MacBride +40: What next for media democracy? 3/2019 - WACC Global
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3/2019 MacBride +40: What next for media democracy?
Media Development is published quarterly by the
World Association for Christian Communication
308 Main Street
Toronto, Ontario M4C 4X7, Canada.
Join the World Tel: 416-691-1999 Fax: 416-691-1997
Association for Christian www.waccglobal.org
Communication! Editor: Philip Lee
WACC is an international organization that pro- Editorial Consultants
motes communication as a basic human right, Embert Charles (Chairperson of the Msgr. Patrick
essential to people’s dignity and community. Root- Anthony Folk Research Centre (FRC) of Saint Lucia)
ed in Christian faith, WACC works with all those Clifford G. Christians (University of Illinois,
denied the right to communicate because of status, Urbana-Champaign, USA).
identity, or gender. It advocates full access to infor- Margaret Gallagher (Communications Consultant,
mation and communication, and promotes open United Kingdom).
and diverse media. WACC strengthens networks Cees J. Hamelink (University of Amsterdam,
of communicators to advance peace, understanding Netherlands).
and justice. Patricia A. Made ( Journalist and Media Trainer,
Harare, Zimbabwe).
Robert W. McChesney (University of Illinois,
MEMBERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES Urbana-Champaign, USA).
Membership of WACC provides opportunities to Samuel W. Meshack (Hindustan Bible Institute &
network with people of similar interests and values, College, Chennai, India)
to learn about and support WACC’s work, and to Francis Nyamnjoh (CODESRIA, Dakar, Senegal).
exchange information about global and local ques- Rossana Reguillo (University of Guadalajara, Mexico).
tions of communication rights and the democrati- Clemencia Rodriguez (Temple University, USA).
zation of the media. Ubonrat Siriyuvasek (Chulalongkorn University,
Bangkok, Thailand)
WACC Members are linked to a Regional Asso- Pradip Thomas (University of Queensland,
ciation for the geographic area in which they are Brisbane, Australia).
based. They receive regular publications, an annual
report, and other materials. Regional Associations
Subscriptions to Media Development
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2 Media Development 3/2019
a
VOL LXV 3/2019
4 Editorial Media Development is an international
quarterly journal dedicated to the theory
6 Media, communication and the and practice of communication around
struggle for social progress the world. Many contributors write from
Nick Couldry, Clemencia Rodriguez the perspective of the South, highlighting
et al social, cultural, and spiritual values.
Media Development seeks to keep abreast
17 The MacBride Report legacy
of developments in the field of mass,
and media democracy today community and social media and to ar-
Clemencia Rodriguez and Andrew ticulate common concerns in the search
Iliadis for equality, justice and human dignity in
communication.
25 Towards an intersectional
analysis of media,
communication and social
progress
Sasha Costanza-Chock
In the
32 Traditional knowledge, the
Kwéyòl language and public
Next Issue
policy in a small nation state The 4/2019 issue of Media De-
Embert Charles velopment will examine the cur-
rent media and communications
41 Petrochallengers, du mur à la scene in the Caribbean.
rue: La production alternative
de l’information en Haïti
Jocelyn Belfort
49 Film: Women in charge?
Kristine Greenaway
52 On the screen
3 Media Development 3/2019
EDITORIAL London in October 1982 titled “A new Babel:
The communication revolution”. He noted:
In 1976, UNESCO’s General Conference
“The conclusions of the UNESCO report are
instructed its then Director General, Amadou-
founded on the firm conviction that commu-
Mahtar M’Bow, to undertake “a review
nication is a basic individual right, as well as a
of all the problems of communication in
contemporary society seen against the collective one, required by all communities and
background of technological progress and recent all nations. Freedom of information and more
developments in international relations with specifically the right to seek, to receive and im-
due regard to their complexity and magnitude.”1 part information is a fundamental human right,
M’Bow created what he called a “brains indeed a prerequisite for many other human
trust”, an International Commission of 15 rights.”
Controversy and misunderstanding
followed the publication of the MacBride
Report, especially from powerful countries
ideologically against democratisation and
empowerment. As expert commentators have
pointed out, the Report was less a challenge
to information ownership and control than to
the political and economic hegemony of a few
dominant countries:
“The work of the MacBride commissioners was
not primarily a scientific exercise to discover
the worldwide state of media and communica-
tion; it was first and foremost designed to be
a political stocktaking of the socioeconomic
forces influencing the contemporary media and
communication field… The MacBride Report,
combined with recent work on the determi-
nants of inequality in information societies,
prominent figures from 15 different countries provides a foundation for essential future work
and backgrounds under the presidency of on the politics of the media and communica-
Seán MacBride (photo above). In the course tion globally, and on the prospects for equitable
of its work, they participated in numerous evolution of information societies.”2
conferences, meetings, seminars, and discussion
groups, and reviewed countless documents, To a certain extent, the findings and
codes of ethics and papers on specific aspects recommendations of the MacBride Report
of communication. The outcome, published – nearly 40 years old – are still relevant and
in 1980, was Many Voices, One World, whose applicable today, despite the world’s vastly
slogan was “Towards a new more just and more changed political, economic, social and cultural
efficient world information and communication structures and despite the proliferation of
order”. digital information and communication
Seán MacBride was a keynote speaker at technologies. As the Report itself warns (p. 33):
a consultation sponsored by WACC held in
4 Media Development 3/2019
“We must beware the temptation to regard Clemencia Rodriguez et al in this issue of
technology as an all-purpose tool capable of Media Development. It identifies media and
superseding social action and eclipsing efforts communications infrastructures as a common
to make structural transformations in the de- good, arguing that they should be removed
veloped and developing countries. The future from the grasp of market forces and underlining
largely depends upon awareness of the choices open, participation by civil society and transparency as
upon the balance of social forces and upon the con- guiding principles for regulatory frameworks.
scious effort to promote optimum conditions for One major difference between 1980 and
communications systems within and between na- 2019, of course, is the existence of the Internet
tions” [emphasis added]. and digital communication platforms. On this,
Couldry, Rodriguez et al are absolutely clear:
The MacBride Report led directly to
the communication rights “Processes for the design of
movement, largely energized digital platforms and other
by the work of the CRIS means of accessing the In-
Campaign3 and the World ternet should recognize and
Summit on the Information effectively include representa-
Society.4 After that, there was a tion from the full range of
kind of falling away as Internet human communities. Media
service providers, digital infrastructures will not realize
platforms, and multinational their potential for contribut-
corporations seized the day. ing to social progress unless
The kind of social progress they operate effectively to
envisioned by the MacBride facilitate content creation by
Report took a back seat to diverse communities. Access
neoliberalism, globalization, to media infrastructures as
corporate greed, and the politics consumers, receivers or audi-
of fear. That is not to say that its ences of content and informa-
arguments were invalid or that tion is not enough, individuals
its principles were misplaced. and communities need access
In fact, as articles in this issue as content creators; issues of
of Media Development attest,
language, affordability, user
the thinking behind MacBride
competencies and technology
Report still has enormous
design are fundamental.”
relevance in the struggle for political, economic,
and social justice – and in the struggle to
And stressing the need for accountability
expand what is often referred to as “shrinking
and equality of access:
public space”.
The question naturally arises: If the
“Since we can expect that core aspects of society
MacBride Commission were to be set
such as health care, social services and financial
up today, what issues would it look into?
services will be increasingly provided over the
What constraints would it find? What new
Internet, access to digital systems needs to be
possibilities would it discover?
One clear answer can be found in the equally distributed among populations, and
article “Media, communication and the such access should come free of commercial
struggle for social progress” by Nick Couldry, tracking and surveillance. The risk that the
data infrastructures supporting today’s media
5 Media Development 3/2019
and communications will be used for increased
state and corporate surveillance, censorship Media,
and data gathering need to become the focus
of extensive civic debate and regulatory atten-
communication
tion.” and the struggle
This thinking forms part of a larger
initiative led by the International Panel on
for social
Social Progress, whose aim is to develop
research-based, multi-disciplinary, non-partisan,
progress
action-driven solutions to the most pressing Nick Couldry, Clemencia Rodriguez
challenges of our time. In a sense, it is civil et al1
society’s take on how to respond positively
and with dignity to issues of social justice that This article discusses the role of media
may not be addressed by the government- and communications in contributing
led SDGs. Guided by a host of luminaries
including Amartya Sen, Manuel Castells, and
to social progress, as elaborated in a
Sunita Narain, the IPSP assigns a crucial role landmark international project – the
for democracy to media and communications International Panel on Social Progress.
(Chapter 13 of the IPSP’s 2018 Report). First, it analyses how media and digital
In a sense, Chapter 13 is the MacBride platforms have contributed to global
Report of our times and should certainly be read
as such. It underlines Seán MacBride’s assertion
inequality by examining media access
that there is “no magic solution to efface by a and infrastructure across world regions.
single stroke the existing complicated and inter- Second, it looks at media governance and
connected web of communication problems” the different mechanisms of corporatized
and that, while the particulars of the process control over media platforms, algorithms
will continually alter, “its goals will be constant –
more justice, more equity, more reciprocity.”5 n
and content. Third, the article examines
how the democratization of media is
Notes
1. Many Voices One World. Towards a new more just and more a key element in the struggle for social
efficient world information and communication order, p. xiv. justice. It argues that effective media
Paris: UNESCO, 1980. Reprinted London: WACC, 1988.
2. “Great Media and Communication Debates: WSIS and access – in terms of distribution of media
the MacBride Report” by Robin Mansell and Kaarle
Nordenstreng in the MIT’s Information Technologies and
resources, even relations between spaces of
International Development Volume 3, Number 4, Summer connection and the design and operation
2006, 15-36.
3. See Pradip N. Thomas (2006).”The Communication Rights in of spaces that foster dialogue, free speech
the Information Society (CRIS) Campaign.” International
Communication Gazette 68(4):291-312 August 2006.
and respectful cultural exchange – is a
4. The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was core component of social progress.
held in two phases. The first phase took place in Geneva
I
hosted by the Government of Switzerland from 10 to
12 December 2003, and the second phase took place in
n January 2015, a group of academics from
Tunis hosted by the Government of Tunisia, from 16 to 18 different disciplines and areas of the world
November 2005. convened in Paris to plan an initiative known as
5. Many Voices One World. Towards a new more just and more
efficient world information and communication order, p. xviii. the International Panel for Social Progress: Re-
Paris: UNESCO, 1980. Reprinted London: WACC, 1988. thinking Society for the XXI Century (IPSP).
Spearheaded by Princeton University philoso-
6 Media Development 3/2019
pher Marc Fleurbaey and Olivier Bouin, director 2016). Under the heading “Foundations of Well-
of the College d’Etudes Mondiales in Paris, the being”, the SPI includes a component on “Access
IPSP examines pressing issues in contemporary to Information and Communication”, with three
society in an attempt to formulate a diagnosis indicators: 1) mobile telephone subscriptions; 2)
and clear a path toward more just communities. Internet users; and 3) the Press Freedom Index.
Behind the IPSP is the realization that One of the goals of Chapter 13 of the IPSP re-
neo-liberal economic models have become the port on Media and Communications was to crit-
dominant narrative in both the industrialized ically assess such narrow approaches to questions
world and the Global South. As a hegemonic of communication and information access and
narrative, capitalism and neo-liberal economic subsequently build a more encompassing narra-
and political models have eclipsed alternative tive, both of what “media” are and media’s poten-
modes of thinking and envisioning of how to or- tial contributions, negative and positive, to social
ganize our societies. And yet, since World War progress broadly defined.
II, social scientists have produced a vast body Chapter 13 was written by a team of twelve
of evidence and knowledge about the negative primary authors and five contributing authors
impacts of neo-liberal economics on all areas of from China, South Africa, Colombia, Mexico,
social life, from gender equity to environmental Lebanon, England, Japan and several other coun-
degradation and war. tries. The original team was assembled by Nick
According to the IPSP: “Inequality has Couldry with an emphasis on regional diversity
been the hallmark of neoliberal economic poli- and a commitment to working across the bound-
cies that have been well entrenched since the aries of disciplines that intersect in the media
collapse of the Soviet Union, the signing of the and communications field. Of particular value
World Trade Agreement, and the creation of the are the inclusion of the interdisciplinary insights
WTO” (IPSP, 2016: 5). The IPSP sought to har- of legal theorist Julie Cohen and the perspectives
ness the competence of 250 social scientists from of media advocacy experts and activists.
all areas of the world and a wide variety of disci- In this article, we intend to present the core
plinary fields to produce a report by 2017 (IPSP, findings of IPSP’s Chapter 13, with the goal of
2017). encouraging an expansion of the public con-
The IPSP approaches the concept of prog- versation around key issues of inequality, access,
ress as a somewhat flexible compass that can and governance of information and communica-
help delineate the process of rethinking society, tion technologies and platforms, and the prac-
but insists that progress must be conceived of tical measures and policy tools that might en-
in a pluralistic way, consistent with the divers- able media to contribute to social progress in the
ity of our shared world. The IPSP’s definition of way that so many hope. Our effort clearly builds
progress includes “basic values of well-being (it- upon important foundations such as the Mac-
self multi-dimensional), freedom and agency, es- Bride report, Many Voices, One World (UNESCO,
teem, and reconciliation & non-alienation. There 1980), prepared for UNESCO in 1980, as well
are also various objective (or ‘merit’) goods. The as decades of effort to foster media freedom and
most important principles in this context are jus- collective and individual rights of expression,
tice (of various types, esp. distributive justice), re- information and ideas captured in the resonant
spect for basic rights, and charity or beneficence” Article 19 of the 1948 UN Universal Declaration
(IPSP, 2016: 13). on Human Rights.
The IPSP has established a critical dia- Our joint belief is that it is an important
logue with the Social Progress Index (SPI), a set moment for the development of the field of Com-
of indicators developed recently in an attempt munication for Social Change. The expertise of
to “move beyond GDP” (Social Progress Index, media and communications researchers is called
7 Media Development 3/2019
upon within a wider global debate about the fu- gions and inside countries, with implications for
ture of social progress. That belief has motivated the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
our shared efforts and will, we hope, stimulate Cultural flows through media vary greatly within
further debate and discussion. and between regions as well.
In proposing a new analysis and approach For example, the media system in Mexico
to the present high stakes moment in global is highly concentrated and deeply marketized.
media and communications, we hope this article Its core is commercial broadcasting, owned by
will serve to highlight the urgent research and private corporations controlled by a handful of
developing policy, practitioner and activist strug- individuals. The power of those media corpor-
gles that require our sustained attention. ations was built from alliances between power-
ful economic groups aligned with government
Media and digital platforms: Key factors of interests that have benefited from discretionary
global inequality grants, television and radio concessions, lucrative
contracts for governmental advertising in print
Much of humanity now holds in its hands the
media, and ad hoc legislation (or lack of it) in
means to connect across the world: to family, en-
tertainment and the broadcasts of corporations,
states and, increasingly, counter-state organiz-
ations such as ISIS. This differently connected Recent issues of
world has major implications for social progress Media Development
and global justice, but the media and information 2/2019 Wanted: Sustainable Development
infrastructures that make it possible must be part Goal 18
of any discussion of those lofty goals. Develop-
ments in digital technologies over the last 30 1/2019 Brave New Digital World
years have massively expanded humans’ capacity
4/2018 Engaging with the Digital
to communicate across time and space. Media
infrastructures have simultaneously become in- 3/2018 WACC at 50: Celebrating Inclusion
creasingly complex.
By “media”, we mean technologies used for 2/2018 Journalism that serves the Public
Interest
the production, dissemination and reception of
communication, but also the content distribut- 1/2018 Gender and Media
ed through those technologies and their associ- – A holistic agenda
ated institutions.2 The relations between media,
communications and social progress are com- 4/2017 Digital Media and Social Memory
plex. More people can now connect and make
3/2017 Changing Media, Changing
meaning through media, providing an important
Perceptions
resource for new movements for justice and so-
cial progress. Meanwhile, addressing the uneven 2/2017 Reforming the World
distribution of opportunities to access and use
media is itself a dimension of working towards
social justice. Media Development is provided free to
WACC Individual and Corporate Members
Media infrastructures and access have
and is also available by subscription.
spread unevenly across the world. Traditional and
digital media developed according to distinctive For more information visit the WACC website:
histories across the world, with varying market- www.waccglobal.org
ization and state control. Inequalities of access
are starkly evident both between and within re-
8 Media Development 3/2019
favour of the sector’s economic interests. After communications infrastructure has been well
the Mexican Revolution (1910-20), the country developed, with high penetrations of landline
adopted a capitalist economic model and initi- phones, mobile phones and computers.
ated corporatization of the Mexican state. Lack People’s increasing dependence on an on-
of regulation and communication policies led to line infrastructure that mediates daily life in-
a concentration of media in the hands of a few creases the importance of the corporations that
families. provide that infrastructure. This has transformed
In the early 20th century, well-established the governance of media infrastructures, with a
industrial families (railway, mining and banking) shift from formal to informal governance and
invested in radio broadcasting. Today there are the growing importance of transnational govern-
1,600 radio stations, 80% of which are owned ance institutions and practices, whereby corpor-
by just 13 families. The Azcárraga family owns ations, not states, exercise predominant influence,
the Televisa conglomerate, the most influential including through the design of algorithms, with
global producer and distributor of Spanish-lan- ambiguous implications for corporate power,
guage audio-visual content, as well as free-to-air individual rights, the public sphere and social
television channels, restricted television systems progress. This situation also creates new chal-
(satellite and cable), a leading Spanish editorial lenges and opportunities for nation-states and
house, radio stations, entertainment compan- state sovereignty (Flew & Waisbord, 2015). On
ies, soccer teams and stadiums, music recording the one hand, the role of nation-states and state
companies and cinema distribution companies. sovereignty in media is diminished. On the other
Carlos Slim’s Telmex/Telcel conglomerate start- hand, nation-states still play an important – if
ed with landline telephone services (Telmex has often quite different and novel – role in crucial
65% of the national market) and moved on to areas of policy, infrastructure and design. This
mobile telephony (Telcel has 65% of subscrib- is evident in the way that nation-states have
ers) and Internet services (75% of subscribers). asserted their regulatory role over social media
Mexico’s mobile phone and Internet service costs platforms, though not always successfully.
are in the middle of international rankings (ITU, The project of “networking the world”, as
2014), making these services out of reach for Armand Mattelart once put it (Mattelart, 2000)
Mexico’s rural poor majority. is more than two centuries old. It has always been
In contrast, Sweden’s media is shaped by the project of states, but increasingly it has be-
a welfare state system (typical of Scandinavian come the preserve of some of the world’s largest
Nordic countries) and characterized by a dis- corporations: for example, Facebook, Google and,
tinctive relation between media and state, market less well known in the West, China’s Tencent
and civil society. Traditionally, Sweden has had and Baidu. Just as neo-liberal economic models
high voter turnout and high levels of literacy and rooted in markets and consumption are expand-
newspaper reading, not least due to the nation- ing into ever more world regions and intruding
al subsidy system for print newspapers, which into ever more domains of everyday life, so are
has resulted in a plurality of local newspapers corporate logics colonizing our media and digital
with high readership. Typically, the subsidy sys- platforms. Market forces have appropriated the
tem provided for a plurality of political positions, design, regulation and pricing of the platforms
with at least two local or regional newspapers we use to connect, portray the world around us,
representing divergent political viewpoints. Like express our political allegiances, and forge our vi-
other European countries, Sweden has had a sions for the future. Yet these platforms have so
strong public service broadcaster for radio and far been driven by only one goal: profit.
TV, which, since the late 1980s, has faced strong The emergence of a networked information
competition from commercial broadcasters. The economy and the globalization of mediated in-
9 Media Development 3/2019
Mohammed Adnan talks
with his mother, Fripat
Bibi, on Skype from a
government-run refugee
center in Vamosszabadi,
Hungary. Hungarian
Interchurch Aid, a mem-
ber of the ACT Alliance,
provides child care and
other services to resi-
dents in the center, who
come from Syria, Iraq
and other countries and
are bound for western
Europe. Adnan’s mother
is in Pakistan, which he
left to seek employment
in Europe. Paul Jeffrey/
ACT Alliance
formation flows have catalysed two significant Facebook, Microsoft and Apple, each of which
shifts in the nature and quality of governance. occupies a dominant market position globally,
The first is a shift away from formal government enjoy correspondingly stronger and more perva-
regulation and towards informal and often high- sive regulatory power.
ly corporatized governance mechanisms. The For citizens, networked digital media infra-
second is a shift away from state-based govern- structures may lower the costs of access to know-
ance (and global governance institutions – such ledge and enable new forms of participation in
as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the social, cultural and economic life. At the same
International Telecommunications Union (ITU), time, however, citizens’ access to many important
the World Intellectual Property Organization informational and cultural resources is subject to
(WIPO) – organized around state membership) control by neo-authoritarian states and various
and towards transnational governance institu- information intermediaries, including Internet
tions, such as the Internet Corporation for As- access providers, search engines, mobile appli-
signed Names and Numbers (ICANN), which cation developers and designers of proprietary
are more directly responsive to the asserted needs media ecosystems. Access to these resources may
of private entities, often corporations that are be offered at no financial cost to users on an ad-
those institutions’ most powerful “stakeholders” vertiser-supported basis, but often such access has
(outflanking new constituencies of media users a price in the form of the automated collection
and citizens). of information about personal reading, viewing
Particularly in the Global North, but also in and listening habits (Hoofnagle & Whittington,
the Global South, the information networks and 2014). Such information can be used both to tar-
communication protocols that underlie media get advertising and suggest content more likely
infrastructures are designed and operated by pri- to appeal to each user.
vate corporate entities. Direct technical authority Such predictive targeting of information
over networks and protocols gives those entities access has a number of troubling economic and
an authority that is inherently regulatory. Global political implications. To mention but one ex-
platform companies such as Google, Twitter, ample, algorithms for predictive targeting based
10 Media Development 3/2019on data about personal habits and preferences implications for state and corporate power, which
enable the identification of population segments civil society has challenged, such as the case of
sorted by race/nationality, cultural background, Facebook’s Free Basics in India. In 2015, Face-
religious affiliation, socio-economic status and book negotiated with the Indian government to
political preferences. introduce Free Basics, a platform that would ex-
pand Internet access and at the same time give
Reclaiming communication for social prog- Facebook unrivalled access to a new market of
ress: Voices, issues, struggles and initiatives 125 million users. However, Indian civil society
succeeded in blocking Free Basics as an attempt
For centuries, journalism has been a key institu-
by a commercial vendor to tether users to its
tional forum for disseminating public knowledge
product and monopolize the terms of access to
and contributing to social progress. While digital
the wider Internet, compromising the tenets of
technologies have expanded and citizens’ media
network neutrality.
and citizens’ journalism initiatives proliferate,
other aspects of digitization have undermined Similarly, other civil society initiatives have
the economics of journalism, with new threats to attempted to design governance frameworks.
journalists from growing political instability. After the Snowden scandal of 2013 revealed
massive digital surveillance and espionage on a
Struggles for social justice through the
global scale by US intelligence agencies, diverse
democratization of media have acquired new
initiatives to defend the freedom of the Internet
prominence, echoing previous struggles and
emerged. At the time of writing, the most pro-
foregrounding the transparency and account-
gressive regulatory framework for the Internet,
ability of media infrastructures in general, and
founded on principles of social justice and inclu-
data flows in particular. This is not the first time,
sion, is Brazil’s Marco Civil da Internet (Civil
however, that the implications of media flows
Rights Framework for the Internet), an initiative
and infrastructures for social progress have been
developed by Brazil’s civil society and centred
considered on a global scale. Such questions
on the protection of freedom and privacy, open
were central to the MacBride Report (UNESCO,
governance, universal inclusion, cultural diversity
1980), which proposed a New World Informa-
and network neutrality.
tion and Communication Order (NWICO) and
Media remain important channels through
challenged the assumption that a global media
which many struggles for social progress are pur-
infrastructure dominated by ‘the West’ was good
sued. Back in 1994, the Zapatistas in Mexico
for democracy, social order and human rights.
provided a pioneer example of innovative media
But the MacBride Report’s proposals were not
use for social justice, but social movements’ use of
implemented, and a recent attempt to revive their
media technologies has taken many forms across
broad agenda (the World Summit on the Infor-
the world, exposing important constraints. Since
mation Society in 2003) has also achieved only
old media generally do not disappear, instead
limited success (Vincent & Nordenstreng, 2016).
linking up in new ways through digital platforms,
Meanwhile, media control’s ramifications
movements that struggle for social justice have
for social progress continue to expand and digital
learned to operate within complex and always
infrastructures – for example, social media plat-
changing media ecologies that offer different
forms and the vast new architectures for data
resources and constraints in each historical case.
collection and processing on which they rely –
Harbingers of this transformation include the
pose increasingly urgent questions about social
fusion between Catholic radio and SMS in the
life and democratic practice. Concerns include
EDSA II movement in the Philippines and the
Net neutrality, Internet freedom, discriminatory
interaction between citizens’ journalism website
algorithms and the automated surveillance on
OhmyNews and the Nosamo activists network
which most online businesses now rely. There are
11 Media Development 3/2019during the South Korean presidential election sults can be transformative, as when the Talea de
of 2002 (Qiu, 2008). The interplay among trad- Castro Indigenous community in southern Mex-
itional and digital media reached new heights as ico designed Rhizomatica Administration Inter-
the Arab uprisings of 2010 and 2011 spawned a face (RAI), a graphic interface for a local mobile
vibrant scene of dissident media and culture. phone network, to be responsive to their needs,
The affordances of mobile technologies and resources and languages (Magallanes-Blanco &
social networking platforms enable new kinds of Rodriguez-Medina, 2016). Much more often,
everyday, intimate solidarity and dialogue. Nota- however, the algorithmic mechanisms that shape
ble cases of appropriation of mobile phones, In- what appears to users of digital platforms are driv-
ternet and social media have emerged among en exclusively by an advertising logic that under-
migrants and their dispersed families and cul- mines diversity and reproduces the social capital
tural and political networks (Fortunati, Pertier- of those with power (Couldry, 2014; Ochigame
ra & Vincent, 2012). Among Filipino and other & Holston, 2016).
domestic workers (generally women) who spend Work toward more just media infra-
years away from their families and communities, structures needs to hold a central place in social
mobile phones and social media provide a way progress initiatives. Social progress is contingent
to maintain bonds and connections with friends on accessible, affordable and inclusive media
and families (Madianou & Miller, 2012). Chi- infrastructures – including traditional media,
nese migrants who leave rural areas to find work digital platforms, social media and the Internet.
in cities (Chu et al., 2012) rely on mobile phones Any intervention that works for social progress
to create a new ‘modern’ identity, spanning urban must also consider the need for a parallel strug-
and rural settings (Wallis, 2013). gle to democratize media infrastructures and
It is a myth that rural communities, In- demand better, more transparent media poli-
digenous peoples and the Global South are dis- cies and governance. These technologies’ poten-
interested in media and the digital world, but tial to shape more sustainable, just and inclusive
our current media infrastructures carry little if societies will be hampered so long as decisions
any input from these large sections of humanity. about the design and governance of media infra-
What if media infrastructures and digital plat- structures are made without the wider body of
forms were designed with communities’ diverse citizens having the opportunity to be consulted
languages, needs and resources in mind? The re- on their needs.
A radio presenter in the cabin
of the Lutheran radio station in
La Paz, Bolivia. Sean Hawkey/
ACT Alliance. The penetration of
media and telecommunications
is relatively low in Bolivia. Only
75.5% of Bolivian households
have radio, 66.5% have televi-
sion, 60% have telephone (mostly
cellular). Internet access is one of
the lowest in the region – 9.6% of
households. The penetration lev-
els are even lower in rural areas.
In such a context, community
radio has a key role to play.
12 Media Development 3/2019A proposal toward media justice ence over Internet governance, software localiza-
This survey of media and communications’ po- tion and technical design all make the Internet an
tential contributions to social progress does unequal, highly uneven playing field for diverse
not suggest easy conclusions. Without a doubt, groups, especially cultural and linguistic minor-
media are an important resource for movements ities. Third, even with access and more even dis-
that promote social progress, and effective access tribution of opportunities for effective use, it may
to media is a necessary (and too often ignored) not be solidarity and dialogue that are facilitated
component of social justice. By “effective access”, when people come together via media (online
we mean that all individuals and communities abuse is also on the rise): the Internet’s capacity,
should be able to use media infrastructures to in principle, to enable multiple producers of con-
produce content, access information and know- tent is not therefore sufficient. A central issue re-
ledge, and actively participate in the realms of mains how to design and sustain online spaces
politics, culture and governance. Issues of access- that encourage dialogue, free speech, respectful
ibility, as well as the potential affordances of these cultural exchange and action for social progress.
platforms, are particularly salient for people with The governance of Internet infrastructures is cru-
disabilities, for example, captioning on TV and cial in all of this, but this itself is highly contest-
radio for the print handicapped. Despite their ed and uneven.
long histories, disability media such as Braille In response to these challenges, we propose
formats and sign language communication are that effective access to media and digital communi-
still given little recognition in wider society, al- cation should be recognized as a new core component
though there have been concerted international of social progress. While it is important that the
efforts on some aspects of digital technology (ac- SPI’s “Foundations of Wellbeing” include “access
cessible computers and software, web accessibility, to information and communications” (defined
mobile phone accessibility, ‘apps’ for people with in terms of numbers of Internet users, mobile
disabilities). phone subscriptions and a Press Freedom Index),
Three major factors complicate the media this is insufficient; additional measures are need-
and social change picture considerably. First, the ed to ensure the distribution of opportunities for
distribution of media resources (including trad- effective access and use. Such measures would
itional media and digital platforms) is skewed concern not only access to the technological
towards the wealthy and powerful world regions means to receive information and content, but
and away from the majority of the world’s popu- also access to appropriate affordable technologies
lation, especially poor, marginalized and excluded to produce content. The design of media infra-
groups. This basic fact is ignored by the recurrent structures and digital platforms needs to consid-
“social imaginary” (Taylor, 2004) that sees media er diverse language communities and individuals
infrastructures as automatically progressive and with different ability levels, learning styles and
socially transformative (for critique, see Herman, financial resources.
Hadlaw & Swiss, 2014; Mansell, 2012; Mosco, While it is important that the SPI includes
2004). Although people rely on media platforms “personal rights” and “tolerance and inclusion”
for connection and communication, they gener- under the category of “Opportunity”, communi-
ally have very little influence over the design and cation rights must be added to the basket of per-
pricing of these platforms, or the conditions of sonal rights, and the direct relation between lack
access, use, content production and distribution. of participation and diversity in the design and
Second, multiple simultaneous spaces of governance of media infrastructures and lack of
connection are enabled by media and the rela- tolerance and inclusion at a cultural level must
tions between these spaces are highly uneven: be addressed. The right to privacy should also be
questions of language and culture, unequal influ- added, including appropriate regulatory frame-
13 Media Development 3/2019works to protect against surveillance and data to be equally distributed among populations,
extraction. In addition, references to “tolerance” and such access should come free of commercial
elsewhere in the Social Progress Index need to tracking and surveillance. The risk that the data
be interpreted to include tolerance in the media infrastructures supporting today’s media and
(that is, the absence of hate speech against women communications will be used for increased state
and girls, ethnic minorities, and so on). and corporate surveillance, censorship and data
Media and communications infrastructures gathering need to become the focus of extensive
should be regarded as a common good, in the civic debate and regulatory attention.
same way as other infrastructure (such as roads, Although social media and digital plat-
railways, power and water). The recent wave of forms have accelerated access to information,
privatization and concentration in the media solid independent journalism, especially investi-
and information industries should be reviewed gative journalism, is essential to democratic life.
by regulators for its effects on the quality of Citizens need curated, credible, verified and con-
media and media’s diversity and ability to meet textualized information to be able to make rea-
people’s needs. Subsidies and spaces to encour- sonable decisions in political, cultural and social
age non-profit media should become an essential arenas. Alternative forms of funding investiga-
component of struggles for social progress and tive journalism need to compensate for the threat
social justice. If progress is to be made towards to the commercial newspaper business model.
these wider goals, major efforts are needed by The environmental impact of the waste gen-
civil society, governments and international or- erated by today’s communication devices and the
ganizations to promote and sustain media that vast data-processing infrastructure that supports
exist outside of market forces. Internet govern- their use requires serious attention as well. These
ance should not be in the hands of organizations environmental consequences are an unintended
who make decisions, implement policy and de- long-term side-effect of intensified connection
sign online architectures behind closed doors. through media (Maxwell & Miller, 2012).
Popular participation and transparency should The indispensable first step for social prog-
be the guiding principles that frame Internet ress is to perceive media and communications
governance, policy and regulatory frameworks. flows and infrastructures not as mere background
Equally, processes for the design of digital to social struggles, but as a site of struggle. This,
platforms and other means of accessing the In- in turn, requires acknowledging the overall lack
ternet should recognize and effectively include of progress in media reform over the past 40
representation from the full range of human years. Since 1980, when the NWICO’s Mac-
communities. Media infrastructures will not Bride Report was presented by UNESCO, num-
realize their potential for contributing to social erous initiatives have attempted to reform media
progress unless they operate effectively to facili- infrastructures, including the World Summit of
tate content creation by diverse communities. the Information Society (WSIS), the Free Press
Access to media infrastructures as consumers, re- movement in the US, and the Net neutrality and
ceivers or audiences of content and information free software international movements.
is not enough, individuals and communities need However, international organizations have
access as content creators; issues of language, not generally pursued such concerns. The inter-
affordability, user competencies and technology national organizations assuming responsibility
design are fundamental. for proposing new aspects of media policy, such
Since we can expect that core aspects of as ITU and ICANN, have limited their scope to
society such as health care, social services and technical matters discussed with little input from
financial services will be increasingly provided civil society or social movements. At the level of
over the Internet, access to digital systems needs nation-states, key issues of media justice and so-
14 Media Development 3/2019cial progress are often raised, but then are not and universities to be accountable for design-
necessarily developed or represented by govern- ing media platforms that are accessible to in-
ments in their negotiations, policy and govern- puts from diverse individuals and communities
ance work with either other states and parties at – especially marginalized communities such
the international level, or with the large, influen- as communities of colour, gender minorities,
tial media corporations in either the national or LGTBQ communities, disabled communities
transnational sphere in which they operate. All and communities in the Global South.
in all, a renewed, comprehensive and more inclu- 6. To push for media and Internet regulation
sive debate on media reform must be launched. that protects users from state and/or corpor-
ate surveillance and data extraction for con-
A plan of action trol or marketing purposes.
Chapter 13 of the IPSP, on which this sum- 7. To promote media and Internet regulatory
mary is based, provides a resonant, bold and de- regimes that forbid any type of censorship or
tailed analysis and normative argument about discrimination based on disability, gender, sex-
the pivotal role of media and communications ual orientation or political, religious or ethnic
claims and struggles in any vision of social jus- affiliations.
tice, equality and rights. Developing a strategy 8. To promote the notion that ‘access’ also in-
to turn this agenda into a powerful, concrete and cludes opportunities for content creation and
achievable programme with pragmatic force is not just technological access to platforms for
the next challenge. Based on the above diagnosis, media consumption. Media and information
we propose the following action plan: literacy, technical competencies, linguistic di-
1. To add effective media access as a new core versity and capacity building are fundamental
component of social progress in the SPI, to elements of access.
‘ensure affordable, reliable, sustainable and ef- 9. To re-establish independent, sound journal-
fective access to communication infrastructure’, ism as an essential element of democracy.
while acknowledging the long-term environ- 10. To promote free access to software and free
mental waste from IT devices and data-pro- knowledge as the commons of humankind.
cessing infrastructure. Such principles, however, also need to be
2. To open a public discussion in which mat- converted into a map of practical actions to be
ters of inclusion, affordability and diversity in taken by a range of actors involved in the regu-
media take precedence over markets and prof- lation of media and digital platforms. To lay out
it. the key initiatives required, we have created a
3. To position communication rights as central toolkit3 which can be found here. n
to official definitions of social progress. Com-
munication rights include the right to be a Author(s): See Note 1 below. Originally published
content creator; the right to free expression; in Global Media and Communication Vol. 14(2)
the right to knowledge and information; and 173-191. © The Author 2018(s). Reprinted by Per-
the right to privacy. mission of SAGE Publications, Ltd.
4. To pressure international and national regula-
tory bodies and policy-makers to design and Notes
1. Authors: Nick Couldry (Department of Media and
implement processes for civil society partici- Communications, London School of Economics and
pation in Internet and media infrastructure Political Science, London, UK); Clemencia Rodriguez
(Department of Media Studies and Production, Temple
governance and policy. Media infrastructure University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA); Göran
should be governed by transparent and open Bolin (Department of Media & Communication Studies,
multi-stakeholder bodies. Södertörn University, Stockholm, Sweden); Julie Cohen
(Law Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC,
5. To pressure governments, the private sector
15 Media Development 3/2019USA); Gerard Goggin (Department of Media and International Panel on Social Progress (IPSP) (2017) Authors.
Communications, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia); IPSP. Available at: https://www.ipsp.org/people/authors.
Marwan Kraidy (Annenberg School for Communication, International Panel on Social Progress (IPSP) (2016) Outline
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA); Koichi for the main report. Available at: https://www.ipsp.org/wp-
Iwabuchi (Monash Asia Institute, Monash University, content/uploads/2016/04/IPSP-Outline-April-2016.pdf.
Melbourne, Australia); Kwang-Suk Lee (Department of International Panel on Social Progress (IPSP) (2017) Authors.
Digital and Cultural Policy, Seoul National University of IPSP. Available at: https://www.ipsp.org/people/authors.
Science and Technology, Seoul, South Korea);Jack Linchuan International Telecommunications Union (ITU) (2014) Time
Qiu (School of Journalism and Communication, The series by country (until 2014) for: Percentage of individuals
Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong, using the Internet and mobile-cellular subscriptions.
China); Ingrid Volkmer (Media and Communications Available at: http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/
Program, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia); stat/default.aspx.
Herman Wasserman (Centre for Film and Media Madianou, M and Miller, D (2012) Migration and New Media.
Studies, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South London, UK: Routledge.
Africa); Yuezhi Zhao (School of Communication, Simon Magallanes-Blanco, C and Rodriguez-Medina, L (2016) Give
Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada); Olessia Koltsova me a mobile and I will raise a community. In: Robinson,
(Laboratory for Internet Studies, National Research L, Spence, J and Dunn, HS (eds) Communication and
University Higher School of Economics, St Petersburg, Information Technologies Annual (Studies in Media and
Russia); Inaya Rakhmani (Department of Communication, Communications, Vol. 12). Bingley, UK: Emerald, pp. 315-
University of Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia); Omar Rincón 343.
(Centro de Estudios de Periodismo, Universidad de los Mansell, R (2012) Imagining the Internet. Oxford: Oxford
Andes, Bogotá, Colombia); Claudia Magallanes-Blanco University Press.
(Department of Humanities, Universidad Iberoamericana Mattelart, A (2000) Networking the World, 1794-2000, trans
de Puebla, Puebla, México); Pradip Ninan Thomas (School L. Carey-Libbrecht & J. A. Cohen. Minneapolis, MN and
of Communication and Arts, University of Queensland, London, UK: University of Minnesota Press.
St Lucia, Australia). Global Media and Communication Maxwell, R and Miller, T (2012) Greening the Media. New York:
Vol. 14(2) 173-191. © The Authors 2018. Reprinted by Oxford University Press.
Permission of SAGE Publications, Ltd. Mosco, V (2004) Digital Sublime. Cambridge: MIT Press.
2. There are longstanding debates about the terms “media” Ochigame, R and Holston, J (2016) Filtering dissent: Social
and “communication”, of which we are conscious, but in media and land struggles in Brazil. New Left Review 99:
this paper, we wish to harness both categories in the most 85-110.
productive and expansive way. Qiu, JL (2008) Mobile civil society in Asia: A comparative
3. We have allocated the tasks in the toolkit matrix to the study of the People Power II and Nosamo Movement.
actor who should have the main responsibility for each Javnost –– The Public 15(3): 39-58.
task, however various tasks should be developed by multi- Social Progress Index (2016) Available online at: http://www.
stakeholder bodies. socialprogressimperative.org/global-index/.
Taylor, C (2004) Modern Social Imaginaries. Durham, NC, and
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16 Media Development 3/2019The MacBride
Report legacy
and media
democracy today
Clemencia Rodriguez and Andrew
Iliadis
In 1980, the year UNESCO first
released the MacBride Report, one
of us (Clemencia) was a second-year
undergraduate communication major
at Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá,
Colombia. I remember knocking on the
door of Professor Gabriel Jaime Pérez,
who taught our course on media ethics.
He welcomed me in, and I told him I was
confused.
I felt the communication curriculum was full
of contradictions: some courses seemed to be
training us to work for transnational media in-
the Global North – all for the ultimate profit of
the TNMCs, with no regard for the well-being
dustries while other courses deeply questioned of local communities or the health of local dem-
the roles those same media industries played in ocracies.
a country like Colombia. Some of my professors My experience as a college student in the
insisted on teaching us the communication mod- early 1980s, studying communication and media
els of Berlo, Lasswell, and Lazarsfeld, training us at a university in the Global South, reflected the
to use media technologies effectively and persua- global debates around media, information, and
sively to transmit messages for specific purposes communication that were taking place on the
that were mostly profit-driven or electorally cen- floors of UNESCO, the United Nations, and
other international forums at that time (Nor-
tered.
denstreng 2010).
In the same department, other professors
Professor Pérez agreed with me and told
lectured about Para Leer al Pato Donald [How to
me that some of those same issues were discussed
Read Donald Duck] (Dorfman and Mattelart
in a new book he had just received from over-
1971) and Pedagogía del Oprimido [Pedagogy of
seas called the MacBride Report. He asked me
the Oppressed] (Freire 1967). In these lectures,
how my English was and, when I responded it
the media industries, and especially transnational
was good, he gave me the book and asked me to
media corporations (TNMCs), were presented as
translate the introduction into Spanish because
imperialist entities that bulldozed local cultures.
he wanted to use this text in his courses.
Their ultimate goal was to open new markets for
I returned with a very clumsy translation of
ideas, ways of life, and products imported from
the MacBride Report’s eight-page introduction,
17 Media Development 3/2019You can also read
