WETV – GLOBAL ACCESS Television For
Sustainable Development
Ashok Khosla
At a recent Conference held in Tampere,
Finland, broadcasters, journalists and other media professionals met to
discuss the new Communication Era that is now emerging all over the world.
Dramatic advances in technology and a world–wide trend towards
globalisation have opened tremendous new opportunities for the dissemination,
exchange and use of information in ways that were never dreamt of before.
But these
communication possibilities also bring with them massive threats to many of
our long established social, cultural and economic values.
Tampere was,
infact, host to a number of related conferences, the main one being the Annual
Conference of the International Institute of Communications, entitled “Visions
of the New Communications Era”. Satellite conferences addressed such diverse
subjects as the impact of communications on development, women in news ad
current affairs, health communications and research on media flows.
As a result of the explosive growth of information networks, participants
showed keen interest in electronic data communications. One of the more
popular sessions was on the ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Information
Superhighway”.
Perhaps the theme that ran most consistently through the various conferences
was the impact of media on people and their culture – captured in the title
‘Mediasaurus Rex and the Public Interest”. With the advent of the multisource,
multi-channel, communication, environment, the monopoly of traditional
broadcasters (under the watchful eye of regulatory agencies) over information
and entertainment is now under severe threat. How and by whom is the public
interest to be represented in this new information environment and how will
the media accept its resulting responsibilities?
In the conference on Developing Country Perspectives, the question addressed
was “Does the Information Highway Lead South?” Media experts came to the
conclusion that while the information revolution offers a powerful impetus to
accelerate the development process, it is also capable of accentuating the
existing disparities among and within countries. Differential access to
information can only lead to further imbalances in world economy.
The report of the meeting summarised the views of the participants, that the
world is on the verge of a new age of communications. All of the
technological components that are needed to provide every human being on the
planet with the capability to interact with each other, and to access
information, already exist or are being developed. Interactive communications
will be carried on what has become known in the North America as the
“Information Superhighway”, an integration of all of the existing networks
into one system. Parts of this global system are already being put in place
by the information technology industries : broadcasters, cable,
telecommunications and telematics companies.
Many countries in the developing world still lack the most basic forms of
communications. There are enormous differences between the industrialised
societies of the world and the others in the availability of communications
services. Of all the gaps that exist between the South and North, none is
growing faster than the information gap, reflecting the different role and
usage of information in these societies. A particular concern for many
participants was the set of social, cultural and political implications of the
emerging knowledge based global economy, made possible by the “Information
Superhighway”.
These implications, which affect both the South and the North, will be felt
most acutely in the areas of employment and education. They will have
profound effects on the ability of people world-wide to participate in
tommorrow’s society.
Information superhighway projects are highly technical and expensive, and are
beyond the resources of most developing nations. Yet a modest investment may
be within the reach of some countries and offer many opportunities. Tengku
Mohd Azzman Shariffadeen of Malaysia mentioned, in his keynote address, the
benefits of a good communications infrastructure to promote human development
for education, health, social services and economic functions. Reliable
communication is required to facilitate knowledge-based work. It will enable
economic activities to become more information-based. A modest beginning can
provide the potential for growth into a “superhighway’ in the future, but
will require careful planning and a strategic approach in each country if the
potential is to be realized. Developing countries will need to promote a
“learning culture” among their people if they are to gain a foothold in the
emerging information based economy.
Participants strongly urged development agencies to recognize that the
information needs to countries are in the same category as agriculture, health
roads and food. The “learning culture needs actively to be built up by
non-governmental and private organisations with solid support from government
and international agencies. Countries such as Egypt have adopted an
information perspective on national development, both to develop a technical
infrastructure and to bring information to their citizens to empower them to
participate in the decision-making process. Egypt, for example uses
information technology to distribute current economic information to the
public.
The impact of the Information Highway on individuals was a major area of
discussion at the meeting. Ashok Khosla pointed out that the existing
information and economic structures fail to serve the more than 2 billion
people who are marginalized in the developing world. Information must be
adapted to their needs if sustainable development goals are to be achieved.
There must be a fundamental rethinking of strategies to introduce information
technology into the developing world so that it fits into the values of the
South, rather than those of the North. A fundamental need in any country is
to create large numbers of sustainable livelihoods, and information
technologies must be geared to facilitating this process.
Broadcasting, as a part of the Information Highway, plays the dual role of
shaping values and providing information. The meeting heard from
spokespersons from The Philippines and South Africa, and the difficulties
facing the developing world. These countries are attempting to adapt to the
global information society, yet at the same time responding to national and
local social, cultural and linguistic needs. A problem common to all
developing countries is the severe shortage of financing, particularly in
Africa, and the declining level of support from international donors.
The role of governments and of the private sector will change in the new
information age. The Information Highway services will probably be provided
by the private sector, with governments providing a supporting regulatory
framework based on greater public participation and consensus.
WETV
The meeting concluded with an update on the development of a new international
initiative – a Global Television Access Network called WETV. WETV is designed
to provide alternative production and distribution of television for
developing countries – a new southern voice in the sky.
As an alternative television broadcasting system, WETV will:
Respond to the need to democratize the communication process. Thus it will be
a partnership venture among broadcasters, independent television producers,
non-governmental organizations, public development agencies and the private
sector.
Broadcast programmes that present the life and perspective of voices
marginalized by mainstream broadcasting; voices not only from the developing
world as such, but those representing “alternative” views and perspectives
from within the industrialised countries.
Be designed as a network that is controlled and managed in a participatory
fashion with equitable and balanced representation of its constituencies.
These principles have led to the creation of a code of Ethics and Programme
Practices as a practical guide to programming.
'The first leg of WETV will be launched in late 1995
or early 1996 as an international satellite broadcaster. It will deliver an
alternative, fresh, new stream of programmes generated by supporting the
“cultural expression” of independent producers, and others, especially in
developing countries”, says Dr. David Nostbakken the Executive Director of
WETV.
More than 30 public and private television broadcasters in Africa, Asia, Latin
America, the Caribbean and North America have indicated their keen interest in
joining WETV as broadcast affiliates by signing MOUs with WETV. At start-up,
they will receive up to six hours a day of WETV programming and will have an
option chance to contribute programs of their own to the WETV service.
More than 15 funding partners have joined the venture, representing various
departments of the government of Canada, the United Nations family including
UNICEF, UNESCO, UNEP through Television Trust for the Environment; educational
institutions such as the Commonwealth of Learning and the Caribbean Institute
for Mass Communication, financial institutions such as the World Bank and so
on.
A number of key non-governmental organizations have joined in to provide
advice and guidance in our development. They include the Earth Council,
Television Trust for the Environment, International Union for the
Conservation of Nature, Instituto para America Latina, African Council for
Communication Education, Asian Mass Communication Research and Information
Centre and Videazimuth.
“Despite these very tough financial times we have just about raised sufficient
funds to undertake the very complex research and development process. I am
very gratified to say that we have received – with some surprise – real
expressions of interest from private investors. Hard-headed business
executives and telecommunications and broadcast industries are assisting WETV
in its private sector portfolio “, says David Nostbakken.
What is meant by “alternative” programming? What support do independent
producers, especially in developing countries, need to create engaging and
meaningful programmes?
The crucial missing link is the need to encourage the work of independent
produces. As a participant at the conference said, “The independent producer
is to television what the author is to literature and the compose to music.”
With this in mind, WETV is creating an Independent Producer’s Fund to support
the work of independent producers.
At the end of day, “software” is what TV broadcasting is all about. Viewers
watch television programmes, not television stations or networks. So WETV has
collaborated closely with the International Development Research Centre and
Television Trust for the Environment (TVE) in developing and find funding for
a major series of television programmes on sustainable development and the
environment, entitled Agenda 21. Other recent programmes include two half –
hours shows on Gender and Development and a South African film on post –
apartheid realities in South Africa. The WETV service will be launched from
the World Conference on Women and Development in Beijing in September, 1995.
Considerable scepticism originally greeted the ambitious initial plans for
WETV which were presented in 1992. It has been a major challenge to keep the
planning process on target, amid the maelstrom of competing ideas and
arguments swirling above the “information super-highway.” For example, TVE
Director Robert Lamb, speaking to a U.N. meeting recently said, “ I am not so
sure that the term television itself will not soon become redundant.”
Certainly, in the past two years, there has been a proliferation of satellite
cable channels. Ambitious experiments in inter-active television are
underway; the direct broadcasting system (DBS) is a reality and the hardware
is being laid down, in some countries, to open up 200 to 500 channels of
television choice. However, nothing on the horizon so far has cast doubt that
WETV is a viable concept whose day has arrived. Active research on the
latest in information and communication technologies will enable WETV to stay
on the cutting edge of these advances.
WETV will, of course, need to secure very substantial start-up capital
required to launch the service and in convincing partners to share in the
venture by purchasing sizeable blocks of air time.
“Senior decision-makers must recognize the growing importance of television in
moulding people’s attitudes, behaviours and values. We need to demonstrate
how a service such as ours, by liberating cultural expression and encouraging
a free and balanced flow of information, can help create mutual understanding
and lay a firmer foundation for international co-operation. We need to show
how this unique mix of television programming can help meet the vast
challenges of ‘life-long learning’ in the society of the 21st
Century – the basis of creating sustainable livelihoods”, says Deputy
Executive Director Derrick Poon Young.
Even at a time when every thinking person acknowledges the importance of
knowledge and information for the creation of ‘sustainable development”, many
decision-makers remain reluctant to invest the resources necessary to realize
the potential of the new information and communication technologies. Funds
for information and communication activities within most international
organizations are being cut, even now, just at the time when greater efforts
are needed to build public confidence in the international system.
Communication divisions of international organizations are turning inward, to
promote their narrow sectoral and institutional objectives, rather than
pooling their scarce resources in initiatives that will have real impact.
WETV hopes thus to demonstrate
that information and communication outreach is not merely a “support” activity
for other sectors of development. “Development communication” as a sector of
development activity is as important as many other sectors which are on the
priority list of development agencies and national governments.
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