DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INFORMATION, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ROUNDTABLE TO ADDRESS IMPACT OF COMMUNICATIONS ON GLOBAL ISSUES
Press Release
PI/998
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INFORMATION, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ROUNDTABLE TO ADDRESS IMPACT OF COMMUNICATIONS ON GLOBAL ISSUES
19970418 The impact of the accelerating globalization of information on the promotion of peace, development, democracy and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in the twenty-first century will be explored in a three-day international roundtable from 21 to 24 April 1997, at the Columbia University Arden Conference Center in Harriman, New York."The Roundtable on Communication for the Promotion of Peace, Development, Democracy and Respect for Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in the Global Village" will be attended by approximately 40 senior media practitioners, industry executives, communications theorists and policy makers from around the world, under the joint auspices of the Department of Public Information and Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. It is funded with extra-budgetary grants from the Government of the Netherlands, the European Commission and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Panels will be held on each day of the roundtable, addressing such topics as: Global Issues and the Power of Information; New Media and Technologies: Global Access, Global Good?; Independent and Pluralistic Media; New Media -- Prospects and Problems; and Promoting Global Issues. The roundtable will discuss efforts to further expand and consolidate the realm of independent and pluralistic media, and the contribution of new and existing media across frontiers to the betterment of the human condition in the coming millennium.
Participants will include: Radwan Abu Ayyash, President, Palestine Broadcasting Corporation, West Bank; Abdelaziz Al-Saqqaf, Editor, Yemen Times, Yemen; Walter Bender, Associate Director for Information Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Laboratory; James William Carey, Professor, Columbia University School of Journalism; Douglas A. Chalmers, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs; Dominique Dhombres, Editorialist on cultural issues, Le Monde, France;
Also participating will be: Kanak Mani Dixit, Editor, Himal, Nepal; George Hawatmeh, Editor, Jordan Times, Jordan; Gwen Lister, Editor, The Namibian, Namibia; Sebiletso Mokone-Matabane, Co-Chair, Independent
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Broadcasting Authority, South Africa; Pius Njawe, Editor, Le Messager, Cameroon; Martin Palous, Professor, Center for Theoretical Study, Charles University, Czech Republic; Greg Riker, Director, Advanced Consumer Technology, Microsoft Corporation; Gertrude Robinson, Professor, McGill University, Canada; Philippe-Olivier Rousseau, Member, Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel, France; Felipe Sahagún, Professor, Madrid University, Spain.
Also: Samir Sanbar, Assistant Secretary-General for Public Information, United Nations; Prakash Shah, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations; Mohammed Sid-Ahmed, Columnist, Al Ahram, Egypt; Anthony Smith, President, Magdalen College, Oxford; Juan Somavía, Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations; Miklos Sukosd, Professor, Central European University, Hungary; Leonard Sussman, Senior Scholar in International Communications, Freedom House, United States; Scott Teissler, Senior Vice-President for New Media Strategy and Infrastructure, Cable News Network (CNN).
Also: Shashi Tharoor, Executive Assistant to the Secretary-General, United Nations; Anders Wijkman, Assistant Administrator and Director, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP; Lan Yang, Programme Host, Chinese Central Television, China; and Henrikas Yuskiavitshus, Assistant Director- General for Communication, Information and Informatics, United Nations Education, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
For further information, please contact Mustapha Tlili, Department of Public Information; tel: (212) 963-6848; fax (212) 963-4556.
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