COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION TAKES UP DEVELOPMENT OF UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL RADIO BROADCASTING CAPACITY

27 October 1998

Press Release
PI/1088

COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION TAKES UP DEVELOPMENT OF UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL RADIO BROADCASTING CAPACITY

19981027 Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information Introduces Secretary-General's Report, Committee Resumes Twentieth Session

A mix of rebroadcasting and live broadcasting would build on the present pre-produced output of the United Nations and expand into a future live broadcast capacity, while ensuring a better balance of cost-effectiveness and reliability, Kensaku Hogen, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, told the Committee on Information as it met to resume its twentieth session this afternoon.

Introducing the Secretary-General's report on the development of an international radio broadcasting capacity for the United Nations, Mr. Hogen said that according to the findings of a study undertaken by Deutsche Welle, that option was preferable to two other choices: the continued reliance on taped programming for rebroadcasting, which could not ensure control over what was broadcast and when; and round-the-clock broadcasting, which would allow the Organization to report on and react to developments as they occurred.

He said the Secretary-General had concurred with that approach and with the premise that the United Nations should restart its short-wave direct broadcasting, suspended in 1985 due to the withdrawal of free air time available from a major broadcaster for the better part of the first 40 years of the Organization's existence.

He said an effort had also been made to incorporate the communications needs of the organizations of the common system, as well as of peacekeeping and other political missions, in order to create an international radio broadcasting system providing a comprehensive programme of information covering a wide range of United Nations activities. An equally important aspect of the report was its emphasis on partnerships with national and international radio broadcasting networks, he added.

However, the financial implications of those proposals, contained in the annex to the report, went well beyond the capacity of the Organization's

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regular budget, he said. The Secretary-General was of the view that the project could go forward only if extra-budgetary resources were available.

He said that, as the Secretary-General had indicated in his report, the Department of Public Information (DPI) planned to test the technical feasibility, programming capacity and listeners' interest in a United Nations direct-broadcasting system by launching a pilot project of daily broadcasts to selected regions in Africa and Europe, with the cost being covered from within existing resources.

Jose Alberto de Sousa (Portugal), Chairman of the Committee on Information, invited Mr. Hogen to introduce the report.

The Committee will meet again at a date to be announced in the Journal.

Committee Work Programme

The Committee on Information met this afternoon to resume its twentieth session. It had before it a report by the Secretary-General on development of United Nations international radio broadcasting capacity (document A/AC.198/1998/4), in which he details his exploration of ways to improve the access of United Nations radio to airwaves worldwide, bearing in mind that radio is one of the most cost-effective and far-reaching media available to the Department of Public Information (DPI). One of the goals set in the medium-term plan for the period 1998-2001 requires the DPI "to consider, in consultation with Member States and relevant intergovernmental bodies, the establishment of an international broadcasting system capable of sending information about the United Nations directly to audiences around the world".

According to the report, the DPI commissioned Radio Deutsche Welle to conduct a study of the development of a United Nations direct radio-broadcasting capacity. The study was completed in April and a summary of its findings are included in the report.

On the demand for United Nations Radio, the report says no other means of communication has proven to be more effective than radio, a quick, relatively inexpensive and well-appreciated medium, especially in developing countries. A survey taken from a sample of 100 international experts in the broadcasting and communication industry showed that 85 per cent believed there was a real need for a direct means of United Nations communications, while 10 per cent believed that existing international radio stations were sufficient. Eighty per cent also said that there was a market for United Nations Radio broadcasts and that potential audiences would become regular listeners once United Nations Radio went on the air.

Regarding current production and distribution, the report says that every year, United Nations Radio produces some 1,200 features and documentaries in 15 languages. These are distributed to nearly 2,000 broadcasting organizations in 180 countries worldwide. In addition to the official languages of the Organization, programmes are also adapted in Bangla, Dutch-Papiamento, French Creole, Hindi, Indonesian, Kiswahili, Portuguese, Turkish and Urdu. News and magazine programmes are also distributed via telephone lines and radio circuits for shortwave rebroadcast by regional broadcasters. There are also daily news programmes in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese that are fed to national networks by telephone. Since November 1997, such programmes as the daily news in English and French have been available as audio files on the Internet. News programming in Spanish was introduced on the Internet in June.

On the topic of organization and staffing of a broadcasting service, the report says that under its current structure, staffing and programming capacity, United Nations Radio focuses mainly on information generated at

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United Nations Headquarters in New York. This means that valuable information originating from other major duty stations, as well as information for United Nations peacekeeping missions and field activities of other partners in the United Nations system, is not adequately covered. A newly designed United Nations Radio should make use of those resources, with New York not being the sole provider of information, but the main distributor and organizer. Listeners should be the target audience, not the radio station.

In the future, the report says, each show should belong to one of two programme groups produced by United Nations Radio: general information programmes or peacekeeping mission programmes. The general information programmes should deal with ongoing news, information and background stories concerning the United Nations for a worldwide audience, while peacekeeping mission programmes would be of a temporary nature for a limited audience with a high demand for quick, on-the-spot and reliable information.

On comparing rebroadcasting with live programming, different types of programmes call for different production and transmission methods, the report states. Distribution for rebroadcasting, which offers material on tapes or through a telephone feed to radio stations, normally results in a delay of days or weeks after production. This method has its advantages and disadvantages: rebroadcasting means that programmes reach listeners in better sound quality, through FM or medium wave, but there is no direct contact with the audience. Also, there is no guarantee of the time of airing. Rebroadcasting makes sense in established markets with reliable technical systems, but is more difficult with partners in developing countries.

By contrast, the report says that live production is the standard means of broadcasting today. It establishes a direct contact between the radio station and the listener, thus providing an immediate and credible channel of information and communication. There are some limitations, however. The sound quality may be less crisp on short-wave transmission. Live broadcasting also calls for a highly qualified production staff because of shorter production times and therefore higher stress levels. It is appreciated by the audience because it delivers a sense of authenticity. Only a live programme can cope with rapidly changing political and humanitarian developments, offering the opportunity to address an audience in a crisis situation. With live programming, United Nations Radio would have control of content, thus ensuring that the United Nations message is delivered in its entirety. Finally, it is imperative for a worldwide organization such as the United Nations to have its own means of dissemination. A global organization needs to make itself heard directly and have uncensored access to its audience.

The report says that while the Internet is a valuable medium, it cannot be an alternative to radio in developing countries. The Internet can serve the purposes of the United Nations in the developed countries of North America

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and Europe, but it is only there for those who can afford it and who have the technical infrastructure in place.

According to the report, the Secretary-General concluded that radio broadcasting remains the most direct and cost-effective medium of communication with target audiences all over the world, particularly in developing countries. For reasons of effective outreach, the United Nations should consider restarting short-wave radio broadcasting. The United Nations Radio should also develop a dissemination system based on a combination of rebroadcasting and live broadcasting on short wave, with a daily programme schedule of at least 30 minutes each in English and French. That could be gradually expanded and developed to include the other official languages of the Organization, without any negative impact on existing programming in non-official languages.

The report also says that peacekeeping radio should be an integral part of the larger United Nations Radio network, including both programme generation and local broadcasting capacity. Peacekeeping mission programmes call for a mix of output from United Nations Headquarters in addition to locally produced material. One prerequisite for those programmes is to have reporters on location to ensure their detailed knowledge about the local situation and ongoing developments. Reporters could feed pieces back to United Nations Headquarters to be broadcast from there, or they could broadcast their material locally. Another means of distributing those programmes would be to use short wave, which would guarantee control over process and content.

Moreover, programming should be based on defined target regions and listeners' interest, as demonstrated by audience research, the report states. It should also be diversified to include more field-generated programme material provided by correspondents and stringers. The United Nations Radio Service should be restructured and reoriented towards direct/live daily broadcasting. Its technical infrastructure should be upgraded and its production and operational resources increased. It is also recommended that a controller be appointed to ensure the efficient use of resources in a live production and broadcasting situation.

Also according the report, after United Nations Radio has developed and successfully tested its new direct programme, strategic partnerships with other international broadcasters should be sought. With regard to transmission technology, a range of options are available: the United Nations could develop its own network; it could rent a full service for programme distribution combined with worldwide short-wave coverage; it could rent a service based on satellite distribution and local rebroadcasting; or it could seek the support of regional broadcasting unions and international broadcasters. Of the options, rental of short-wave transmission service combined with programme distribution, as offered by the Merlin Corporation

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Satellite network, is the most recommendable. The development of other technologies such as direct satellite broadcasting should be followed closely as a potential substitute for short wave, but feasibility and cost to the audience in developing communities have to be taken into account.

The report states that the Secretary-General concurs with the thrust and findings of the Deutsche Welle study, noting that the development of an international direct radio-broadcasting capacity remains one of the most cost-effective and far-reaching media of communication available to the United Nations, as was demonstrated by the direct short-wave broadcasts of United Nations Radio during the period from 1953 to 1985, through the facilities of the Voice of America. The agreement with the Voice of America came to an end in 1985 because of a steep rise in transmission costs which the United Nations had no budgetary allocation to meet.

The dissemination system recommended by the study has financial implications of some $5.9 million per biennium, the report says. That recurring cost, calculated at commercial rices, is not sustainable within existing resources. The Secretary-General would like to propose the alternative course of inviting interested Member States with powerful medium- and short-wave transmission facilities covering different regions to form a transmission consortium for the benefit of developing a United Nations international radio-broadcasting capacity. Those facilities would be made available to the United Nations for a limited number of hours on a pro bono or a nominal fee basis.

According to the report, the Secretary-General would also like to invite interested Member States, public and private institutions, organizations and businesses involved in the broadcasting industry and voluntary activities to set up a trust fund for the development and expansion of the infrastructure necessary for an enhanced United Nations international broadcasting capacity. That service would also be geared towards cooperation with national and international broadcasting networks for co-productions on core issues of international concern. In order to offset part of the required additional production costs, the report notes, the DPI proposes to streamline and reduce weekly tape programme production and distribution by 40 per cent, mainly in the languages of direct broadcasting. The reduction would be compensated for by a daily short-wave broadcast service in English and French, initially five times a week.

The report says that the DPI plans to test the technical feasibility, programming capacity and listeners' interest in a United Nations direct-broadcasting system by launching a pilot project of daily broadcasts to selected regions in Africa and Europe before the end of the year, with the cost being covered from within existing resources. The results of the pilot project will guide the efforts of the Department in responding to demand for the development of a United Nations international radio-broadcasting capacity.

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Statements

JOSE ALBERTO DE SOUSA (Portugal) Chairman of the Committee on Information, invited Kensaku Hogen, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, to introduce the Secretary-General's report on the development of an international radio broadcasting capacity for the United Nations.

KENSAKU HOGEN, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, said it would be recalled that during the first part of the Committee's twentieth session last May, a number of speakers had reiterated the importance of radio as a major information medium, particularly in developing countries. They had referred to the feasibility study on the development of international radio broadcasting capacity of the United Nations, which was at the time being undertaken by a major national broadcaster.

He said that in its draft recommendations to the General Assembly, specifically paragraph 30 of its resolution B, the Committee on Information had encouraged "the Secretary-General to continue exploring ways and means of improving global access to airwaves of United Nations Radio and, where possible, through partnership with other media services", and had requested him "to prepare a report on his efforts to develop an international radio broadcasting capacity for the Organization, taking into account the linguistic diversity of Member States, and to submit it to the Committee as soon as possible and no later than its twenty-first session".

The report being introduced today had been prepared in response to that request, he said. The report summarized the major findings of a study undertaken by Deutsche Welle, which looked into three possible broadcasting options for the proposed general information programme for the United Nations. Those were: the continued reliance on taped programming for rebroadcasting, which could not ensure control over what was broadcast and when; round-the- clock broadcasting, which would allow the Organization to report on and react to developments as they occurred; and a mix of rebroadcasting and live broadcasting.

The study, he said, had found that the latter was the preferred option, as it would build on the present United Nations pre-produced output and expand into future live broadcast, while ensuring a better balance of cost- effectiveness and reliability than the other two options. The Secretary- General had concurred with that approach and with the premise that the United Nations should restart its short-wave direct broadcasting, suspended in 1985 due to the withdrawal of free air time available from a major broadcaster for the better part of the first 40 years of the Organization's existence.

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He said that in preparing the report, an effort had also been made to incorporate the communications needs of the organizations of the common system, as well as of peacekeeping and other political missions, in order to create an international radio broadcasting system providing a comprehensive programme of information covering a wide range of United Nations activities. An equally important aspect of the report was its emphasis on partnerships with national and international radio broadcasting networks, envisaging a cooperative effort which transcended the scope of transmission telecommunications facilities to cover substantive collaboration on programme co-productions and dissemination. That would strengthen the role of United Nations Radio as a vehicle of international cooperation and a catalyst for fostering better understanding among different countries and regions.

However, the financial implications of those proposals, contained in the annex to the report, went well beyond the Organization's capacity for absorption from the resources available through the regular budget, he said. It was proposed that only a small part of the cost be covered through the redeployment of some regular budget resources once the new direct radio broadcasting capacity became operational. The Secretary-General was of the view that that project could go forward only on the basis of the availability of extra-budgetary resources. Those could be in the form of voluntary contributions, both in kind and in cash, as outlined in the annex to the report.

He said that as the Secretary-General had indicated in his report, the DPI was planning to test the technical feasibility, programming capacity and listeners' interest in a United Nations direct-broadcasting system by launching a pilot project of daily broadcasts to selected regions in Africa and Europe, with cost being covered from within existing resources. All efforts would be made to ensure the commencement of that exercise before the end of this year, which should provide a valuable guide in the efforts to develop such a capacity for the Organization.

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