From NWICO to WSIS: 30 Years of Communication Geopolitics

Description

Two major regulatory activities have framed global media policies since World War II: the New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) and the more recent World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). Through extensive research and testimonies from those involved, this book presents an in-depth account from the 1970s to today of the major issues concerning information flow in international geopolitics, including a look at the negotiations surrounding the major policy debates. Few studies of NWICO and WSIS have considered the continuity between the two activities—or included in the debate the crucial intermediary period between—and this book provides new insight into an issue of multilingual and multicultural importance.

 

 

Introduction

  PART I: On the Agenda: NWICO

Correlations between NWICO and Information Society: Reflections of a NWICO actor – Mustapha Masmoudi

The history of NWICO and its lessons – Kaarle Nordenstreng

NWICO: Reuters’ Gerald Long versus UNESCO’s Seán MacBride – Michael Palmer

IPS, an alternative source of news: From NWICO to civil society – Patricio Tupper

New scenarios for the Right to Communicate in Latin America – Gustavo Gonzalez Rodriguez

Past witnesses’ present comments – Hıfzı Topuz

PART II: Shifting Sands 

The Right to Communicate – A continuing victim of historic links to NWICO and UNESCO? – Alan McKenna

‘Going Digital’: A historical perspective on early international cooperation in informatics – Julia Pohle

ICTs, discourse and knowledge societies: Implications for policy and practice – Robin Mansell

Past witnesses’ present comments – Alain Modoux

PART III: Changing the agenda: WSIS and the future

Towards Knowledge Societies in UNESCO and beyond – J.P. Singh

The notion of access to information and knowledge: Challenges and divides, sectors and limits – Jérémie Nicey

The international news agencies (and their TV/multimedia sites): The defence of their traditional lead in international news production – Camille Laville and Michael Palmer

The least imperfect form of global governance yet? Civil society and multi-stakeholder governance of communication – Jeremy Shtern, Normand Landry and Marc Raboy

Civil society and the amplification of media governance, during WSIS and beyond – Divina Frau-Meigs

Past witnesses’ present comments – Bertrand de La Chapelle

PART IV: Postface 

From New International Information Order to New Information Market Order – Roberto Savio

Sujets

• Media Studies
• Social Science
• Sociologie, société et politique
• Cumbre Mundial sobre la Sociedad de la Información
• UNESCO
• New World Information and Communication Order
• WSIS
• World Summit on the Information Society
• General officer
• Politics
• General
• Cultural Studies
• Sommet mondial sur la société de l'information
• Organisation des Nations unies pour l'éducation, la science et la culture
• Media

Informations

• Publié par: Intellect Books
• Date de parution: 05 novembre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781841507477
• Langue: English

Extrait

European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA)
This series consists of books arising from the intellectual work of ECREA members. Books address themes relevant to the ECREA's interests; make a major contribution to the theory, research, practice and/or policy literature; are European in scope; and represent a diversity of perspectives. Book proposals are refereed.
Series Editors
Nico Carpentier
François Heinderyckx
Series Advisory Board
Denis McQuail
Robert Picard
Jan Servaes
The aims of the ECREA are
a) To provide a forum where researchers and others involved in communication and information research can meet and exchange information and documentation about their work. Its disciplinary focus will include media, (tele)communications and informatics research, including relevant approaches of human and social sciences;
b) To encourage the development of research and systematic study, especially on subjects and areas where such work is not well developed;
c)To stimulate academic and intellectual interest in media and communication research, and to promote communication and cooperation between members of the Association;
d) To co-ordinate the circulation of information on communications research in Europe, with a view to establishing a database of ongoing research;
e) To encourage, support and, where possible, publish the work of young researchers in Europe;
f) To take into account the desirability of different languages and cultures in Europe;
g)To develop links with relevant national and international communication organizations and with professional communication researchers working for commercial organizations and regulatory institutions, both public and private;
h) To promote the interests of communication research within and among the Member States of the Council of Europe and the European Union;
i) To collect and disseminate information concerning the professional position of communication researchers in the European region; and
j) To develop, improve and promote communication and media education

First published in the UK in 2012 by
Intellect, The Mill, Parnall Road, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 3JG, UK
First published in the USA in 2012 by
Intellect, The University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th Street,
Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Copyright © 2012 Intellect Ltd
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the
British Library.
Cover designer: Holly Rose
Copy-editor: MPS Technologies
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Typesetting: Planman Technologies
ISBN 978-1-84150-586-2 (HB)
ISBN 978-1-84150-675-3 (PB)
ISBN 978-1-84150-747-7 (EB)
ECREA Series ISSN: 1742-9420
Printed and bound by Charlesworth Press, UK
Contents
Introduction
Part I: On the Agenda: NWICO
Introduction
Correlations between NWICO and Information Society: Reflections of a NWICO actor
Mustapha Masmoudi
The history of NWICO and its lessons
Kaarle Nordenstreng
NWICO: Reuters’ Gerald Long versus UNESCO’s Seán MacBride
Michael Palmer
IPS, an alternative source of news: From NWICO to civil society
Patricio Tupper
New scenarios for the Right to Communicate in Latin America
Gustavo Gonzalez Rodriguez
Past witnesses’ present comments
Hıfzı Topuz
Part II: Shifting Sands
Introduction
The Right to Communicate – A continuing victim of historic links to NWICO and UNESCO?
Alan McKenna
‘Going Digital’: A historical perspective on early internationalcooperation in informatics
Julia Pohle
ICTs, discourse and knowledge societies: Implicationsfor policy and practice
Robin Mansell
Past witnesses’ present comments
Alain Modoux
PART III: Changing the agenda: WSIS and the future
Introduction
Towards Knowledge Societies in UNESCO and beyond
J.P. Singh
The notion of access to information and knowledge: Challenges and divides, sectors and limits
Jérémie Nicey
The international news agencies (and their TV/multimedia sites): The defence of their traditional lead in international news production
Camille Laville and Michael Palmer
The least imperfect form of global governance yet? Civil society and multi-stakeholder governance of communication
Jeremy Shtern, Normand Landry and Marc Raboy
Civil society and the amplification of media governance, during WSIS and beyond
Divina Frau-Meigs
Past witnesses’ present comments
Bertrand de La Chapelle
PART IV: Postface
From New International Information Order toNew Information Market Order
Roberto Savio
Biographies
Abstracts
Webography
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms
Introduction
Two major events have framed global media policies since World War II: the New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) in the 1970s–80s and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in 2003–05. Yet they are rarely studied in their continuity/discontinuity and the intermediary period between the two phases is often ignored although it is a crucial factor in the debate over information flows and their international geopolitics.
The expression ‘New International Information Order’ (NIIO) appeared during the 1970s as a result of what Third World countries perceived as their disadvantaged situation in the field of information and communication. It emerged from claims for a ‘New International Economic Order’ (NIEO). Encouraged by the movement of the countries part of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), they protested against the global leadership of the western news agencies (AP, AFP, UPI, Reuters), accused of controlling up to 95 per cent of worldwide information flows. In the context of the Cold War, this politicized debate was raised in UNESCO, the United Nations agency in charge of communication issues; it established the International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems (ICSCP) chaired by Seán MacBride. In 1980, the MacBride Commission produced a much debated report, Many Voices, One World , in which several proposals in favour of Third World countries were made, around the concept of a ‘New World Information and Communication Order’ (NWICO), including the creation of the International Programme for Development in Communication (IPDC) as a funding mechanism. Disagreements over NWICO induced the United States and the United Kingdom (as well as Singapore) to leave UNESCO in 1984 and 1985, respectively (not to return until 2003 and 1997, respectively).
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is the first event of its kind within the United Nations to deal with the issue of information in the digital era. Organized by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), not UNESCO, it took place in two phases, first in Geneva (2001–03), then in Tunis (2003–05). The complexity of the issues discussed transformed it into an ongoing process; this will last until 2015, as WSIS is supposed to contribute to the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially the eradication of poverty and illiteracy. WSIS ended with the Tunis Agenda , a document that listed ten priority action lines for the issues that had reached a consensus (including access and media) and the creation of a Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF), on a voluntary basis only. As for the issues that failed to create a consensus, around the Internet and the management of Information, they are to be discussed within the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), a multi-stakeholder space for debate, without power of decision or recommendation.
This book attempts to fill a gap in the current bibliography as it spans two historical periods that are usually treated separately: the New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) on the one hand, and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) on the other. Recent books on the topic have either revisited MacBride, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the report (Gonzalez 2007; Mathien 2007), or focused on WSIS, with NWICO as an accepted/unquestioned background (Raboy and Landry 2005; Servaes and Carpentier 2006; Kleinwachter 2007; Raboy, Landry and Shtern 2010). Another important phase, the incubation moment between the two phases of the continuing debate over information flows and their international geopolitics, needs also to be analysed as it effected the transition from audiovisual and print media to digital media, from issues of national relevance to concerns with a global dimension and the transformative nature ICT-driven media needs to be evaluated.
To encompass the two events, and assess the continuities and discontinuities between them, the analytical framework is diachronic, with the definition of three main phases (whose dates are indicative as some concepts and issues overlap). Their distinctive issues are developed in the three sections of the book:
 
1. The first phase (1970–80) deals with NWICO, especially in relation to information as news, related to the press and with few powerful actors at the global level. It is characterized by intense political intervention at the international level, in a Cold War context where many issues and concepts are polarized and development via media is construed as a reflection of western hegemony under the guise of modernization.
2. The second phase (1980–2000) deals with the period where the NWICO outcomes are diluted while another view of information as data, related to the rise of information and communication technologies (ICTs), emerges in the political discourse. It is characterized by intense tooling and retooling of issues and concepts as well as heavy diplomatic activity, due to the end of the Cold War and the rise of emerging countries such as India, China and Brazil. Development via ICTs is construed as a deterministic technical standardization process, which brings back the suspicion of western