********* By Luiz Fernando Marrey Moncau
What can be said about the National Conference on Media Reform 2007? Was it a conference that convened twenty five hundred people with a common purpose: reform American media in the public interest? Was it a demonstration of force for a national movement advocating for free speech, free flow of information and Access to Knowledge? Yes, we can say that. As a foreigner in the middle of this exciting reunion of activists, I believe that it was those two important things and more. I was among the crowd that was searching for the best panels and the most valuable information to assist my organization's effort to act in favor of the public interest, and I met more than just Americans; I met people from all around the world. This is the consequence of being in a country, which like my country of Brazil, is full of diversities that need to be expressed and shared with everyone, as a way to assure democracy and to prevent all of us from having one-sided opinions. A country, which just like mine, needs to represent all viewpoints to avoid prejudice among its different citizens. Being at the conference allowed me to experience what it would be like to live in a country where the Media played the role of fostering diversity. The panel in which I presented symbolized that diversity: a South-American, an African, Europeans and North Americans, sharing their experiences and discussing how to foster the flow of diverse viewpoints around the world, without realizing, how they were doing it at that very moment. Walking in and out of the various concurrent panels and workshops I was also able to learn more about issues, such as net neutrality and the many "spectrum use" issues related to the digital divide, a matter of importance for Americans and vital for all developing countries. Understanding these important issues will help not only U.S. citizens to influence National Media Reform, but will be very helpful in efforts around the world. For that reason, I am thankful for the invitation from Consumers Union to participate in such a diverse panel and for the chance of hearing about the related experiences of others in so many countries, as well as the U.S. In my view, this forum for discussion is a good first step in the journey for transforming the media and consequently to transforming our countries and making them a better place to live. U.S citizens should be glad that this step is already being taken. ****** By Rosemary Okello-Orlale
In the words of Bill Moyers who was the keynote speaker: So if we need to know what is happening, and Big Media won't tell us; if we need to know why it matters, and Big Media won't tell us; if we need to know what to do about it, and Big Media won't tell us … we have to tell the story ourselves, epitomized the impact of the conference on me as a person coming from Africa where the media has still got a long way to go. As a person coming from Africa, I identify with the spirit of the conference, which is that media reform can only be possible when the media can tell the real people's story, give the correct picture and tell the truth, including that it is possible for the media to change for the common good. I attended the meeting organized by Free Press from January 11-14, 2007 at Memphis Convention centre. The plenary sessions were great, the most memorable being sessions the Keynote address by Bill Moyer who talked about the plantation culture, and a session on colonial rule in Africa, with Danny Glover, Jesse Jackson and Jane Fonda. I was particularly inspired by Jane Fonda's observation on women and media. I attended various breakaway sessions during the conference and learnt a lot. The valuable lessons I took away from the conference, I am already implementing through the Kenya Editor's Guild and the role of the media in reporting women's issues especially during an election year. My participation at the conference and specifically in the panel discussion on Global Information and Communication was made possible by Consumers Union. Bringing an African perspective to the discussion, my presentation during the session on; Global Information and Communication policy; centred on access to information for social change, which is critical to all communities irrespective of their status. As cutting edge technology is slowly making it easier for many to access information, the media is becoming a powerful tool not only for influencing government and private sector agendas, but more importantly, for changing attitudes and opinions of people all over the world. In other parts of the world, convergence between radio and the internet has boosted the capacity of community radio and increased networking opportunities for community based organisations and individuals. Community radio in this case is regarded as an outlet for information generated locally and an avenue for re-casting information downloaded from the internet. As the debate on information and the role of the media in social change takes on a new dimension, participation of communities, which cannot easily access mass media is extremely critical. All over the world, small initiatives by various organisations, geared towards enabling marginalised groups access information have been happening for quite sometime. Yet, when development experts talk about the role of the media in social change, the focus is only on the mass media – major newspapers and televisions stations. Information in Africa has become a commodity, which has been merchandized. In the late 70s during the new communication order, the west controlled the information and Africa was marginalized because it was not being covered. Thirty years later little has changed, and the problem of communication channels and content is still an issue. African reality is lost in the media conglomerate trying to compete for information on Africa. Reporting Africa for Africans has been an on-going debate in Africa and the role of information in Africa is slowly becoming critical to how media ownership is being reviewed. Also critical are the questions related to content and whose information is Africa receiving. The real Africa cannot be seen in most of the information being aired or received. The voice of the ordinary person is absent. Even ordinary women cannot use information to their agricultural produce. "Information has become big business, and this is a language that never existed within the African set-up. In traditional society information was accessed by all through drama, singing, poetry and local meetings. Currently information is controlled by big media players like CNN, BBC, and Reuters who provide most of the content. This type of information is tailored to serve other people's agenda and only tends to serve the elite. In Africa, ordinary people do not have access to information, and until the ordinary woman in the village can access the information in the language she understands, holding the governments accountable might not be easy. When ordinary people become knowledgeable, they can demand better services and good governance, which is lacking in most countries in Africa. Therefore, the media needs to be in the hands of ordinary people, and alternative ways must be found for women in the rural areas to access information for their empowerment. Unless media is reformed, and unless the media can be used for social change, social justice will elude the ordinary person and holding the government accountable will remain difficult. ******* By Andrew Puddaphatt
Global Partners attended the National Conference for Media Reform to gain insight into the American media and communications system and to gather information and contacts for the Global Partners Freedom of Expression Project, an exploration of the challenges and opportunities for freedom of expression in the networked communications environment. We hoped to leave with a better understanding of the main media policy issues in the USA and how these are being addressed by politicians, the media industry and civil society. We also wanted to better understand how US debates over media and communications intersect with those occurring in other countries and at the global level, as well as to meet with people working on similar issues to the Freedom of Expression Project with whom it would be useful to work in the future. Overall, we achieved these objectives at the NCMR. The conference panels and workshops covered a wide range of issues from the perspective of different groups active in the US and international media environments, giving us a good understanding of the main debates and concerns of civil society. We also made a number of useful contacts with people working in civil society and academic institutions. It was interesting to find that the American media reform movement embraces a wide range of people with different objectives, from those campaigning for a better representation of minority groups in the mainstream media to those calling for an overhaul of the entire media system through reintroducing public service obligations or through the growth of community media. With this in mind, we feel that it would have been useful for the conference to have taken place under a clearer framework and conceptualization of the media reform movement, or if the conference had been used to create such a framework in a participatory manner. This would involve mapping out the aims and objectives of different groups within the movement in order to see where they overlap and diverge, allowing activists to formulate clearer strategies under the wider banner of media reform and thereby giving the movement more coherence. It might also be useful to frame the issues under the broader banner of 'communications' rather than 'media' as this would bring a wider constituency of activists into the debate whose work is highly relevant to the media reform movement. Examples include human rights and freedom of expression activists, those working on issues of transparency and access to information and those working more specifically on these issues in the sphere of electronic communications. In terms of the format of the conference, we were interested to find that many of the plenary and workshop sessions took the form of rallies, often celebrating the successes of the media reform movement and condemning those actors perceived to be its enemies. It might have been more useful for us if the sessions had been more policy and issues-focused, concerned with exploring the reasons behind the shortcomings in the media system in more depth and taking the opportunity to formulate participatory strategies to address them. It was felt that many of the sessions followed a highly politicized 'left versus right' format which can often hamper informed and productive debate. However, we recognize that many American media issues are highly political, and the conference provided us with good insight into the nature of American media policy making and the challenges faced by reform activists. Global Partners was very excited and grateful for the opportunity to be part of an international delegation at the conference. We feel it is important to consider where national issues overlap with those in other countries and also where they fit into wider transnational regimes in the globalize world. This is particularly important with regards to communications policy in the USA, as the country has huge influence in both formal international policy making and in the formation of transnational norms in political, economic and cultural arenas. The sessions at the conference that were concerned with international and global issues were useful, and it would be good if the conference could take on a more global focus alongside its national remit, considering how a global movement of communications activists could take shape. This would allow the movement to address transnational issues and also add value to the USA national movement, enabling it to draw on examples and experiences from other countries to inform its strategies for reform in the US. The rise of electronic networked communications platforms such as the internet and mobile phones have had huge implications for national and international communications, ushering in a new global communications environment whose exact shape and nature is still evolving. This environment offers important opportunities for the realization of the human right to freedom of expression, not only in terms of challenging traditional mass media models, but also through potentially reforming the relationship between government and citizens and through providing new spaces for cultural diversity and education. However, the environment also presents freedom of expression with huge challenges, for example through providing new spaces of control, surveillance, exclusion and disinformation. These challenges and opportunities play out at local, national and global levels and therefore call for partnerships between freedom of expression advocates at all of these levels. An international dimension to the US national media reform movement is therefore vital to ensure that the emerging global communications environment, and the underlying patchwork of national communications policies, further rather than undermine the human right to freedom of expression. Global Partners would like to thank the Consumers Union and the Ford Foundation for facilitating their attendance at the National Conference for Media Reform. The conference was very useful for the Global Partners Freedom of Expression project, and we hope that fellow participants at the conference also found our attendance useful for starting to explore the international dimension of freedom of expression in national and global communications. *** By Bjarne Pedersen The objectives of our participation in the National Media Reform Conference were to: 1) Present an international perspective, and the work of Consumers International, in the panel "Global Information and Communication Policy." 2) To learn how Consumers International can utilise progressive media reform in its work. 3) To establish key contacts for further work. Present an international perspective, and the work of Consumers International, in the panel "Global Information and Communication Policy." The presentation was focussed on the following areas of CI work:
Further information of these areas of work can be found on www.consumersinternational.org Experiences and views of the conference The conference constituted an important event in establishing the need for media reform not only in the US but also from a global perspective. More importantly, from a CI point of view, it acts as an invaluable resource for how we can further integrate our campaigning work with independent media. As a concrete action point CI will use the online platform to invite interested parties to join the global CI media network. It was clear that bringing together national leaders as well as progressive media created a forum that naturally fostered a debate on key issues like media concentration, freedom of expression and the role of media in campaigning. In my opinion there were clear parallels between the issues discussed at the conference (to a large extent focussed on the national level), and the key issues at international level. This is partly because media concentration almost par definition is international but also, because the issues arising from this (such as limitations of freedom of expression) are even more felt in countries with a weaker civil society. For me, personally it was both an inspiring and informative event providing me with the opportunity to meet with both media professionals as well as 'grassroots' organisations. This enabled me to make contacts that can be used in the future work of Consumers International. Especially relevant were contacts made in the area of e-campaigning as well as investigative independent journalism. In relation to the work of Consumers International we will, attempt to integrate some elements of media reform and freedom of expression into the following key areas:
Possible improvements to the focus of the conference The conference could have benefited from more sessions with international focus or aspects. Media concentration and the consequences in terms of freedom of expression is increasingly becoming a global issue and the, consequences of media concentration is even more notable in the developing world and in economies in transition. Sessions focusing on "lessons learned and problems shared" in the international context would have been useful, especially if focused on transfer of solutions and exploring ways forward. Finally, it would have been interesting to see sessions concerned with consumer journalism and the role of consumer organisations in relation to independent media. In conclusion, the media is crucial in advancing every issue that Consumers International care about: Consumer rights, education, the environment, the economy, health and inequity; Solving any of these problems will not succeed without addressing the role of media – and the conference gave us a better understanding with regards to how this can be done in our work and in working with others. Consumers International (CI) is the only independent global campaigning voice for consumers. With over 220 member organizations in 115 countries, we are building a powerful international consumer movement to help protect and empower consumers everywhere.
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