UNESCO- Towards Realistic Comm Policies

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Towards RealisticCommunicationif:r::Ends and ideascompiled and analysedJohn A.R. ee

Unesco


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ISBN 92-3-1 1 295-9French Edition 92-3-201295-2Spanish Edition 92-3-301295-6Published by The Unesco Press7, Place de Fontenoy, 75700 ParisComposed and printedin the workshops of UnescoOUnesco 1976Printed in France


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Preface

I n the f ut ur e the 19701s ma y wel l be r emember edas the " communi cat i on decade". Si nce 1969 i ts ee ms t hat t hroughout t he wor l d t here has beena r et hi nki ngof man y i ssues concerni ng the pr esentand the f ut ur e devel opment of the communi cat i onmedi a and of the r l e whi ch communi cat i onpl aysin soci ety.F r o m the Unes co poi nt of vi ew t he communi -cat i on decade ma y wel l have star t ed i n Mont r ealin 1969 when a meet i ng of exper t s on communi c a-ti on i n soci et y was convened. Out of that meet i nghas gr own a whol e new Unesco pr ogr amme whi chat each st age has been a r esponse to thepr i or i t i esof the Membe r St ates whi ch c ompos e the Or gani -zati on, but at the s ame t i me has tr i ed to be f ut ur e-or i ent ed so that i t can take i nto account the c om-muni cat i on pr obl ems whi ch wll bec ome key i ssuesi n year s to come.The Mont r eal meet i ng poi nted t owar ds theneed f or mor e and bet ter communi cat i on resear ch.I t al so st r essed that t hi s r esear ch shoul d be pr ob-l em sol vi ng and pol i cy ori ented. At that t i me, i n1969, f ew peopl e wer e t al ki ng about communi cat i onpol i ci es. I n 1975 the subj ect was bei ng muc h mor ew del y di scussed and i t was i n that year hal f wayt hrough the "communi cat i on decade", hat i t was de-ci ded to convene, n 1976, he f i rst I nt er gover nment alConf erence on Communi cat i on Pol i ci es. Thi s Con-f er encewll br i ng t oget her the m ni st er s responsi bl ef or communi cat i on i n the var i ous count r i es ofLat i n Amer i ca and t he Car i bbean to " exchangeexper ence on communi cat i on syst ems i n rel at i onto econom c and soci al devel opment and to con-si der t he est abl i shment , at t he nat i onal and r e-gi onal l evel s of gover nment al , adm ni st r at i ve,t echni cal , r esear ch and trai ni ng i nf r ast r ucturesf or the f ormul at i on, i mpl ement at i on and eval ua-ti on of communi cat i on pol i ci es". ( 1)of i deas whi ch have, bet ween these t wo events,cont r i but ed to changi ng a theoret i cal appr oachi nto an i nternat i onal act i on pr ogr amme. I t i sdi r ected to t wo rel at ed audi ences, Fi r st l y, to

Thi s book at t empts to syst emat i ze the weal t h

the st udent s of communi cat i on who, mor e andmor e in thei r st udi es, have to establ i sh mean-i ngf ul r el at i onshi ps bet ween the soci al and cul -tural f uncti ons of communi cat i on medi a, thepossi bi l i ti es and l i mt ati ons of communi cat i ont echnol ogy and the ethi cal and l egal quest i onswhi ch ar i se f r omt he ne w consi der at i on of t her el at i onshi p bet ween t hese t wo. Cont empor ar ycommuni cat i on st udent s mus t al so under st andthe ways i n whi ch c ommuni cat i on r esear ch cancont r i but e to pol i cy f ormul ati on and how the newsci ence of communi cat i on pl anni ng can presental ternat i ve appr oaches to devel opi ng f unct i onalsys t ems.muni cati on pol i ci es, and t hus, i t i s al so to thepol i cy- maker s t hemsel ves that thi s book i s di -rected.shape, for year s to co me, t he communi cat i onstr uctures w thi n thei r var i ous soci eti es. Tooof ten t hese deci si on- maker s l ack the necessar yi nf ormati on and a syst emat i c basi s upon whi chto mak e thei r choi ces of opt i on and acti on.number of document s, whi ch have both cont r i -but ed to and been the out come of Unesco meet -i ngs and t echni cal assi st ance pr oj ects and f r ommany other sour ces of i deas and exper t i se. How-ever , hi s cont r i but i on has been mor e t han that ofa comm er . Hi s t ask. has been to br i ng t oget her ,i n a l ogi cal sequence, and anal yse the wor k andt hought s of many peopl e who over the year s, havecont r i but ed thei r vi ewpoi nt s based on ver y dif-f er ent i deol ogi es and i nterest s. He has al so con-t r i buted hi s o wn or i gi nal thi nki ng based upon hi swi de and deep knowl edge of t he whol e c ommuni -cat i on pol i cy f i el d. Thus the opi ni ons and ar gu-ment s expr essed do not necessar i l y compl et el yref l ect the vi ew of Unesc o, but the Or gani zat i onconsi der s that thi s crystal l i zat i on of the new t hi nk-i ng i s both i mpor t ant and oppor t une.( 1 ) Unesc o doc ument 18 C/ 5. Dr af t Pr ogr amme

Al t hese t hi ngs ar e i nvol ved i n c om-They have to deci de on i ssues whi ch ma y

Dr. Lee has compi l ed thi s book f r oma gr eat

and Budget f or 1975- 1976, para. 4057.3


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PageCHAPTER V FROM POL I CI ES TOPLANNI NG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

St rat egi c and operat i onal pl anni ng . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39The pl anni ng pr ocess . he need for data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42The econom cs and f i nance of communi cat i on ser vi ces .econom c eval uat i on of communi cat i on sys t ems . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Bases of deci si on- maki ng . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Pl anni ng i nt egrat ed medi a sy st ems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Sys t ems management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Manpower pl anni ng- the need f or prof essi onal medi at ors . . . . . . . . 52Technol ogy t r ansf er . ext er nal assi st ance and mut ual co- operat i on . . . . 53

CHAPTER V CONCLUSI ON: COMMUNI CATI ONPOL I CI ES ANDUNESCO' S P ROGR A MME BI BLI OGRAPHY . . . . . . . . 55BI BLI OGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

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Introduction

I ndi vi dual i mpr ovement , soci al or gani zat i on andgrowt h demand communi cat i on, si nce al l bei ngsar e dependent on communi cat i on w th thei r ki nd.T wo f or ces ar e at wor k here: one that pushes ma nto communi cat e and uni te w t h hi s ki nd to f or masoci ety, and another whi ch i nduces a t hus f or medsoci et y to set up, f or i ts own operat i on and its sel fexpr essi on, ever mor e perf ect communi cat i onmet hods, l eadi ng to an at t empt to cr eat e const ant l yi mpr oved soci al st ructures.For t housands of year s, ma n ori gi nal l y r e-l i ed on pr i m t i ve, but i n t hose t i mes soci al l y ap-pr opr i at e, f or ms of communi cat i on. Ar ound thef orest pat h, t he r oad and r i ver , t here successi vel yappear ed the f r amewor ks of t hose met hods of c om-muni cat i on both avai l abl e at a gi ven t i me and abl eto sat i sf y soci al needs.si gnal f i re on the hi l l , t he cour i er on f oot or horse-back, t he di spat ches sent by coach or boat , c om-muni cat i on devel oped.what ever sor t - gr ew and cr umbl ed, i n r hyt hmw t h the evol ut i on of mor e power f ul and mor e ef -f ecti ve mea ns of communi cat i on. A cent ur y ago,the r ai l r oad and the t el egr aph wer e extended s i mul -t aneousl y in Nor t h Amer i ca west war d and inEur ope and Asi a east war d, bui l di ng i n thei r wak ethe super power s of our t i me.popul ar ar ound 1840, there has been a steadys t r eamof i nvent i on i n l onger di st ance and mor er api d communi cat i on.i ng sevent y per cent of our eart h' s sur f ace - thet el egr aph cabl e al one hel d forth unti l about 1927,when voi ce t r ansm ssi on beca me possi bl e f or thefi rst t i me t hr ough radi o.next f ol l owed. Ther e isan actual expl osi on about us of communi cat i onpos-si bi l i ti es, of whi ch we are of ten enough but qui etw t nesses, as i f t he shock wave has not yet r eachedus. Th e expert s have been pr edi ct i ng that t he

Progr essi ng f r om the

Ci vi l i zati ons, empi r es and i nsti tuti ons - of

Si nce Mor s e Code mad e t el egr aphy usabl e andAcr oss t he oceans - cover-

Radar and tel evi si onOurs i s an age of communi cat i on.

evol vi ng and new communi cat i on t echnol ogy wllaf fect and change l i fe st yl es as r adi cal l y as themot or car di d i n the 1920s and the i ndustr i al r ev-ol uti on earl i er. As we ponder t he ef f ect of thi srevol ut i on on our sel ves and on f ut ure generat i ons,we are onl y di m y begi nni ng to percei ve t he ex-tent to whi ch our l i ves ar e shaped by these c o m-muni cat i on medi a t hat gi ve us our i mages of thi spl anet - and beyond.Al r eady the f ol l ow ng communi cat i on t echno-l ogi cal i mpr ovement s ar e upon us:t he tel egr aph to t he tel epr i nt er and the tel ex;the t el ephone and var i ous rel at ed t el ephoni c ser -vi ces f r omt he manual to the ful l y aut omat i csubscri ber ;

pi oneeri ng appl i cati on of Mar coni , to cat er f ordi ver se ser vi ces, now str et chi ng out beyondthe i onospher e to out er space;man' s capabi l i t y of l aunchi ng satel l i tes to t he geo-st at i onary orbi t of out er space s o me 36, 000ki l omet r es f r omt he ear t h, i ncl udi ng co mmuni -cat i on satel l i tes whi ch have the capaci t y f orhandl i ng si mul t aneousl y t housands of messages ;other wi de- band t r ansm ss on and te edi s ri bu i o nt hrough the advent of cabl e sys t ems;the appl i cat i on of comput er t echnol ogy to tel e-communi cat i ons;sound and pi cture t r ansm ss i on by wave gui des,opti cal f i bres or l aser ;vi deo- r ecor di ng faci l i t i es;and di gi tal t el evi si on;to l i st s ome of the mor e i mport ant and wel l - knownaspect s of thi s r ecent r api d and si gni f i cant c om-muni cat i on t echnol ogi cal devel opment .cer ned and i nvol ved i n t hese mat t er s, f or t heproxi mat e f ut ur e?cati on channel s i nto t he home: t went y, f ort y orei ghty, by coaxi al cabl e, or, by the per f ect i ngof f i bre opt i cs, hundr eds and even t housands.Ho me i nf or mat i on cent r es w l l be capabl e of

the use of the r adi o spect r um st art i ng f r omt he

And what i s pr edi ct ed, by t hose mos t con-There wll be mor e c ommuni -

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pri nt i ng out dai l y newspaper s even whi l e scr een-i ng the l atest movi e or tel evi si on r e- un; thi s wllbe wat ched not on a pi ct ure tube but on a wal l -si zed scr een creat i ng thi rd di mensi onal i l l usi on;i t can pr ovi de "nar r owcast i ng" ai med especi al l yat onesel f or one' s nei ghbours or i nterest gr oup;i t can al so pr ovi de "i nt eract i ve capaci t y", pro-vi di ng the oppor t uni t y to tal k back or at l east sendback a si gnal of s ome sor t ; connect ed to the c o m-puter, i t can br i ng l i br ari es into the ho me, and acommuni cat i on di sh on the r oof can pi ck up tel e-cast s di rect f r om ar ound the gl obe.A maj or prom se of the mor e opti msti cf uturol ogi sts i s t hat t her e wll no l onger be com-muni cat i on scar ci t y but a per i od of abundance, asa vast f l ower i ng of servi ces i s f oreseen: soci al -ent i re channel s devot ed o uni versi t i es w t houtwal l s and r ound- he- cl ock del i ver y of heal th ser -vi ces; ci vi c - fi re and pol i ce ser vi ce, el ect roni cmai l del i ver y; pol i ti cal - t own meet i ngs f r omt hehome, i nstant pl ebi sci t es, t he wor l d turned i ntoa t rul y " Gr eek mar ket pl ace" of democr acy; andeconom c - shoppi ng f r omho me, busi ness andcul tural conf erences by pi ct ur ephone, rel i ef f orcongested t r anspor t at i on sys t ems, Ther e wll al -so be demogr aphi c benef i t s, wher e the ef f i caci oususe of t he new communi cat i ons can pr ovi de i ncen-ti ve for f am l i es and busi nesses to qui t huddl i ngt oget her i n cr owded megal opol i ses and to spr eadt hemsel ves mor e t hr oughout the vast and mor e un-popul ated par t s of the pl anet.communi cat i on r am f i cat i ons of thi s ar e the fol -l ow ng. Peopl e wll be i ncreasi ngl y cal l ed upon tomak e mor e cri ti cal ass ess ment s, to take personalvi ews upon mor e and mor e i ssues, and to t ry tounder st and the af f ai rs and compl exi t i es of mor epeopl es in other r egi ons of the eart h.scar ci t y to one of growi ng abundance, our t hi nki ng,r easoni ng and communi cat i on st r uct ur es ar e sti l lt oo conf i ned and ref l ecti ng the t i mes of scarci t y.Our i deas, psychol ogi cal make- up, ment al i t y andact i ons mus t change. To o l i ttl e has sti l l changedin our i ndi vi dual behavi our si nce t hose t i mes whenour ancest ors communi cat ed by fi re or smoke.Mas s communi cat i on stil l appear s to be m r acu-lous, r ar e and expensi ve, w th the i nst r ument sexter nal to our sel ves r ather t han i nternal to oursenses. A new phi l osophy and a new approach tocommuni cat i ons i ssues l eadi ng to consi der at i on ofthe r eshapi ng of nat i onal and i nternat i onal st r uc-t ur es mus t begi n i n earnest , i f we ar e to r eap themany benef i t s of thi s communi cat i on cor nucopi a.A r api dl y gr owi ng worl d l i terat ure testi fi esto the fact that our post - i ndust r i al r evol ut i on i scharact eri zed by the emer gence of " knowl edge"i ndust r i es and i nf ormat i on- ased soci et y. Em-phasi s i s movi ng f r omthe pr oduct i on and di stri -but i on of mat eri al goods t owar ds t he as s embl y anddi str i but i on of i nf ormat i on.

Some of t he cor r espondi ng non- echnol ogi cal

Havi ng gone f r oma per i od of communi cat i ons

W t h the "r i ght to communi cat e" and "r i ghtto recei ve communi cat i on" , basi c soci o- pol i ti calr i ghts whi ch bel ong to ever y i ndi vi dual , whi ch en-tai l the r i ght of acces s of al l i ndi vi dual s to the i n-f ormati on sys t em exi sti ng di spari t i es i n accesswll be even l ess desi r abl e in a soci ety whi ch de-pends on a wi de r ange of i nf ormat i on ser vi ces.The counter par t to t hese basi c human r i ghts is"t he ri ght to pr i vacy", wher ei n i mpl i cat i ons i nal l of he t echnol ogi cal devel opment s ar e enor mous.in the vol ume of i nf ormat i on bei ng made avai l abl em ght actual l y resul t i n even l ess ef f ecti ve i nf or-mat i on r eachi ng the publ i c. The react i on coul dref l ect an "i nf or mat i on over l oad", w t h i ndi vi dual s,r egi ons and nat i ons over -produci ng and l eavi ngno one at t he recei vi ng end of such a c ommuni ca-ti on syst emTechnol ogy is di r ecti ng mas s communi cat i oni n t wo opposi t e paths. One di recti on i ncl udes i n-cr easi ng cent ral i zati on, passi vi t y, of ten f r ust ra-ti on f or the recei vers and concent r at i on of thepower of a f ew to r each the many, wher e t he com-muni cat i on i s uni - di recti onal , and too of ten canonl y mea n pol i ti cal and c ommer ci al i nf or mat i on.On the ot her hand, a genui ne i mpl i cat i on of thenew t echnol ogy i s that i t port ends t he end of anat i onal l y- cl osed soci et y, Tel edi str i but i on, vi deo-casset t es, etc. , open the oppor t uni t y f or choi ceand compar i son by each i ndi vi dual , and of f er ma na tool of i ndi vi dual communi cat i on and a new ageof t r ue f r ee ci rcul at i on of "t he message" .

I f t oday, peopl e ar e mor e di ff i cul t to gover n,i t ma y al so be because the i nst r ument s, pol i ci es,pl ans and st r uct ur es of communi cat i on no l ongercorrespond - as wel l as t hey coul d - to t he pr esent -day wor l d and its t echnol ogi cal and soci al pr ogr ess.

Th e under devel opment of both nat i onal andi nternat i onal communi cat i on ma y be s een to be anunder l yi ng cause of gener al underdevel opment .And, because c ommuni cat i on i s a f undamental so-ci al pr ocess underl yi ng any soci al change that adevel opi ng count r y want s to mak e, and i s neces-sar i l y a part of any pl an to i mpr ove human l i fe inany cul t ur e, t he devel opment of t he c ommuni ca -ti on sector becomes i mper at i ve,Ever ywher e, in Lat i n Amer i ca, Af ri ca andAsi a, we w t ness t oday the emer gence of n ewcount r i es whi ch wer e oft en pr evi ousl y depr i vedof an adequat e communi cat i on sy st em count r i eswher e unti l r ecent l y, communi cat i on exi sted bestal ong the col oni al channel s of c ommand i n a nor t h-sout h di rect i on. Aki n to an or gani sml acki ng aner vous s ys t em t hese count r i es too of ten had sel -dom mor e t han ant i que aeropl anes and i nadequater adi o t el ecommuni cat i ons sys t ems to l i nk t he di f -f er ent provi nces of a not yet mobi l i zed nat i onalbody. At t he s ame t i me, the potent i al of exi sti ng,yet so f ar unused, communi cat i on met hods andt echnol ogi es - f or both devel opi ng and devel oped

I t i s possi bl e al so that a cont i nual i ncrease

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count r i es - i s of the s ame magni t ude as t he neu-r ons of our br ai n whi ch (f or r easons stil l to bedi scover ed)we do not yet use mor e t han part i al l y. (vel opment i n mas s communi cat i on has ext endedand enhanced the wor l d- wi de penet rat i on and i mpact of i deas and i nf ormat i on, i t has ser ved al soto f ur t her the soci al and col l ecti ve aspect s off r eedomof i nf or mat i on. I ndeed, si nce i deas ex-pr essed in wor ds and in l i ve i mages can now gi rdl ethe ear t h i nst ant aneousl y, f r eedomof i nf or mat i onhas bec ome a consi der at i on of a def i ni tel y i nt er -nat i onal char act er . Consequent l y, the pr ot ecti onof the ri ght to i mpact and to recei ve i nf ormati onhas become a basi c concer n to al l , i ncl udi ng -cert ai nl y - gover nment s acti ng i ndi vi dual l y i n thei nterest of thei r r especti ve peopl es or j oi ntl yi n thei nterest of al l , and to each of us, wher ever or how-ever we live.Radi o, t el evi si on and the pr i nted wor d ar ef act or s of wi de di str i buti on and cruci al i mpor t ancei n moder n soci ety. I n present - day soci et y all i n-di vi dual s c ome under the i nf l uence of mas s medi a,and in fact to a ver y great extent , nor mal l y abouta thi rd of our waki ng t i me i s spent in thei r c om-pany.audi ence of mas s medi a, t hese medi a have c ometo f or m gi gant i c syst ems i n cer t ai n devel opedso-ci eti es. Whi l e the ci rcul at i on of newspaper s andmagazi nes and the rat i ng f i gur es of r adi o and TVaudi ences ass ume great er i mpor t ance, a basi cpur pose of communi cat i on - the tr ansm ssi on ofi nf ormati on and exper i ences to the audi ence -st r uggl es for i ts exi stence. (2)Responsi bi l i t y f or t he pol i ci es, oper at i onsand out put of the mas s medi a i s ass i gned, as-s umed and exerci sed i n di f f erent ways i n di f f erentcount r i es.medi a ar e oper at ed as or gans of the State.ot her s pr i vat e commer ci al compani es - w th s omebei ng econom cal l y mul t i - cor por at i ons in ever ysense - or i ndependent publ i c corpor ati ons cr eat edby t he State oper at e thi s or that medi umThe machi ner y of moder n mas s communi ca-ti on i s l i nked by compl ex and i nt ri cate ti es to theeconom c and pol i ti cal st r uctur e, and thi s i nt egr a-ti on of mas s communi cat i on i nto the ot her i nsti tu-ti ons of soci et y has i ncr eased dur i ng the l ast f ewdecades, as t he par t pl ayed ( wher e appl i cabl e) byadver t i si ng i n mai nt ai ni ng the medi a has gr ownand as t he cont r ol of the medi a has bec ome con-cent r ated in f ewer and f ewer hands.cont ent i n i sol ati on f r omsoci o- pol i ti cal - econom calstructures. We shoul d al so be caref ul not t oover -di f f erent i ate bet ween the est abl i shment ( i ncl udi ngthe gover nment and the pr i vat e sect or ) and themedi a syst emr esear cher J ames Hal l oran has sai d:

T o the extent that ever y new technol ogi cal de-

And w t h the ever - i ncr easi ng si ze of the

I n s ome count r i es al l or s ome of theI n

Thus we mus t not vi ew the medi a and thei r

As Bri ti sh mas s communi cat i on

" Fr om t i me to t i me we ma y need to put themedi a under the m cr oscope, but when we dothi s we shoul d be caref ul to mai nt ai n t hewi derper spect i ve. Al ways we ar e st udyi ng the mas scommuni cat i on process, the oper at i on of themedi a in soci ety.muni cat i on process shoul d be seen i n the wi dereconom c, t echnol ogi cal sett i ngs. Our pr esenti gnor ance about the i mpact of the mas s medi ai s part l y due to the ref usal of r esear chers toaccept thi s. "( 3)

I f mas s communi cat i ons are as an i nt egr al or ganof the soci al body, i t i s not suf f i ci ent to l ook atwhat happens w thi n the medi a and onl y tr y tochange thei r pol i ci es, si nce such of thei r det er -m ni ng f or ces operat e f r omout si de, t hr ough ot heri ns i tuti o na1 st r uct ur es.At the s ame t i me, the mas s medi a shoul d notbe vi ewed as 100 per cent predet er m ned, ei ther.Ther e i s al ways mor e or l ess scope f or f r eedomto change the pr act i ces w thi n the medi a. So me-thi ng can be done to i ncr ease democ r acy in themedi a, and we must wor k constant l y to thi s ai mBut t hose who want to l imt thei r ef fort i nchang-i ng the wor l d onl y w thi n the medi a ar e unr eal i s-tic i n thei r anal ysi s and pol i cy.The i mpr ovement of nat i onal and i nt erna-ti onal communi cat i ons t oget her w t h the accel era-ti on of t echnol ogi cal , econom c and soci al devel -opment have pl aced the mas s medi a i n a new si t ua-t i on, i n whi ch thei r f uncti on and wor ki ng cri t eri amust be r e- eval uat ed. Thi s i s par t i cul arl y so i nthe case of t el evi si on whi ch at bi rt h took over thet radi t i ons shaped by the pr ess, filmand radi o,but whi ch has t urned out to be i n many r espect smor e ef f ecti ve t han i ts pr edecessor s.

I t i s becom ng i ncreasi ngl y obvi ous that anat t empt at maxi mal t r ue i nf ormat i on cannot besoci al l y neut ral , but nec essar l y b ec omes I part i al ".Whi l e t r ue i nf ormati on i s of ten t hought to be ' ' neu-tral" or ' ' pure' ' , n real i t y connexi ons bet ween thecont ent of i nf ormati on and i ts i mpl i cati ons forpracti cal acti on i n soci al and pol i ti cal l i fe cannotbe di sti ngui shed one f r omthe ot her, f or al l i nf or-mat i on ei ther suppor t s the status quo or pr omot esnew appr oaches to real i ty (i nnovat i on) .

Al aspects of the mas s c om-

Ne w( 1) J ean df Ar cy Communi cat i on as a ri ght. Un-f r ocki ng the magi ci ans" , I nt ermedi a, I nt er -

nat i onal Br oadcast I nsti tute, No. 5, 1974, p 2.Nor denst r eng, I nf or mat i onal Mas s Commun i -cati on, T ammi , Hel si nki , 1973, p 178.J ames D. Hal l oran. " What do we need toknow? Ar e we goi ng to be abl e to f i nd out ?Paper pr esent ed at the I nternat i onal Sy mpo-si umon Communi cat i on:Technol ogy, I mpactand Pol i cy, Annenber g School of Communi c a-ti ons, Uni ver si t y of Pennsyl vani a, Phi l adel -phi a, 23-25 Mar ch 1972, p 11.9


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i nf or mat i on by def i ni ti on i nvol ves r eor i ent at i oni n out l ook and hence i ni ti ati on to acti on. Cr uci ali n the pr i nci pl es of i nf or mat i onal communi cat i onpol i cy is t he goal of usi ng the mas s medi a fort r ansmt t i ng i nf or mat i on about concr ete real i ty,that i s accumul at i ng concr et e evi dence on the ob-j ecti ve wor l d i n the consci ousness of a reci pi ent .The i nf or mat i onal pr i nci pl es of sel ecti on of mes -sages f or mas s communi cat i on ar e der i ved f r omthe concer n f or t he tr uthful refl ecti on of obj ect i vereal i t y, not f r omthe concern onl y f or the "bal ance"of al l ki nds of soci al i nt er est s - j usti f i ed andnon-j usti f i ed.Consi der i ng the cent ral si gni f i cance of theorgani zat i onal f or ms i n pl anni ng and execut i ngcommuni cat i on pol i ci es dur i ng the f or t hcom nger a of the new medi a technol ogy, al l nati onal andi nternat i onal exper i ence i n the broad f i el d of c om-muni cat i on pol i cy shoul d be car ef ul l y anal ysedand eval uated. I n thi s eval uat i on due concer nshoul d be f ocused on the fact t hat l asti ng i nt er -nat i onal under st andi ng and cul tural CO- oper at i oncan onl y be generat ed by nat i onal , ul t i mat el yl ocal , acti vi ty, based on democr at i c par t i ci pa-ti on in the f r amewor k of the cul tural and pol i ti -cal aut onomy of al l nat i on St at es, l arge and smal lal i ke.The i mpl ement at i on of communi cat i on pol i -ci es and pr act i ces r equi r es j oi nt acti on amongt hose i nvol ved i n the soci al , econom c, sci enti -f i c, educat i onal and f or ei gn af f ai rs of each coun-try.power set up to cont rol t he medi a. They can besuccessf ul onl y i n const ant cont act and consul t a-ti on w t h the communi cat or s and the ci t i zens whosedi rect par t i ci pat i on i n the f ormul ati on and i mpl e-ment ati on of communi cat i on pol i ci es and pl ans isboth essent i al and vi tal .ti vel y f rustr ate and di stort t he r eal and best f l owof communi cat i on t han l ack of r espect f or the na-t ur e of communi cat i on i tsel f and the soci al needto communi cat e.I n l ess devel oped count r i es, a pri nci pal t askis to assur e gr eat er par t i ci pat i on of the peopl e ineconom c and nat i onal af f ai rs, to i ncr ease thei rski l l s and knowl edge, to wel d t hemt oget her i ntonat i onhood, and to assi st t hem i n f i ndi ng thei rcul tural and personal i denti ty. W t hout c ommuni -cat i on, w t hout the max i mum use of the moder n

Thei r rl e i s not to be concei ved as a super -

Nothi ng wll mor e ef f ec-

mas s medi a in conj unct i on w th mor e tradi ti onalways of soci al communi cat i on, t her e i s l ess hopethat such urgent goal s ma y be r eached i n ar ea-sonabl e t i me. Today, the deci si on- maker s andthe ci t i zens of t hese count r i es cannot but paycl oseat tent i on to the rl e whi ch communi cat i oncurr ent l ypl ays i n soci et y, and expl ore how communi cat i onma y best cont r i but e to al l aspect s of human andnat i onal devel opment .I n mor e devel oped count r i es, communi cat i ont echnol ogy i s t oday upset t i ng man y exi sti ngi nsti tuti ons. Pot ent i al l y, i t mak es i t possi bl e formor e and mor e ci t i zens to benef i t , r suf f er , f r omcheap and pl enti ful opport uni t i es to choose what heor she woul d l i ke to see, hear or r ead, and to ex-press vi ews to ot her s. But i t al so t hr eat ens ol derand mor e t radi t i onal soci al val ues and ways of li fe.All count r i es, devel opi ng and devel oped,ar e i nvol ved i n f ar- eachi ng debates and practi cali ssues, whi ch not onl y af fect the f ut ur e means ofcommuni cat i on but the natur e of soci et y i tsel f.Pol i cy-maker s ar e i ncreasi ngl y awar e that, i nthe al l ocat i on of nat ur al and soci al r esour ces,f ut ur e- or i ent ed pol i ci es can no l onger af f ord toi gnor e the communi cat i on di mensi on.Fai l ure to t ake a total vi ew of communi ca-t i on, to exam ne pr esent and f ut ure communi cat i onpol i ci es and to tr ansl at e t hese pol i ci es, wher e ap-pr opr i at e, i nto pl ans can easi l y l ead to i l l - af f ordedwast age. Because communi cat i on i s so obvi ousl ypervasi ve, i t i s al l too co mmon l y accepted thatef f ecti ve communi cat i on occur s spont aneousl y andnecessar i l y. I n f act, however , the process of hu-ma n communi cat i on i n moder n soci et y can breakdown because i t is now so dependent on many t ech-ni cal , mat er i al , l egal and or gani zat i onal f actorswhi ch der i ve f r ompubl i c pol i ci es and cal l f or di -r ect publ i c concern and part i ci pat i on.Bot h soci et i es and the i ndi vi dual need greaterconsi st ency between the pol i ci es and acti vi ti es ofvar i ous communi cat i on sub-sys t ems and pl anni ngwhi ch can al l ow f or di versi ty. I nevi tabl e t ensi onsand cont radi cti ons ari se. These are of ten easi erto reconci l e i n an af f l uent soci et y w t h mor e al ter-nat i ve channel s f or communi cat i on and educat i on.Under t he r est r ai nt s of scarce r esour ces - materi aland human - however , coherent communi cat i onpol i ci es as s ume a par t i cul ar i mpor t ance.

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Chapter 1The functions of communication

Communi cat i on i n soci et v and the f l ow ofc ommuni cat i onCommuni cat i on i s gener al l y under st ood as theprocesses of t r anspor t and t r ansm ssi on bet weenpl aces and peopl e. To pl anni ng aut hor i t i es, thi snor mal l y meant the tr anspor t of goods and peopl eby l and, wat er and ai r , and the t r ansm ssi on ofmessages t hr ough t el ecommuni cat i ons. Thi s nar -r ow concept , however , does not f i t the not i on of" communi cat i on i n soci et y", wher e the par t i cul arconcer n i s w th the i nf or mat i on capaci t y r equi r edby soci et y to operat e ef f ecti vel y, and w th the f l owof communi cat i on t hr oughout the soci al f abri c.Soci al communi cat i on i nvol ves both i nt er -personal cont act and " medi at ed" communi cat i oni n whi ch i nf or mat i on i s car r i ed by t echni cal f aci l i -ties or oth- a5r t "edkr+es; - S- o- csf ahamuni cz-ti on ma y t ake pl ace spont aneousl yamon g ndi vi dual s,or i t ma y be or gani zed and conduct ed t hrough i n-sti tuti onal channel s.medi a of mas s communi cat i on, but al so ot her i n-sti tuti ons desi gned f or t he t r ansm ssi on of i nf or -mat i on - pol i ti cal agent s, extensi on servi ces, cul -tural ani mat or s, educat or s, soci al ser vi ces. Theyma y be operated by the State - gover nment , publ i ci nsti tuti ons, adm ni st r at i ons at the nati onal andl ocal l evel , or at the non- gover nment al l evel -pr i vat e ent er pr i ses, CO- oper at i ves, associ at i ons,etc. They ma y be ful l y or part i al l y f i nanced bycommer ci al r evenue or rel y on publ i c f unds, l i -cence f ees and ot her r esour ces.ci ety depends part l y on its t el e- communi cat i oni nf rast ruct ure. Thi s has been, gener al l y, thepr i mar y pr eoccupat i on of t hose responsi bl e f ordevel opi ng and oper ati ng communi cat i on net works.Based on the not i on that such net wor ks shoul d besel f - i nanci ng, i f not profi t- maki ng, t her e hasbeen, however , a t endency to pay l ess at tent i onto the needs of t hose f i el ds of soci al communi ca-ti on whi ch ar e of equal publ i c concer n, but l ess

These i ncl ude not onl y the

The i nf ormati on capaci t y avai l abl e to any so-

l i kel y to be r emuner at i ve i n monet ar y t er ms.Equal l y, an under st andi ng and organi zat i onof moder n communi cat i on mus t go beyond theout dat ed ver t i cal model , t he one-way concept off l ow, f or no genui ne communi cat i on sys t emcanever be compl et e w t hout s ome f or mof r esponsemechani sm Communi cat i on f l ow shoul d be seenas a mul t i l at eral process, i n whi ch not onl y onecan c ommuni cat e to many, but al so one to one,and many to one or many to many. Unl ess peopl ecan respond to the i nf ormati on t hey ar e recei vi ngand mak e known thei r poi nts of vi ew, t here issi mpl y r ei nf or cement of the pgssi ve one- way sys-t em whi ch we no w too often have. I t is not enoughj ust to bui l d in s ome f eedback i nto the pr esentcommuni cat i on syst emI deal l y - and techni cal l y - i t is becom ngmur ea md- mor e possi bl e for an i ndi vi dual to beabl e to convey to other s pr eci se quest i ons andi mmedi at e pr obl ems whi ch ar i se out of hi s oc-cupat i on, hi s f am l yl i f eor hi s i ntel l ectual cur i -osi t y, and he shoul d be abl e to r ecei ve answer sto these t hr ough an appr opr i ate communi cat i onchannel . Gover nment s communi cat e r egul ar l yw t h thei r peopl e, but the peopl e al so seek andshoul d have r egul ar communi cat i on w t h gover n-ment s , because thi s i s tr ue democr acy i n thetwent i eth cent ury.Communi cat i on s ys t ems shoul d be vi ewed notas "soci al overheads" to be i gnor ed or t ol erat ed,but as a basi c need and ri ght of hu man soci ety.Rat her t han l ooki ng at i nf ormati on as a di sposabl el uxury pr oduct , and the audi ence as a I l consumer"and j ust a "r ecei ver " , i t becomes mor e andmor ei mpor t ant to appr oach both pol i cy f ormul ati onand pl anni ng f or communi cat i on i n a posi t i vemanner , wher ei n the pr oduct i ve potent i al of c om-muni cat i on w thi n the soci o- econom c st r uct ur eof soci ety i s of pr i me consi der at i on.cont r adi ct or y f uncti ons of communi cat i on i s apr er equi si t e for a mor e pr eci se anal ysi s by

Consci ousness of the overal l and somet i mes

1 1


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pol i cy- mak er s of the potent i al l y posi t i ve or nega-ti ve eff ects whi ch ma y be achi eved thr ough a de-l i ber at e and mor e f uncti onal use of communi ca-ti on. Communi cat i on pol i ci es and pl anni ng wllt heref ore be gui ded by t he deter m nati on by eachcount r y of t he soci al f unct i ons whi ch c ommuni -cat i on medi a shoul d ful fi l .General l y, t he mai n soci al f uncti ons, i n anysoci et y, f or communi cat i on medi a ar e as f ol l owsi l )I nf or mat i on - Ever yone has to mak e deci si ons,day af ter day, and i s i nvol ved in responsi bi l i t i eswhi ch go far beyond the i mmedi at e possi bi l i ti esof hi s per sonal observat i on and contact. Whet herhe i s a young ma n on the f ar m or a hi gh ci vi l ser -vant , he r equi r es l ' i nf ormati on' ' on what i s goi ngon ar ound hi m to what he ma y l ook f or war d i n thefuture.ger s and i ndi cat i ons of r ewar di ng opportuni t i es.The basi c t ask of communi cat i on medi a i s to i n-f or mhi m to hel p hi m keep abr east of a rapi dl ychangi ng wor l d in whi ch event s on one si de of thegl obe ma y have r eper cussi ons ri ght at home. T oful fi l thei r f uncti on of br i ngi ng mess ages, si gnal -l i ng danger s and r eveal i ng condi t i ons - the sur vei l -l ance of the envi r onment - the medi a r equi r e ac-cess to the ki nd of i nf ormati on whi ch vi tal l y af -f ects the exi st ence of ndi vi dual s i n soci et y, whi l ethe i ndi vi dual i n turn shoul d demand access tothi s i nf ormati on t hrough the communi cat i onmedi a.Thus, a pr i mar y rl e of the medi a shoul dbeone of t ransl at i on, to mak e i nf ormati on obt ai nedf r omspeci al i zed sour ces (met eor ol ogi st s, stati s-ti ci ans, sci enti f i c resear chers, etc. ) accessi bl eand under st andabl e to the poi nt wher e i t i s usef ul .Soci al part i ci pati on - I n thi s cont ext , pr i mar yemphasi s mus t be pl aced on the pr omot i on, t hr oughthe medi a, of basi c c o mmo n nor ms and val ues, tobe underst ood and adopt ed.T o f uncti on pr oper l y, soci et y r equi r es devel -opment of a soci al consci ousness based on awar e-ness and appl i cat i on of t hese nor ms , not onl y bypr esent membe r s , but al so by newc omer s , bet hey chi l dren or i mm gr ant s. Soci al i zati ont hrough adopt i on of c o mmo n val ues i s seen as af unct i on of the medi a.phasi s on the need f or di versi t y and personalchoi ce, t hough they are no l ess concer ned aboutpreser vat i on of the soci al bond.Preser vat i on and i nnovat i on - The medi amayof ten be asked to assi st i n the preser vat i on oft radi ti ons and cul t ur es, to recal l t he accompl i sh-ment s and val ues of the past and t hus enhancena-ti onal i denti ty and soci al conf i dence. But soci et yneeds i nnovat i on to gr ow. I t i s equal l y the r l eof the medi a to pr esent new i deas and val ues asal ternat i ves.Cul t ur al f uncti ons - T h e medi a ar e a wayof cul tural expressi on i n thei r own ri ght andvehi cl es for t he t r ansm ssi on of ot her cul tural

He seeks war ni ng about i mm nent dan-

Ot her s pl ace gr eat er e m-

f or ms. Fr equent l y, they ar e the onl y t ype ofcul tural communi cat i on whi ch i s accessi bl e tothe mas s of t he peopl e. Thei r soci al f uncti oni s t heref ore one of enhanci ng t radi t i onal cul t ur esand openi ng the m nd to new f or ms and styl es,of l i nki ng the nat i onal past w th the wor l dwi dedi mensi ons of the cul t ur e of man.Enter t ai nment and r ecr eat i on ass ume par -ti cul ar si gni f i cance i n thi s cont ext, as in theser i ous cont ent of the medi a. I n the cont ext ofsoci al needs, r el axat i on, ent ert ai nment , aught erand enj oyment can be seen to have posi t i ve andpr oduct i ve f uncti ons. The i ssue i s not bet weenent ert ai nment and ser i ousness; t i s bet ween" meani ngf ul ness" and "tri vi al i ty".Gover nment - Gover nment cannot f unct i onw t hout communi cat i on w t h the ci ti zens at l ar geand w t h i ts own adm ni st r at i ve component s atthe cent r al and l ocal l evel s.ti al soci al f uncti ons of communi cat i on is to pro-vi de the channel s f or a cont i nuous f l ow of i nf or -mat i on, i nst ructi on, opi ni on and acti ve i nvol ve-ment f r om gover nment to the peopl e and back,and, among the di f f erent gover nment servi ces.Management - Management , whet her of ad-mni strat i on or of i ndustr i al and commer ci alent er pr i ses, r equi r es al so a constant f l ow of i n-f or mat i on to or i ent i ts oper at i on t owar d thebroader soci al scene, to co- ordi nat e ts acti on,and to communi cat e cont i nuousl y w t h its o wnstaff. A moder n compl ex soci et y of i ndustr i al -i zat i on and post - ndustr i al i zat i on, i n whi ch pub-li c adm ni str at i ons pl ay an ever - i ncr easi ngr l e,cannot f uncti on w t hout communi cat i on syst ems.Management of i ndust r y, agr i cul t ur e and educa-t i on, and soci al ser vi ces ar e dependent on con-cert ed acti on by di spers ed of f i ci al s t hr oughoutthe l and.the machi ner y goi ng.vi tal f uncti on i n econom c af f ai rs.are econom c ent er pr i ses i n thei r own ri ght, andma y act as st i mul ant s i n agr i cul t ur e and c ommer c e,manpower t rai ni ng and vocat i onal ori entat i on.The pr oduct i ve i mpact of communi cat i on hroughthe i nf ormati on whi ch is di ssem nat ed and thei mpact of i ts commer ci al ent er pr i se, are essen-tial soci al f uncti ons of communi cat i on, whi ch arenot conf i ned to t hose ci rcui ts di rectl y bui l t i ntoeconom c ent er pr i ses.

Educat i on - Unesco' s 1971 I nternat i onalComm s s i on on the Devel opment of Educat i onr eport i n thei r book(2) that every i ndi vi dual must

One of the essen-

Communi cat i on i s essent i al to keepEconom c aff ai rs - Communi cat i on pl ays aThe medi a

Unesc o. ReDor t of the Meet i ng of ExDer t s1 oon Communi cat i on Pol i ci es and Pl anni ng,COM/ MD/ 24 , Par i s , 1 Dec ember 1972, p 7.Unesco, Lear ni ngt o be, the Wor l d of Educa-ti on Today and Tomor r ow, Edgar Faur e etal , Par i s 1972, p 181.12


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be in a posi t i on to keep l ear ni ng t hr oughout hi sl i fe .keyst one of t he "l earni ng soci et y".educat i on i s not an educat i onal sys t em but thepri nci pl e on whi ch the overal l organi zati on of asys t emis f ounded, and whi ch shoul d accor di ngl yunderl i e the devel opment of each of i ts componentpart s. Thi s Unesco Comm s s i on pr oposed l i f e -l ong educat i on as the mas t er concept f or educa-ti onal pol i ci es i n t he year s to c ome f or both de-vel oped and devel opi ng count r i es, f or " we r emai nconvi nced that the quest i on of l i f e- l ong educat i on,t he deci si ons to take and the paths to fol l ow i nor der to achi eve i t ar e the cruci al i ssues of ourt i me, in al l count r i es of t he wor l d, even i n t hosewhi ch have yet to become ful l y awar e of thi s i dea".Communi cat i on medi a ar e educat i ve whet herdesi gned to be so or not , because peopl e are al -ways l ear ni ng f r omand bei ng i nf l uenced by t hemThey pr ovi de knowl edge, and shape val ues. D -r ectl y appl i ed, t hey can i ncul cat e speci f i c apt i t udesor skills. To t he degree that communi cat i on sys -t ems ar e gi ven par t i cul ar educat i onal t asks, t heyf requent l y per f or m f uncti ons i n ar eas wher e for-mal educat i on sys t ems have l eft a voi d. Whet herdel i ber at el y cal l ed upon to do so, or si mpl y be-cause of thei r ver y exi st ence, communi cat i onmedi a ar e establ i shi ng paral l el sys t ems of edu-cat i on f or t he ci ti zen - dur i ng hi s school educa-ti on and especi al l y i n l i f e- l ong educat i on - towhi chhe is f r equent l y f ar mor e and easi l yat t achedt han to f or mal i nsti tuti ons of i nst ructi on, whi chtoo of ten ar e the component s of sys t ems of thepast.muni cat i on medi a shoul d ful fi l can al so be spel l edout ver y practi cal l y i n r esponse to such broadquest i ons as: ( l )on human exi st ence be under st ood and dom nat edr ather than suf f er ed i n passi ve subm ss i on? Howma y the val ues whi ch gui de our act i on i n cons ump-ti on and soci al af f ai rs, i n f am l y rel at i onshi psand att i tudes to wor k, keep abr east w t h changesi n condi t i ons and soci al needs?Ho w can communi cat i on hel p r ur al devel op-ment , ci ty pl anni ng, envi r onment , pr omot e soci alchange, di ssem nate usef ul knowl edge, enhancepar t i ci pat i on in communi t y and nat i onal and i nter-nat i onal af f ai r s, mak e the poi nts of vi ew and ex-per i ence of one gr oup of peopl e known to otherci t i zens and the aut hori t i es?Ho w ma y condi t i ons of heal t h and f aml yl i fe be i mpr oved t hr ough communi cat i on?Ho w ma y di f f erent soci al str at a, ol der andyounger generat i ons, di f f erent ethni c and raci algroups, me n and women, bet t er under st and eachot her ' s pr eoccupat i ons and aspi rat i ons?Howma y t he cul t ur e - or cul t ur es - of acount r y fi nd new f or ms of expr essi on t hr ough the

The i dea of "l i f e- l ong educat i on" i s t heLi f e- l ong

I n addi t i on, t he soci al f unct i ons whi ch c om-

Ho w ma y t he i mpact of sci ence and t echnol ogy

medi a?on unassi m l ated forei gn cul t ural pr oduct s whoseval ue sys t ems tend to be al i en and s omet i mesdi srupt i ve?Ho w ma y communi cat i on support t he obj ec-ti ves of econom c devel opment as det er m ned bygover nment author i t i es and by t he condi t i ons pre-vai l i ng i n key econom c sect ors ? What econom cobj ecti ves ar e desi r abl e, and what uneconom cef f ects of communi cat i on shoul d, i f possi bl e, beavoi ded?Ho w ma y medi a of communi cat i on best sup-port , ext end and t r ansf or m educati on, i n and outof school , f r ompr e- school chi l d to adul t, f r omf or mal i nstr ucti on i n i nsti tut i ons to educat i onalsel f - servi ce and l i f e- l ong educat i on?way communi cat i on, enhance democr at i c part i -ci pat i on, i nser t t hemsel ves i nto t he total processof soci al communi cat i on?

Ho w ma y medi a cease to be dependent

Ho w ma y t he medi a f ost er a pr ocess of t wo-

Communi cat i on and i nf ormat i on needsof soci et yToo of t en, t he i nsti tuti ons whi ch i nf l uence peopl e' sl i ves ar e out of r each of the or di nary ci ti zen, andthi s r emot eness mea ns that knowl edge of theway t hese i nsti tuti ons wor k - i ncl udi ng the mas smedi a - does not r each substant i al secti ons oft he popul at i on. Thi s l eads to al i enat i on and pre-vent s ful l part i ci pati on, i ndi vi dual l y and c om-munal l y. The whol e subj ect of medi a f r eedomis wi de open f or r evi ew. I t i s no l onger a ques-ti on of medi a f r eedomal one but t he basi c r i ght sof t he ci t i zen both to be i nf or med and to c o m-muni cat e - whi ch are under goi ng t oday an unpr e-cedent ed chal l enge.

I n 1971, t her e was a quest i oni ng especi al l yof t he f ate, the r l e i n soci ety and the econom cf ut ure of the medi a. I n 1972, t he medi a bec amemor e r esi gned to accept l i m t at i ons to the f r eeexchange of i nf ormati on f or r easons of St at e orof cert ai n econom c and pol i ti cal det er m ni smAnd i n 1973 and 1974 i t emer ged that what i s atst ake i s not onl y t he fate of the. medi a t hemsel ves,but that t he ver y pr i nci pl e of t he r i ght of t he peopl eto r ecei ve di versi f i ed, compl et e and wel l - bal ancedi nf ormat i on and the new "r i ght to communi cat e"both need to be f ort i f i ed.the excuse for t he at t acks ma de upon t hem theamount of f r eedomwhi ch the medi a enj oy andmanage to def end i s a yar dst i ck of t he amountof genui ne democ r ac y whi ch the peopl e enj oy.ei ther f r omthe basi c or subsi st ence evel or r om

I n real i ty, what ever

The need to communi cat e can be l ooked at(I ) Unesco, Wor ki ng Paper f or Unesc o Meet i ngof ExDer t s on Communi cat i on Pol i ci es andPl anni ng, COM-72/CONF. / 3, p. 12, Par i s1972.

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the mor e compl ex l evel of t he need to keep abr eastof how soci et y wor ks , i ncl udi ng the personal i mpl i cat i ons of changi ng pol i ti cal and econom cst r uctur es. The rel evant quest i on i s to what ex-tent do peopl e have pr obl ems demandi ng i nf or ma-ti on f r om di f f erent s our ces, and what i s the r ealcont r i but i on of the communi cat i on medi a i n assi st -i ng t hemto sol ve t hose probl ems.ant hr opol zgi st s, etc. , have undert aken what mus tby now c o me to many t housands of st udi es of t hest r uct ur es and l i fe st yl es of di f f erent soci et i es.Ver y f ew, however , have been car r i ed out w tha " communi cat i on opti que' ' t cj f ocus at tent i on onthe communi cat i on behavi our of i ndi vi dual s andgr oups w thi n the soci et y, thei r r eal needs fori nf ormati on to enabl e t hemto l i ve thei r ever y-day l i ves, and the "tr adi t i onal " net wor k pat t ernst hr ough whi ch thi s i nf ormati on f l ows.Ther e i s another i mpor t ant vi ewpoi nt to thi squesti on of t he c ommuni cat i on needs of soci ety.Thi s l ooks at the pr obl emf r omt he ot her di r ec-t i on, to ascer t ai n the communi cat i on component sin all aspects of nat i onal devel opment pl ans andPr ogr ammes. Thi s appr oach i nvol ves a generalsur vey of al l sect ors of the nat i onal devel opmentpl an, i ncl udi ng bot h t he publ i c and pr i vat e sect orsof t he economy, and anal yses the needs f or al lf or ms of communi cat i on i n or der that t he pl an canbe car r i ed out.Devel opment pl ans ar e usual l y br oken downi nto pr ogr ammes and proj ects. Thes e shoul d beexam ned in detai l and the pr oj ect " support " c om-muni cat i on needs and r equi r ement s noted. F r o mthe var i ous par t s of t he pl an, f or exampl e, agr i -cul t ur e, housi ng, t r anspor t at i on, heal t h, cul t ure,educat i on, i ndust r y, et c. , coul d be ext r acted i nquant i f i abl e t er ms , al l r equi r ement s and needsf or communi cat i on measur ed as broadcast i ngt i me, pri nt ed pages, paper , filmf ootage, c om-muni cat i on manpower , i nsti tuti onal st r uctures,net wor k capaci t i es, di str i buti on sys t ems, etc. ,whi ch shoul d t hen be aggregat ed and compar edw th the per f or mance of whi ch the pr esent c om-muni cat i on syst emi s capabl e.assi st i n i dent i f yi ng and quant i f yi ng the gap be-t ween needs and capabi l i t y and poi nt to ar easwher e pri ori ty expansi on of t he syst emi s r e-qui r ed i f devel opment tasks ar e to be ef f ecti vel yper f or med.

Th e i denti f i cati on of needs thus bec omes apri or concer n i n the f ormul ati on of pol i ci es. Thewor k al r eady done or under way i n s ome maj orcommuni cat i on proj ects i n count r i es l i ke Sweden,Canada, t he Feder al Republ i c of Ger man y andthe U S. A. , t hr ough surveys, r esear ch and c om-m ss i on- wor k i ndi cat es that thi s phase al one con-sti tutes a maj or chal l enge for r esear ch, as wel las manage ment st r uct ur es, as woul d any pol i cyand pl anni ng that ul t i matel y have to resul t i n

I n the past , soci al psychol ogi st s, soci ol ogi sts,

Thi s process wll

al l ocati on of nat i onal r esources or taxpayersmoney.I nf or mat i oncan be f ed i nto the sys t emt hr oughman y f i l ters, but t here mus t be f i l ters to econo-mz e t he hand1 n g and opt imi zt he ut i li z at i on,and because i nf ormat i on has to be channel l ed anddi f f used f or uti l i zati on and acti on.be caref ul l y pl anned and st r uct ur ed accor di ng togenui ne needs.need car ef ul l y sel ected and t ai l ored pr esent at i onat sever al l evel s. Sci enti f i c data ma y be storedf or ac adem c resear ch i n comput er s, be i nt er -pr et ed and comment ed by expert s f or pol i cy-mak er s t hr ough i n-house paper s, be i ncor porat edby speci al i sts in per i odi cal s, casset t e or vi deo-t rai ni ng pr ogr ammes , be di scussed and appl i edby pr of essi onal s w th audi o- vi sual ai ds i n exten-si on wor k, be di scussed and quest i oned in user s'groups in a communi t y cent r e or be the corner-st one of nat i onal poster 2ampai gns to pr omot eawar eness and change. Th e exi st ence and properf uncti oni ng of such sys t ems for i nf ormati on di s-sem nat i on and pr ocessi ng ar e no l ess i mpor t antt han pr i mar y school s or l i t eracy group- eachi ng.at l east equal to t he need f or i nf ormat i on. Of t enthi s l att er ' ' newer "need ma y be met t hr ough r e-al l ocati on of nat i onal r esources r ather t han pro-vi si on of ne w ones.newspaper s, and s ome mor e mobi l e l i brari es,ma y be a bett er way of di ssem nati ng i nf or ma-ti on and at t he s ame t i me of r et ai ni ng l i t eracy,mot i vat i ng for sel f - r el i ance, i denti f yi ng dai l yl i fe pr obl ems, f osteri ng nati onal i ntegri ty, i n-cr easi ng part i ci pat i on i n nat i onal af f ai rs andpromot i ng cul tural i denti f i cati on, t han manyhours of dai l y tak f r omthe capi tal and cent ralgover nment over r adi o or tel evi si on. ( 1 )Obvi ousl y, i nnovat i on can i nt r oduce str ai nand conf l i ct i nto any sys t em and i t i s s ome-t i mes the mos t "eff ecti ve" i nnovati ons that causethe gr eat est tensi on. The fi rst pr obl emwe mus tsol ve i s t hat of def i ni ng what we mean by ef f ec-tive. We ought to be mor e pr eci se ( per haps evenmor e honest ) i n def i ni ng what we consi der to bethe basi c needs and pr i mar y obj ect i ves, and wemus t bear i n m nd the l egi t i mat e nat i onal andl ocal aspi rat i ons of peopl es and soci et i es at dif-f erent s t ages of devel opment .

I n consi deri ng the over al l i nf l uence of mas smedi a in count r i es, i t i s not enough to conf i nestudi es to speci f i c campai gns , say in heal t h,agri cul t ure or educat i on. Thes e t ypes of pro-gr ammes al so have i ndi rect or uni nt ended ef fects.We mus t at t empt to ass ess t he wi der andpr obabl y(I) Gunnar R. Naess el und, Communi cat i on Pol i -

I n or der to econom ze, t he outl ets have toOne pi ece of i nf ormat i on ma y

Th e need for communi cat i on i s bound to be

A number of l ocal r ur al

ci es i n Unesco' s P r ogr amme, Par i s, Apri l1974, pages 10- 13.

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mor e per vasi ve i nf l uence of commer ci al l y and/or pol i ti cal l y or i ent ed mas s medi a i n t er ms ofi ncr eased aspi r at i ons, possi bl e sour ces of f r us-t rati on and conf l i ct, changi ng patt erns of cons ump-ti on andl i f e st yl es, weakeni ng of tr adi ti onal bonds,changi ng author i t y pat t erns, s t ereotypes andi mages of ot her count r i es, and so on.Changes f r omoral to el ectr oni c medi a -somet i mes m ss i ng out the i nt ermedi ate st ageof pri nt - t he use of tr adi ti onal and el ectr oni cmedi a si de by si de, t he t aki ng over and t r ans-f ormat i on of cul t ural f or ms ar e but a f ew ofmany quest i ons that coul d be exam ned. We m ghtal so ask whet her or not a " package deal " i s i nevi -tabl e. Need the "candyf l oss" wor l d al ways ac-company econom c and t echni cal ai d? Not thatthe "candyf l oss" wor l d i s the onl y t hi ng that i spor t r ayed by c ommer ci al mas s medi a, f or t heydo br i ng pi ctur es and stor i es of news and cur r entaf f ai rs f r om devel oped count r i es to t hose l i vi ngin t he devel opi ng count r i es. Demonst r at i ons,ri ot s, revol ut i ons, pover t y, squal or and al i ena-ti on can be pr esent ed si de by si de w t h t he at t rac-ti ve t r appi ngs of t he cons umer - or i ent ed, af f l uentsoci et y.per son i n t he Sout h Amer i can or Af r i can vi l l age?What do we kno w about hi s abi l i ty to deal w th thi ssor t of i nf ormati on gl ut?Gi ven that soci al change cannot occur exceptt hr ough or gani zed soci al communi cat i on, c o m-muni cat i on i nsti tuti ons per f or m numer ous andvi tal f uncti ons i n t he ser vi ce of nat i onal devel op-ment . I n tr ansi ti onal soci et i es t hey ar e vi tal f ori nduci ng the member s of soci ety to adapt to thosechanges whi ch ar e a pr er equi si t e f or devel opment ,to hel p establ i sh a general cl i mate f avour abl e tonew ways of l i f e, to teach the popul ati on t he nu-mer ous new ski l l s t hat devel opment and t ransi -ti on demand t hemto per f or m and r ai se l evel sof aspi rat i on.The demand f or cabl e net wor ks and s ys t emsi s mani f est i ng i tsel f and r esul t s in t he st eady ac-cret i on of the basi s f or di str i but i on of broadbandser vi ces. I t i s becom ng i ncreasi ngl y pr obabl ethat cabl e devel opment r epresent s t he path i nto

But what i mpact has thi s on t he young

the " wi r ed ci ty" when desi r ed.the s ys t ems i nvol ves heavy f i nanci al i nvest ment sand r ai ses l egal , econom c and pol i ti cal pr obl emsi n count r i es wher e both tel evi si on and the l ayi ngand mai nt enance of cabl es ar e a monopol y of t heState or of bodi es oper at i ng under l i cence to i t.I n man y comput er - based sys t ems pr esent l yi n operat i on, i t i s al r eady di ff i cul t to separatethe communi cat i ons and dat a process i ng f unct i ons;ma ny communi cat i ons sys t ems use comput er s tosw t ch ei ther ci rcui ts or mess ages. Thi s over-l ap has r ai sed new pr obl ems of t he boundar i esbet ween communi cat i ons sys t ems and t he " r e-cei ver ". I n t hel ong t er m t echnol ogi cal advancesare l i kel y to blur compl et el y t he i nt er f ace bet weenthe comput er and the communi cat i on sys t emgi vi ng r i se to a new concept of "t el epr ocessi ng".i mmedi at e pri ori ti es of t he pr esent ci r cumst ancesma y overr i de pr oper consi der at i onof l onger - er mpol i cy i ssues, and possi bl y damage f ut ur e oppor -tuni ti es f or i nt egrat ed t el ecommuni cat i on devel -opment .cabl e tel evi si on' s f or mand f ut ure ar e not bestr esol ved i n on- off deci si ons about speci f i c pr o-posal s. Rat her , t hey need to be express ed i n aseri es of caref ul l y eval uat ed and cost ed choi cesrel at ed to t he schedul es of medi um- andl onger mpol i cy and pl anni ng deci si ons.Sensi bl e l onger- er mpol i ci es f or f ut ur e de-vel opment can onl y be based on evi dence gai nedf r om car ef ul l y organi zed and eval uat ed exper i -ment s i n the shor t t er mmust be cl ear l y def i ned in thei r pur poses , andadequat e pr ocedures mus t be used to as sesst hem Fur t her mor e, t hese exper i ment s mustensure i mpar t i al and CO- or di nated consi der at i onof the publ i c i nterest. Gi ven cur r ent econom cand pol i ti cal pressures and the pr obl ems nherenti n f or ecast i ng f ut ur e r equi r ement s, i t appear smost sensi bl e to co- ordi nate tel edi stri buti on w t hpol i ci es and pl ans f or an i nt egr at ed nat i onal tel e-communi cat i ons net wor k i n the f ut ur e whi ch wllanswer t he soci al need to communi cat e.

I nstal l ati on of

Ther e is t he ever - pr esent danger that t he

Th e quest i on of tel edi str i but i on and

Cabl e exper i ment s

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Chapter 2International communication

Communi cat i on is an acti vi ty whi ch does not r es-pect boundar i es set up by l ogi c of i ndi vi dual di s-ci pl i nes, by geogr aphi cal f r amewor ks or by eco-nom c separ at i ons. The f r ee move ment and f l owof peopl e, i deas and materi al s i s a f undament ali ssue f or ma n and soci et y. Nei t her t echnol ogi cal l ynor soci al l y i s communi cat i on a mat t er pur el y ofnat i onal di mensi ons. Communi cat i on pol i ci es andpl anni ng w thi n a count r y cannot be f ormul at ed ori mpl ement ed w t hout const ant r ef erence to i nt er -nat i onal i nvol vement s. Nati ons ar e cal l ed uponto f r ame t hei r nat i onal pol i ci es w th due r egar dto a number of w del y accept ed i nternat i onal agr ee-ment s and st andar ds.Mos t count r i es have external br oadcast i ngand publ i c r el at i ons/ i nf or mat i on servi ces, whi chpose basi c quest i ons concerni ng thei r obj ect i ves,cont r ol and fi nanci al r esour ces.t i me, t he al most const ant i nwar d f l ow, f or al mostall count r i es, r equi r es att enti on. Thi s i ncl udessuch mat t er s as t he sour ces and qual i ty of newsr eport s, i mpor t of f i l ms, and the i mpact off or ei gn r adi o and tel evi si on - whet her t hr ough r e-cor ded pr ogr ammes or di rect t r ansm ssi on.At pr esent , the power of c ommuni cat i on na-ti onal l y and i nternat i onal l y - r est s most l y in thehands of gover nment s or busi ness ent er pr i ses.W t h such power ever i ncr easi ng, the communi t yof peopl e - of a nat i on, r egi on and the whol e wor l d -f or t he good of thei r own f r eedomand devel opment ,and the i ntegri ty of thei r soci ety, must see thatt hose who have thi s communi cat i on power and po-tential, use i t w th the hi ghest sense of r esponsi -bility.nol ogy becomes , i t stil l r emai ns basi cal l y onl ythe machi ner y- t he mea ns , and cannot f uncti on anybet ter t han the i nsti tut i ons, pol i ci es and pl anni ngthat di rect and cont rol i t.S o me rel evant i nternati onal communi cat i onsquest i onsI nternat i onal communi cat i on, whi ch i ncl udes

At t he s ame

No mat t er ho w l arge or devel oped the t ech-

i nt ergovernment al as wel l as i nternat i onal busi -ness acti vi ti es, gi ves r i se to many i mpor t anti ssues. These i ssues must be known, f aced andmust be a cont i ngency of t he f ormul at i on of na-ti onal communi cat i on pol i cy and pl anni ng.Cer t ai n quest i ons co me to m nd. What arethe possi bi l i ti es and l i mt at i ons of i nternat i onalcommuni cat i on net wor ks - t hose in operat i on nowand t hose potenti al l y possi bl e? What ar e t he bar -r i er s and obst acl es to the "f r ee f l ow of i nf orma-ti on" - once thi s i mpor t ant concept i s i tsel f cl earl yunder st ood and def i ned? Ho w muc h i s real l y anequal exchange of communi cat i on, and how muc his a one- way "pi pel i ne" f r om the i ndustri al l ymor e devel oped wor l d to the devel opi ng count r i es?What ar e the f actors - soci al , econom c, pol i t i caland l egal - whi ch det er m ne the natur e and degreeof t he i mpor t of medi a mat eri al s? What shoul dbe nati onal pol i cy r egardi ng "cul t ural pr i vacy",

to protect t he f ragi l e pat t ern of aut ocht honouscul t ur es agai nst t he mass i ve i nt rusi on of f orei gnmas s medi a cont ent s? Wher e is t he demar cat i onl i ne bet ween a protect i ve scr eeni ng and har m uli sol at i oni st pol i cy whi ch woul d depr i ve t he nat i onof t he cul t ural achi evement s of t he wor l d as awhol e? Can we ass ess t he cont ent of l ocal medi af or cul t ural i ndi cat or s whi ch woul d pr ovi de a f ul -l er compr ehensi on of each cul t ur e and woul d thusi mpr ove the potenti al f or t rul y empathet i c i nt er -nat i onal communi cat i on? What of t he mul t i na-ti onal operat i ons of communi cat i on i ndustr i es,f r omnews agenci es and br oadcast i ng to el ectr oni cequi pment manuf act urer s?Ot her quest i ons at the i nternat i onal l evel ar et hose whi ch are of i mpor t ance to the ar r angementof i nternat i onal agr eement s and regi onal pol i ci es,For exampl e, copyr i ght and per f or m ng ri ghtsagr eement s have hi stori cal l y t ended to encourage,by mea ns of copyri ght aws and i nternat i onal copy-ri ght convent i ons, f or ms of cont r ol over t he di s-t ri but i on of books and ot her sort s of i ntel l ectualand art i sti c pr oper t y, and have mor e of ten f avour ed

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t he i ndust r i al i zed over the devel opi ng count r i es.An exam nat i on of t he ef f ects of t hese convent i onswoul d enabl e nat i onal communi cat i onpol i cy- maker sto r ec ommen d appr opr i ate di pl omat i c acti on.Ther e are al so her e such quest i ons as f r equencyal l ocati on for r adi o, tel evi si on, m cr o- wavet r ansm ssi on, poi nt- t o- poi nt satel l i te c ommuni -cat i on, whi ch are al l subj ect to i nternat i onal agr ee-ment and need cri ti cal examnat i on.war e of communi cat i on sys t ems - f or exampl e,TV, casset t es, t apes, phonogr aphs, et c. , andho w t hese ar e tendi ng to exert monopol y cont rolin both har dwar e and sof t ware sys t ems - deman dcri ti cal anal ysi s, whi ch is i mpor t ant to any coun-t ry consi deri ng the adopt i on of communi cat i onst rategi es nvol vi ng thes e t echnol ogi cal i nnovat i ons.Once a part i cul ar communi cat i ons echni cal sys t emi s adopt ed the magni t ude of the total i nvest mentcomm t t ed to that sys t emconst i t utes a powerf ulf or ce condi t i oni ng f ut ure choi ces f or f ur t her de-vel opment .ti ve sour ces ar e needed at both nat i onal and i nter-nat i onal l evel s as wel l as an anal ysi s of t he st r uc-t ur es of cont rol , both external and i nt ernal , ari si ngf r om i nvest ment deci si ons r egardi ng communi ca -t i ons equi pment and syst ems.quest i ons can best be st udi ed - and the necess ar yr esear ch can best be r gani zed and co- or di nat ed-by regi onal and i nter& ti onal organi zat i ons. Thi si mpl i es acti ve col l abor at i on bet ween i nternat i onalagenci es ( I TU, Unesc o, etc. ), i nternat i onal pr o-f essi onal bodi es engaged i n thi s f i el d ( I nt er nat i onalPr ess I nsti tute, I nternati onal Br oadcast I nsti tute,I nternat i onal Fi l mand Tel evi si on Counci l , I nter-nati onal Associ at i on for Mas s communi cat i onRe-sear ch, etc. ), and other i nternat i onal organi zati onsdeal i ng w th br oader f i el ds of soci al sci ences, butwhi ch al so ent er t he communi cat i on fi el d ( I nt erna-ti onal Counci l of Phi l osophy and the Huma n Sci -ences, the I nternat i onal Counci l of t he Soci al Sci -ences, etc. ), i n or der to mak e bet ter known ther el evant i nternat i onal communi cat i on quest i ons,i ssues and r esear ch needed, and to mak e cert ai nthat t hey ar e bei ng compet ent l y deal t w th. ( 1 )The i nternat i onal flow f communi cat i on: news f l owWhi l e the use of newer communi cat i on t ech-nol ogi es, such as satel l i tes, makes possi bl ethe ver y r api d, even i nst ant aneous, f l ow of c o m-muni cat i ons and news to and bet ween news agen-ci es, the pr ess and br oadcast i ng servi ces i n al lpart s of the wor l d, not al l of t hembenef i t to t hes ame extent f r omt hese new faci l i ti es avai l abl e.Ther e ar e nat i onal news agenci es in ni nety coun-t r i es, but t hey ar e unequal l y di st r i buted and t herear e great di f f erences in t he scope and ef f ect i venessof thei r operat i ons. Mos t nat i onal news agenci esdepend upon the f i ve maj or wor l d agenci es l ocated

Engi neer i ng st andar ds embodi ed i n the har d-

Cri ti cal exam nati ons of the al t er na-

I t i s mor e t han l i kel y that al l t hese t ypes of

i n the U. S. A. , the Uni t ed Ki ngdom Fr ance and -the USSR - to car r y news about thei r count r i esto other count r i es.The maj ori t y of count r i es operat e ext ernalbr oadcast i ng servi ces as a mea ns of communi -cat i ng w t h peopl e i n ot her count r i es, di rectl y ort hr ough the i ntermedi ar y of nat i onal r adi o ser -vi ces. Al tel evi si on ser vi ces gi ve broadcastt i me to f orei gn news , and s how consi der abl equanti ti es of tel evi si on pr ogr ammes and f i l msobt ai ned f r omabr oad. Man y of t hem Co- operatef r omt i me to t i me in cover i ng event s of c o mmo ni nterest and i n pr oduci ng pr ogr ammes f or eachot her' s audi ences.home have no w become the mea ns by whi ch mos tpeopl e r egul ar l y recei ve knowl edge and f or mi deas about other peopl es and count r i es.of sel ecti on f r omt he abundant r aw mater i al avai l -abl e. The cri t eri a by whi ch r el evant news i ssel ected f or di str i buti on have never been cl osel yanal ysed ei ther by news practi t i oner s or by medi ar esear cher s, both of who m have rel i ed chi ef l yonthe "eye f or news" , the " news i nsti nct", " whatdr aws at t ent i on", or the " r ul e of t humb" devel -oped by the j ournal i sti c t radi t i on whi ch det er m nesthe or der of i mpor t ance and manne r of present a-ti on of news i t ems, chi ef l y on the basi s of unwr i t -ten rul es. Devi at i on f r omt hese myt hi cal r ul es hasbeen hel d to be a mani f estat i on of poor j our nal i smNews men ar e aski ng mor e and mor e of tennow, " what to tel l " and " how to tel l i t " . Thesepr obl ems ar e especi al l y acut e in publ i cl y con-tr ol l ed br oadcast i ng, wher e at tent i on mus t bedevoted to pr ovi di ng a bal anced ser vi ce to al lsoci al gr oups.t he news" ar e no l onger enough; what i s neededis an anal yt i c appr oach to news act i vi ty, based onbroad i nf ormat i on and rati onal deci si ons, al ongw th i ncreasi ng ski l l .nati onal f l ow of communi cat i ons and " news f l ow" -cannot be unr el ated to the power i nt erest s of thepol i ti cal or econom c owner of t he news medi umI n the s ame way, the i nt er est s of t he medi umowner cannot devi at e ver y f ar f r om t hose of thesoci al cl ass i n power in t he soci et y. I n t hevi ewof Si r Char l es Mos es , Secret ary- General of theAsi an Br oadcasti ng Uni on, " as an i nf l uence oni nternat i onal r el at i ons, n ews i s t he mos t i mpor t anti ngr edi ent i n br oadcast pr ogr ammes - tel evi si onor r adi o. The cont ent and the f or mof present a-tion of broadcast news bul l et i ns can have a bene-fi ci al i nf l uenceor j ust t he rever sel 1. ( 2)Si r Char l es( 1 )

Radi o and tel evi si on i n the

News wor k basi cal l y i nvol ves the process

Speed and an i nsti ncti ve "eye f or

I t i s sel f - evi dent that t he cont ent of t he i nt er -

Unesco, I nternati onal Pr og r amme of Co m-muni cat i on Resear ch. COM/ MD/ 20. OD cit . . D. 19.I - . - , - - - -(2 ) Charl es Mos es , Thi r d Wo; l d Br oadcast ersSeek to Br i dge a Gao" . I nt ermedi a f Tnternat i onal-0 - , \ -Br oadcast I nsti tute), No. 5, 1974, p 817


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out l i nes the wor k whi ch has been under t aken i ni nt r a- uni on news wor kshops, whi ch have takenpl ace i n Tokyo, 1971 and Col ogne, 1973, wher ethe di al ogue bet ween pr of essi onal s in the wor k-shops has made i t abundant l y cl ear that t here i sa need to i mpr ove the gl obal and r egi onal mov e-ment of news - i n greater s peed and at l ower costbut at t he s ame t i me, to recogni ze the di vergen-ci es i n appr oach to both cont ent and t r eat ment .Ar ab St at es are not as concernedwith"sensationa1"news as t hei r col l eagues i n Eur ope and, par t i cu-l arl y, i n Nor t h Amer i ca; t hey f eel that t her e shoul dbe mor e i t ems whi ch ar e const r ucti ve f r omandabout thei r r egi ons, and whi ch emphasi ze achi eve-ment as wel l as di sast er s.Whi l e Eur ope and Amer i ca ar e anxi ous tospeed up the mov ement of news by satel l i te, manydevel opi ng count r i es ar e stil l mor e i nt er est ed, atthi s st age, in thei r pract i cal pr obl ems, such asthe r emoval of obst acl es caused by ai rpor t andcus t oms pr ocedures. Whi l e the Ar ab br oadcast -i ng or gani zat i ons, for exampl e, are maki ng r api dst r i des t oward est abl i shi ng a r egi onal net workthat wll per m t r egul ar and f r equent news exchangesamongst thei r membe r s , thi s desi r abl e si tuat i onis sti l l ver y r emot e as f ar as the vast Asi an r e-gi on is concer ned. Exchanges byl andl i nes or m c r o -wave ar e now possi bl e bet ween J apan and Kor ea;bet ween Si ngapor e, Wes t Mal aysi a and Thai l and;and bet ween Tur key, I r an and Paki st an.coul d be man y year s bef or e t hese sub- r egi onscan be r eal l y l i nked t oget her .count r i es of the Paci f i c, such as Samoa, Fi j i ,G l bert and El l i ce, the Sol omons and M cr onesi a.Ther e ar e vi rt ual l y no l i nks j oi ni ng the w del yseparat ed i sl and count r i es. Thei r onl y hope f orthe f ut ur e l i es in get t i ng i nto the satel l i te queue,but , because the total popul at i ons i nvol yed ar ever y smal l , t hey ar e l i kel y to be at the end ofthe queue f or a l ong t i me to come. Ther e i s f armor e i mmedi at e need f or el ement ar y equi pment ,such as the tel ex, i n f aci l i tati ng i nternat i onalcommuni cat i ons and news f l owThese consi der at i ons st r ess agai n the st r ongdi f f erences of approach to news i n the devel opedand devel opi ng count r i es. Ther e ar e a number ofpoi nts about whi ch t he devel opi ng count r i es ar eunani mous: hat the agency ser vi ces ar e over l oadedw t h i t ems f r om and about Eur ope and Nort hAmer i ca, wher e t hey ar e headquar t ered; that i n-adequat e cover age i s gi ven to news emanat i ngf r omcount r i es of Asi a, Af r i ca and Sout h Amer i ca, wher eabout 90% of the worl d' s popul at i on l i ve; that theagenci es, when tr ansmt t i ng news stori es f r omEur ope and Nor t h Amer i ca, of ten ass ume, qui teer r oneousl y, that news men i n ot her par t s of thewor l d have a knowl edge of the rel evant backgr oundsi m l ar to that of thei r col l eagues in the count r i esor i gi nat i ng the stori es.

The br oadcast er s of Asi a, Af r i ca and the

But i tTher e i s the di ff i cul t probl em of t he i sl and

The presence and acti ve part i ci pat i on of r ep-r esent at i ves of the maj or news and newsf i l magenci es in the 1973 Col ogne wor ks hop coul dl eadto anumber of l onger mbenef i ts f or news menwor ki ng in devel opi ng count r i es. They l ear nedthat one val i d reason f or newsf i l mst or i es sub-mt t ed f r omt hei r count r i es not bei ng used bythe agenci es was the hi gh pr oport i on of t echni -cal l y poor pri nt s, poor camer a wor k and poordi rect i on.mendat i on ai med at assi st i ng broadcast i ngorgani -zati ons in devel opi ng count r i es to cont r i but e ma -teri al of appr opr i ate t echni cal and prof essi onalst andards. Thi s can be done mai nl y by pr ovi d-i ng pr of essi onal tr ai ni ng for j ournal i sts, camer a-men , di r ect or s and by i mpr ovi ng the qual i ty ofthe camer a equi pment avai l abl e.Anot her usef ul r ecommendat i on st r essed thei mpor t ance of establ i shi ng, as s oon as possi bl e,r egi onal news co- or di nat i ng cent r es, wher e thesedo not pr esentl y exi st , and the pl aci ng at "gat e-way" poi nts in each r egi on of exper i enced j our -nal i sts to assi st i n co-ordi nati on and sel ecti on ofnews i t ems and in keepi ng down costs.The oppor t uni t y of the caref ul l y consi deredCol ogne r ecommendat i ons bei ng posi ti vel y i mpl e-ment ed in a l arge way pr esent ed i tsel f i n Ri o deJ anei r o, November 1974, when al l ei ght r egi onalbr oadcast i ng uni ons, t oget her w t h r epr esent at i vesof the maj or broadcast ers of Nor t h Amer i ca, metf or the Second I nternat i onal Br oadcast i ng Conf er -ence. The Col ogne wor ks hop was seen to havel ai d a sol i d f oundat i on f or real progr ess. Ther enow shoul d be s een, not onl y a speedi ng up andan i ncr ease i n the f l ow of news , but evi dence ofef f ort s to corr ect the exi sti ng i mbal ances whi char e r esent ed in Asi a, Af r i ca and Lat i n Amer i ca.Thi s change i s bound to be a gr adual process;but a spi ri t of CO- operat i on and under st andi ngshoul d ensur e that news i t ems f r om devel opi ngcount r i es wll pr ogr essi vel y appear mor e andmor e f r equent l y i n the tel evi si on and radi o newsbul l et i ns of the maj or broadcast ers of Eur opeand Nor t h Amer i ca, and that the i nternat i onalf l ow of communi cat i on wll be mor e bal anced.of the mos t powerf ul vehi cl es of i nternat i onal i n-f ormat i on, as wel l as one of the mos t ef f ecti veand i nf l uenti al communi cat i ons " weapons". Si ncethe 1930s, when sound br oadcast i ng m ss ed anexcel l ent chance to bec ome a wor l d medi um ofi nternat i onal co- operat i on and unders t andi ng, thas mai nl y devel oped i ts i nternat i onal f uncti onas a devi ce of pol i ti cal and i deol ogi cal pr osel y-t i zati on. ( )

The r esul t was an i mport ant r ec om-

Ext ernal br oadcast i ng is consi der ed as one

( 1 ) Uni ver si t y of Lj ubl j ana in associ at i on wthUnesc o r esear ch st udy on "Content and ef -f ects of ext er nal r adi o br oadcast i nd' . bv- IT o mo Mar t el anc et al . , Par i s 1975.18


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Thi s m sdi r ect i on acti vel y began w t h theNazi propaganda, whi ch t ur ned thi s marvel l ous newcommuni cat i on t echnol ogy - i nternat i onal r adi o -i nto a st r ong tool of pr opaganda di f f usi on. Lat er ,dur i ng the Second Wor l d War , sound br oadcast i ngas sumed the rl e of one of the mos t f orcef ul mea nsof i nf ormati on, pers uasi on and war pr opaganda.The ensui ng col d war in t he post - war per i od ampl yused al l the potent i al i t i es of the i nternat i onal r adi of or del i ver y of pr opaganda messages backwar dsand f or war ds acr oss a di vi ded Europe.Today, n a per i od of r el at i vel ym t i gat ed, andin pl aces i mpr ovi ng, i nternat i onal rel at i ons wher ethe nat i ons ( above al l t he super power s) ar e mor er el uctant to r esor t to f orce, i nternat i onal broad-cast i ng has t aken on a di f f erent rl e.The most r ecent dat a on thi s wor l d- wi decom-muni cat i on phenomenon, c ome f r oma Unesc o sup-por t ed t wo- year study. ( 1 ) Ver y f ew at t empts hadever been mad e to c ompar e the tel evi si on pr ogr ammest r uct ur es of di f f erent nat i ons, or to measur e orst udy the f l owof i nf or mat i on among nat i ons vi athe tel evi si on scr een. A pr eval ent vi ew empha -si zed the f r ee f l ow of i nf or mat i on - an i deal sys-t em i n whi ch sover ei gn nat i onal net wor ks di stri -but ed the best pr ogr ammes f r omal l over t hewor l d, bal anced by thei r own producti ons. Thi ssys t em however , had never been shown to exi st;i n f act , evi dence t ended mor e and mor e to showa qui te di f f erent ef fect.Prof essor Nordenst r eng, Dr . Var i s and theTa mper e t eams dr ew a number of concl usi onsf r omt hei r i nvent or y of the composi t i on of tel e-vi si on pr ogr ammes , part i cul arl y f r omt he poi ntof vi ew of pr ogr amme mater i al i mpor t ed to acount r y f r omout si de, combi ned w t h a sur vey ofthe i nternat i onal net wor ks f or sal es and exchangesof pr ogr amme mat er i al f or tel evi si on. The tel e-vi si on stati ons of nearl y 50 count r i es wer e sur -veyed about thei r pr og r amme schedul es, thesour ces of thei r pr ogr ammes , and the condui t st hr ough whi ch i nternat i onal pr ogr amme t r ansac-t i ons ar e conduct ed.Whi l e t here ar e those who woul d quest i onwhet her the met hodol ogyused here was suf f i ci ent l ydevel oped to al l ow such broad concl usi ons to bedr awn, sti l l t he Tamper e/ Unesc o st udy i s i n f actthe fi rst compr ehensi ve sur vey whi ch mak es i tpossi bl e to f or man i dea of thi s ver y i mpor t antsubj ect matt er.the f l ow of mater i al i s seen to be ext r emel y i mbal anced, and mos t pr ogr ammes i n i nternat i onaldi str i but i on ar e tai l ored to sati f y audi ence tastesi n the Uni t ed St at es, Canada, West er n Eur ope andJ apan, wher e mos t commer ci al sal es t ake pl ace.T wo i ndi sput abl e t r ends wer e uncover ed in thi si nternati onal f l ow: a one- way traff i c f r omt he bi gexpor t i ng count r i es to the rest of the wor l d; andthe dom nance of ent ert ai nment mater i al i n thef low

On these stati sti cs col l ected,

Dom nance of the mar ket by the Uni t edst atesBut i t i s onl yomes t hr ough as a str i ki ng real i ty.par t of the great di spari t y on the i nternat i onaltel evi si on sc ene bet ween a handf ul of pr oducer -export er nat i ons and the vast maj or i t yof consumercount r i es. The Uni t ed St at es and Chi na ar e ar gel ysel f - uf f i ci ent, mpor t i ngonl y a smal l per cent ageof thei r pr ogr ammes. J apan and the Sovi et Uni onal so depend mai nl y on thei r own product i ons.But the vast maj ori t y of ot her count r i es ar eheavi l y dependent on f or ei gn i mpor t s i n thei rpr ogr amm n gThe r easons f or Uni t ed States pr edom nanceon the i nternat i onal t el evi si on mar ket ar e bothhi stori cal and econom c, havi ng to do not onl yw t h pr oduct i on capaci t y, but al so w t h the fact. that the Uni t ed States got off to a headstart . Un-t i l the ear l y 1960s, the Uni t ed States had mor etel evi si on set s t han the rest of the wor l d t oget her .By 1962 when t her e wer e 50 ml l i on sets i n theUni t ed St at es, t her e wer e 53 ml l i on el sewher e.Thi s meant that t he bi g di st r i but or s i n the Uni t edSt at es and el sewhere coul d pr oduce and mar ketshows w th the new export mar ket i n m nd.Obvi ousl y t hough, the econom c r eal i ti es i nr ecei ver count r i es consti tute an equal l y i mpor -tant f actor. Whi l e i t costs $100, 000to make ani nst al ment of "Peyt on Pl ace" , a count r y l i keFi nl and can buy i t f or $500. Mos t count r i es can-not af f ord to f i l l the hour s of br oadcast i ng w t hho me- mad epr oduct s any mor e t han t hey can af f ordto shop ar ound endl essl y f or exact l y the pr o-gr ammes t hey want . What happens too of ten t heni s that " I Lov e Lucy" ( whi ch cl osed down "l i ve"i n the Uni t ed States i n 1974 after 23 year s and 495shows) becomes an i mpor t answer .For mor e compl ex r easons, t her e is al so aheavy i mbal ance in exchange bet ween the Wes tand the Soci al i st count r i es of East er n Eur ope.Whi l e mor e t han 3, 000hour s of t el evi si on pro-gr ammes a year f l ow f r omt he West er n count r i est hrough Eur ovi si on, to the Soci al i st count r i es,the r eport r eveal s the f l ow i n the opposi t e di r ec-ti on, t hr ough I nt ervi si on, i s onl y 1, 000hours ayear.No matt er how i t i s vi ewed, however , thest udy i ndi cates that the wor l d t el evi si on mar keti s l i kel y to be dom nat ed by the i ndustr i al i zedWest er n count r i es f or a l ong t i me. Vast r egi onsof the wor l d, and par t i cul ar l y the devel opi ngcount r i es, have li ttl e choi ce but to depend on theal most excl usi ve ser vi ces of the West er n agenci esf or news and muc h of thei r TV pr ogr amm ng.(1) Unesco. Tel evi si on traff i c - a one- wav street.I A sur vey and anal ysi s of the i nt ernat i onalf l ow of tel evi si on Dr opr amme mat er i al . bvU - . IKaar l e Nor denst r eng and Tapi o Var i s, Re-por t s and Paper s on Mas s Communi cat i on,No. 70, Par i s 1974.

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The aut hors of thi s r eport concl ude that thetrend wll reverse.mor e bal anced f l ow not onl y on the regi onal broad-cast i ng uni ons, but al so on the w l l i ngness to co-produce across nat i onal f ront i ers and part i cul arl yacr oss di f f erent soci al and pol i ti cal syst ems.Whenever and wher ever an i ndi scri m nat e"f r ee f l ow of i nf or mat i on" pri nci pl e is r ecogni zed,f ormul ati on of nat i onal cul tural and communi c a-ti on pol i ci es wll be needed.pract i cal pr obl ems are i mpor t ant i n the pr esent -day tel evi si on i ndust r y, but the basi c pr obl emhasbeen, and r emai ns, the soci al and pol i ti cal r l eof t el evi si on communi cat i on: what i s t he real c om-muni cat i on pol i cy r egardi ng thi s medi um i n var i -ous soci et i es?

They pi n thei r hopes f or a

The t echni cal and

Satellite communi cat i onTh e const ant advances i n communi cat i on t echnol -ogy and the prol i f erat i on of i nf ormati on, conf r onti ndi vi dual s, nat i ons and deci si on- and pol i cy- make r sw t h i ncreasi ngl y compl i cated di l emmas of choi ceand ut i l i zat i on, as the t echnol ogy conti nues to de-vel op f aster t han the pr i nci pl es and r egul at i onsgui di ng i ts best use.Ther e i s probabl y no ar ea of t echnol ogi cal de-vel opment t oday to whi ch thi s appl i es i n gr eat ermeasur e, t han that of communi cat i on satel l i tes,whi ch, al ong w t h submar i ne cabl es, ser ve i ncr eas-i ngl y wel l i nternat i onal communi cat i on and gl obaltele- communi cat i ons.Today, onl y a dozen year s af ter t he fi rst ex-peri ment al tel evi si on t r ansm ssi on bet ween Nor t hAmer i ca and Eur ope by means of communi cat i onsatel l i te, i t i s accept ed as nor mal that event sl i kethe Ol ympi c Games , Wor l d Cup Soccer Champi on-shi ps, a r oyal weddi ng, a Uni t ed Nat i ons meet i ngin Ne w Yor k or me n i n space ar e seen as t heyhappen, si mul t aneousl y, by hundr eds of ml l i onsof peopl e i n al l part s of the worl d.Ther e ar e those(1) who consi der t he communi -cat i on satel l i te as not j ust t he extensi on of exi sti ngcommuni cat i ons devi ces, but as a ki nd of t echno-l ogi cal quant umj ump causi ng a maj or r est r uct ur -i ng of our soci ety. I n thi s cent ury, the aut omobi l eis per haps t he mos t notabl e exampl e of somet hi ngsi m l ar that has al r eady happened.satel l i te communi cat i on to excl usi ve nat i onal usewas Canada, whi ch in 1973 w th its Ani k I , I I andi ts Tel esat Canada, began oper at i ng the wor l d' sfi rst domest i c synchr onous orbi t satel l i te syst emf or t el ecommuni cat i on pur poses and f or the di s-t ri but i on and r ecept i on of t el evi si on and radi o pro-gr ammes , t hr ough l ow- cost ear t h stat i ons andl ow- power ed t r ansm t t er s, over vast, di stantar eas of that count r y.oped to cover al l but cent r al Canada.

Af t er the USSR, the f i rst count r y to appl y

The s yst emis to be devel -Austra l i a, Braz i l , I ndi a, I ndones i a, I r an,

J apan and t he U. S. A. ar e acti vel y consi der i ngthe est abl i shment of domest i c s ys t ems si m l arto Canada' sas amea ns of achi evi ng mor equi ckl yand/ or at l ess expense ful l and ef f i ci ent t el ecommuni cat i on ser vi ces, and of expandi ng educat i on.The count r i es f al l i ng w thi n the Eur opean Br oad-cast i ng Zone have al so, f or s ome years, beenst udyi ng the est abl i shment of a satel l i te sys t emto compl ement t he pr esent terr estr i al Eurovi si onnet wor k. I t coul d al so be connect ed w th t heORBI TA satel l i te sys t emof t he USSR and East er nEur ope f or f ur t her East - West pr og r ammmeex changes.Whi l e the exi sti ng satel l i tes i n the Sovi etUni on sys t emand the satel l i te pr esent l y cont empl ated by Wes t er n Eur ope ar e i nt ended to pr ovi depoi nt - to- poi nt t el ecommuni cat i on servi ces, ncl ud-i ng the rel ay of t el evi si on pr ogr ammes , i n thel onger m Eur opean satel l i tes w t h the capaci t yto broadcast di rectl y to communi t y or i ndi vi dualthl evi si on r ecei ver s can be ant i ci pated. An al l o-cat i on of a f r equency band in the radi o communi -cat i on spect r umhas been mad e f or t hi s pur posei n the Eur opean, as wel l as in ot her r egi ons.Thi s devel opment wll open up the possi bi l i t y ofwi de di f f usi on of t el evi si on pr ogr ammes of al lt ypes, i ncl udi ng t hose regi onal l y pl anned or pr o-duced, and al so coul d i ncl ude nat i onal pro-gr ammes whos e r ecept i on beyond thei r or i gi nat -i ng nat i onal f r ont i er s ma y not be wel come.I n 1974, the fi rst of an ew gener at i onof br oad-cast i ng satel l i tes was put i nto orbi t . These cant r ansm t t el evi si on pr ogr ammes di rectl y to co m-muni t y r ecept i on poi nts equi pped w th speci al an-t ennae w thi n a def i ned ar ea. Thi s devel opmentmak es i t possi bl e to br oadcast educat i onal andcul tural pr ogr ammes to rur al and r emot e popu-l at i ons l ong bef or e thi s woul d have been possi bl eby the gr adual and sl ow expansi on of t er restr i alnet works.and the mea ns that woul d j usti f y and suppor t thei nstal l ati on of such domest i c satel l i te sys t ems ,but st udi es al r eady mad e f or the Ar ab St ates,Af r i ca and Sout h Amer i ca show that t echnol ogi cal l yi t woul d be possi bl e to devel op r egi onal sys t emsi n whi ch the par t i ci pat i ng count r i es shar ed theuse, t he cont r ol and the costs.the soci al and pol i ti cal quest i ons bec ome shar per .Ar e communi cat i on satel l i tes to be used f or thespr eadi ng of under st andi ng and appr eci at i on ofot her peopl es, thei r cul t ur es and ways of l i f e ,t her eby br i ngi ng about bet ter rel at i ons bet weenpeopl es and count r i es and str engt heni ng the pos-si bi l i ty of peace and secur i t y? Or , are they to( 1) For exampl e, Ar t hur Cl ar ke, in hi s addr essto a Unesco Space Communi cat i on Conf er -ence, Par i s, 2- 9 Dec ember 1969.

F e w i ndi vi dual count r i es have t he popul at i on

As thi s communi cat i on t echnol ogy advances,

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be a new way of f oment i ng the conf l i ct of i deol o-gi es, f or t he pr omot i on of nar r ow nat i onal i st pol i -ci es and the achi evement of nar r ow pol i ti cal obj ec-t i ves? Ar e t heyto be so or gani zed andadm ni st er edunder mul t i nat i onal co- operat i ve cont r ol that theycan be used f or const r uct i ve nternat i onal pur poses ,w t h t hei r benef i t s shar ed bet ween the r i ch andthe poor er count r i es?cl usi vel y under the nat i onal cont rol of the f ewcount r i es now econom cal l y st r ong enough to af -f ord t hem and to be used for nat i onal pur posesonl y, commer ci al or pol i ti cal , or bot h?Woul d i t be bet ter to have a l i mt at i on r atherthan an ext ensi on of communi cat i on, i f its dom -nat i ng pol i ci es and pur poses ar e the wr ong ones?I f i t i s cont rol l ed by the State f or t he pr omot i onof pur el y nat i onal or i deol ogi cal ai ms w t h no ri ghtof di ssent perm t t ed, or by pri vat e or corporatei nterest s f or mer el y acqui si t i ve ends, l i ttl e goodcan cont i nue to c ome f r om the satel l i te devel op-ment . Thi s need not happen. But i t wi l l dependon the pol i ci es of t hose i n posi t i ons of r esponsi -bi l i ty and power , in gover nment and i n busi ness,i ncl udi ng the c ommuni cat i ons bu si ness.its sol ut i on, when he wr ot ei n 1970(1):

O r ar e they to r emai n ex-

J ean d ' Amy has spoken of the pr obl em andThe communi cat i ons satel l i te wll not r eachi ts fu l devel opment w t hout an unpr ecedent eddegr ee of i nternat i onal CO- oper ati on on t hepar t of gover nment s. Yet thi s devel opmentdemands concessi ons i n pr eci sel y that ar eaof nat i onal soverei gnt y whi ch government shave guar ded mos t j eal ousl y, and whi ch t heyhave been char ged by thei r peopl es to prot ectand def end. Pol i t i cal l y, the choi ce i s bet weenSt ati smand expansi on, bet ween t he de

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UNESCO- Towards Realistic Comm Policies