INFORMATION'S POWER SHOULD BE HARNESSED TO STRUGGLE FOR PEACE, DEVELOPMENT, SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS UN WORLD TELEVISION FORUM

19 November 1997

Press Release
PI/1041

INFORMATION'S POWER SHOULD BE HARNESSED TO STRUGGLE FOR PEACE, DEVELOPMENT, SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS UN WORLD TELEVISION FORUM

19971119 Television in New Multimedia Environment Theme of Three-day Session; Italy's Foreign Minister, Chairmen of RAI, Mediaset Also Address Opening

Addressing the opening of the second United Nations World Television Forum this morning, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said its participants were beginning a global conversation to discover new ways of making television an agent for change, a medium for widening understanding and a tool for broadening horizons.

The Secretary-General said the challenge was to make information available to all and to harness the power of information to the global struggle for peace and development. For too long, economic inequality and fear of freedom had prevented the large majority of men and women from taking advantage of the bounty of knowledge provided by the information revolution. The United Nations was working to develop a relationship of openness and mutual trust with television.

Leaders from the broadcast industry are taking part in the three-day Forum, whose theme is "Television in the New Multimedia Environment". It is organized by the Department of Public Information (DPI) and co-sponsored by Italy's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI) and Mediaset. Among the topics scheduled for discussion are: "Visions for the Future"; "The New Multimedia Environment"; "New Scenarios in Television: Quality, Quantity and Access"; "Programming for People"; "New Challenges for International Cooperation".

Also addressing the opening this morning, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Italy, Lamberto Dini, said television's contribution to a more stable and just world could be summarized in three words: freedom; solidarity; and responsibility. Human rights were universal and could not be hemmed in by geographic, political or ideological borders. Major assaults on fundamental freedoms could only be nurtured by silence, which was why they must be given the greatest possible coverage. Television could monitor the conduct of those in power, who could no longer shield themselves behind claims of national sovereignty.

The Chairman of Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI), Enzo Siciliano, said the Forum was now turning into a repeat engagement and World Television Day had also become a reality. In one year, television as a means of mass communication had undergone significant changes. Yesterday's projects had become today's concrete conditions and a constantly updated thought process was now required. Television itself must know how to change. It must interpret ever-growing complexities and remain useful for social and economic development.

The Chairman of Mediaset, Fedele Confalonieri, said television could not solve the world's problems, but it could help improve the union between people by guaranteeing independent and accessible communication. Television must reflect the best of human values and, whether private or State-owned, be a service to the public. It gave the viewer a sense of participating in unfolding human events and provided a link and a social bond between men and nations. That social and civic potential gave television its dignity, which was implicit in the interest and support of the United Nations.

Opening the Forum, the Assistant Secretary-General for Public Information, Samir Sanbar, said the Secretary-General was spearheading a fresh strategic approach by the United Nations to place communications at the heart of its work and to consolidate a public information culture within the Organization. The Forum also reflected a determination to make the United Nations a more open organization where the media was a partner and an ally.

Participants in the three-day Forum will include: Dan Rather, Managing Editor, CBS News; Rupert Murdoch, Chairman, News Corporation; Zwelackhe Sisula, Group Chief Executive, South African Broadcasting Corporation; Jan Mojto, President, Association of Commercial Television of Europe; Jean-Bernard Munch, Secretary-General, European Broadcasting Union; Lary Loeb, President, North American National Broadcasters Association; and Hassan Hamed, President, Union of National Radio and Television Organization of Africa.

Statement by Secretary-General

KOFI ANNAN, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, said that participants in today's Forum had come as leaders who would determine the shape of the television industry in the next century. During the Forum, they would open channels of closer collaboration between the regions and cultures they represented. In doing so, they will promote greater understanding and tolerance among their audiences and peace among nations. They will begin a global conversation that will discover new ways of making television an agent for change, a medium for widening understanding and a tool for broadening horizons.

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The United Nations was convinced that information had a great democratizing power waiting to be harnessed to the global struggle for peace and development, he said. Citizens were gaining greater access to information, and the spread of information was making accountability and transparency facts of life for any government. New technology that was simpler to use at a fraction of the cost held out the possibility of a new, truly global information order and had the potential to truly democratize television news. Developing countries, smaller news-gathering organizations and independent companies all stood to benefit.

He paid tribute to those who had helped keep stories of human hardship and injustice in the public mind. When attention might otherwise have flagged, the Bosnias, the Great Lakes, the Ethiopian famines of this world stayed in the consciences of citizens and governments alike in no small measure because of television. Increasingly, the media was not waiting for blood to start flowing to find stories. He hoped that, increasingly, the media would not leave conflict zones once ceasefire agreements were signed.

He said the challenge now was to make information available to all. For too long, economic inequality and fear of freedom had prevented the large majority of men and women on the planet from taking advantage of the bounty of knowledge provided by the information revolution. The United Nations was working to develop with television a relationship of openness and mutual trust. The United Nations should not call on the media only when it was needed. The United Nations, for its part, promised to offer transparency, honesty and access to truth in all that it did. With the help of television, a light could be shined into ever more pockets of intolerance. There was nothing those dark recesses feared more than light. Through television, the world could be brought alive, so that all people might care about it enough to help make it a better place. With the power of television, the young could be the first to benefit from such knowledge, and television could then be made their partner in the pursuit of a better future. Those in television should help use that power to achieve a better world for the young and for those who come after them.

Statements

LAMBERTO DINI, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Italy, said the Forum was an important juncture in the United Nations search for strategies and instruments to bring the Organization into the new millennium. The strategies involved resources, procedures and institutions. The possible contribution of television and multimedia to a more stable and just world could be summarized in three words: freedom; solidarity; and responsibility.

The world needed constant affirmation of freedom, and television was the ideal vehicle for that purpose, he said. It offered instant communication in

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every corner of the world. Human rights were universal and could not be hemmed in by geographic, political or ideological borders. Major assaults on fundamental freedoms could only be nurtured by silence, which was why they must be given the greatest possible coverage. Television was the perfect synthesis of word and image. In an often distracted world, it could deliver the most perceivable and democratic message. The broadcasting of images could force injustice and tyranny to retreat. One of the first tasks that should be assigned to television was a constant monitoring of the conduct of those in power, who could no longer shield themselves behind claims of national sovereignty.

The information revolution must also serve the poor, he said. Television was often a window on the privileged world and could influence the movement of populations. Communications were essential to sustainable development and also to education and professional training. Television could be a tool of prevention and cure for transnational problems, especially the war on drugs. It would be useful before or during the United Nations special session on drugs next June to set aside a day dedicated to reflecting on the media's role in preventing and fighting the scourge of drugs. Television could be the instrument of a new solidarity for sustainable development, literacy and the prevention of natural catastrophes by bringing people and countries closer together, or by condemning religious wars or clashes between civilizations.

Television must also be responsible, he said. People had a bad habit of criticizing television, when in reality, like every revolution, television provided opportunities and risks. Television was the focal point of contemporary politics, influencing the choices of both the electorate and those who governed. That fact conferred an enormous responsibility on its leaders and all the participants attending the Forum. Four out of five Americans voted on the basis of what they saw on television.

The next century would be a time of free circulation of ideas and information, he said. The United Nations was helping lay down the rules for coexistence in the new era. Television could radically alter the world. Attracted by its images and the hope of a better life, refugees risked the uncertainties of the open sea and crawled under the fences of borders. Television could also help restructure the world and its rules. That task could be made much easier with the help of the leaders of the television industry.

ENZO SICILIANO, Chairman of the Board of Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI), said he was pleased that last year's initial "experiment" was now turning into a repeat engagement. World Television Day, proposed last year, had also become a reality and he was pleased that it had drawn other Italian partners, such as Mediaset. In just one year, the development of the means of

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mass communication, of television, had undergone significant changes. Yesterday's projects had become today's concrete conditions, which required a constant updating of thought processes.

This year, two studies were presented as in-depth contributions to the Forum. The first was devoted to models of convergence among computers, telecommunications and television in the various regions of the globe. The second was devoted to the problems of programming throughout the world, with case studies that had been successful, in varying degrees, in characterizing the activity of public broadcasting.

Television must know how to change, he said. It must interpret ever- growing complexities and remain useful to social and economic development. In the era of digital multiplication, television, faced with the problems of quality and access to supply, must both simplify and diversify. That meant that television was like a pencil. Simple -- something that could be used by everyone -- and useful for representing the most varied requirements and needs for information, knowledge, instruction and recreation. Television was like a small prosthesis for man, a nimble tool. Thus, a monumental broadcasting system would carry out its fundamental function as a conveyor of the values of freedom, democracy and peace precisely by making itself small, easy and useful.

Drawing on his own work, he said for years he had used a computer to write. "I use the computer; it doesn't replace me", he noted. Television must be something similar, useful to all in its communicative function. It must not be a substitute for reality or the illusory undertow of reality.

FEDELE CONFALONIERI, Chairman of Mediaset, said the world was on the verge of a new era. That era would be comparable to the opening of new physical communication routes during the first millennium, which led to the freer movement of goods and ideas and a breakdown in the isolation that was characteristic of the medieval world. The new roads would be those of the electronic communications and would be the most efficient means of encouraging and sustaining a new period of civilization.

So far, globalization had mainly been of an economic and financial nature and the dramatic distance between divisions and areas of isolation remained, he continued. Television could not solve the world's problems. It could, however, contribute to improving the union between people by guaranteeing independent and accessible communication. That could have an enormous impact. It was easier for barbarity to flourish in isolation and difficult for it to resist exposure. Those who were conscious of the liberty of others aspired to the same. The Forum could help facilitate the exchange of ideas and cultures.

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He said just about anything could travel on the television highway; excellence and mediocrity, good things and bad. The Forum was a clear indication of a sense of responsibility and indicated the determination of the television world to improve what was broadcast. Television must provide positive images and give space to what was best in cultures. It was viewed with suspicion by intellectuals and was loved and hated by politicians, but it had made decisive contributions to improving the quality of people's lives.

The medium had been criticized for not having done more and there was considerable ambivalence about its value, he said. It was sometimes claimed that television, especially companies like RAI and Mediaset, was all- absorbing. While the viewer had a sense of participating in unfolding human events, television also provided a link and a social bond between men and nations. That social and civic potential gave television its dignity, which was implicit in the interest and support of the United Nations.

At its best, television could encourage and invite the viewer to look elsewhere for answers beyond the virtual to the real -- to questions concerning his relationship with the world, he said. That was an implicit guarantee against the risk of manipulation. The public was not uncritical and viewers had developed an ability to defend themselves from wilful corruption of the truth. The success of television was ultimately determined by the level of public confidence. Television must reflect the best of human values and, whether private or State-owned, be a service to the public.

The Forum should become less a celebration and more an opportunity to verify progress, providing each year a detailed analysis of the way the world's media system was moving, he said. It might even be possible to create a permanent observatory to monitor the relationship between the media system and human rights, which could be reference point for industry self-regulation. A kind of general assembly for television for the world's broadcasters -- operating freely within the world's highways of communication -- could ensure they remained independent and a vital element in the promotion of knowledge and union between people.

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