THIRD WORLD TELEVISION FORUM CONCLUDES AT HEADQUARTERS, AFTER ADDRESSING 'FUTURE OF AUDIO-VISUAL MEMORY'
Press Release
PI/1098
THIRD WORLD TELEVISION FORUM CONCLUDES AT HEADQUARTERS, AFTER ADDRESSING 'FUTURE OF AUDIO-VISUAL MEMORY'
19981120 Deputy Secretary-General, Closing Session, Urges Responsible Use of Media's Power, Warns of 'Information Gap'Closing the third United Nations World Television Forum this afternoon, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette said technical change had greatly increased the collective power of the media and she hoped that the Forum had helped perticipants think about how to use that power responsibly.
The Deputy Secretary-General added that the challenge now was to make information available to all. For too long, ordinary people in many countries were kept in ignorance, prisoners of poverty and fear. Even today, as the poverty gap widened, the information gap was becoming yet another line between the haves and the have-nots. With the media's help, "we can build a planet on which no one is left behind", she said.
The two-day Forum focused on the theme, "The Future of Audio-visual Memory: Looking at the 20th century -- Towards the 21st century". Summarizing the issues addressed by some 120 speakers at six panel discussions, Carlos Santori, Vice Chairman, RAISAT S.p.A, and Secretary-General of PRIX ITALIA, said this afternoon that the Forum had presented many wonderful ideas and there were also many differences in opinion and outright contradictions. But, it was beautiful to see people who were in fierce competition outside the walls of the United Nations, come together for the common goal of a better information society.
Also addressing this afternoon's closing session, Yukio Satoh, Permanent Representative of Japan, said that all too often in a rapidly changing world, today's crisis became tomorrow's fading memory. The past, however, had valuable lessons to teach, as did events that were happening elsewhere in the world. The media could play a useful role by providing historical context and suggesting the broader implications of the news events they covered. He hoped the United Nations would continue to engage in similar exchanges with the media so as to ensure that its roles, purposes, and activities were well understood by the world's public.
Francesco Paolo Fulci, Permanent Representative of Italy, said that the Forum had succeeded in starting a global dialogue on how to make information a
force for change and a tool for prosperity. In the year 2000, the United Nations would witness an event that would have deep impact and significance -- the Millennium Assembly. In relation to that, there could be a World Television Forum of the Millennium. It would be dedicated to realizing the Secretary-General's notion of global partnership in the field of information and communication.
Moderating the closing session was Kensaku Hogen, Under-Secretary- General for Communications and Public Information of the United Nations, who said the topics discussed would certainly enhance developments in the future and lead to further progress in television and communications.
Organized by the Department of Public Information (DPI), with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy and the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations, the World Television Forum is sponsored by RAI -- Radiotelevisione Italiana, the International Council of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), the Mediaset Group, France Télévision and NHK Japan television. Co-sponsors include EUTELSAT, the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) and TV5, the French-speaking Worldwide Satellite Television.
Panels during the Forum focused on such topics as: the dialogue between the past and present in narrative film-making; the preservation of video images; access to the audio-visual heritage; consumption and abuse of reality in the multimedia environment; the convergence between television and the Internet; the impact of digital television on programmes; and the role of new technologies.
Statements
Moderating the session, KENSAKU HOGEN, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information of the United Nations, said the Secretary-General noted in his opening statement that it was crucial that the international community learned new ways to manage change for the good of humanity. The world must work to uphold the values of peace and security for all. Television and the United Nations were born at the same time in history and they had grown up together. Both institutions had grown in importance and they faced increasingly greater responsibilities. The topics discussed during the Forum would certainly enhance developments in the future and lead to further progress in television and communications.
CARLOS SANTORI, Vice Chairman, RAISAT S.p.A, and Secretary-General of PRIX ITALIA, summarized some of the topics addressed by some 120 speakers during the two-day Forum. He said the responsibilities of television, its
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social and cultural role, the values underlying its impact, and, at the same time, the growing power of the viewer to choose from an ever-increasing multitude of channels and services had been highlighted by several speakers at the opening of the Forum.
During the dialogue by film makers, he continued, Martin Scorsese had said the world was losing a race against time to preserve its precious cinematic history. He implored the world to mobilize to preserve the moving image. Participants were also reminded that the films of the past were alive in the creative artists of the present. Cinema must be considered a cultural treasure and its preservation must not be left to only a small group of pioneers, but rather must be protected by governments and by society, as a whole.
He said that another panel focused on the problem of choosing which video images should be preserved for prosperity. The world was drowning in audio-visual material and people must use their intelligence and sense of history when selecting and preserving. There should be standards and criteria set for materials to be preserved. In the panel on access to audio-visual heritage, it was stressed that audio-visual production reflected and supported cultural identity and diversity. It, therefore, constituted a vital part of the world's historical heritage, which should be available not only for commercial use, but also for scientific and research purposes. The public also had the right to access audio-visual archive material.
During a panel on consumption and abuse of reality in the multimedia environment, he said the moderator told the audience that real voices were being drowned out by news. It was increasingly difficult to distinguish real news from noise and people were submerged in a flood of information. The media, and television in particular, were capable of explaining events accurately, but they were also capable of dangerously misrepresenting reality. In another panel, it was said that television and the Internet were slowly but surely converging. The question remained, however, exactly how and to what degree that convergence would take place. Panellists agreed that such a convergence would bring the viewer a richer, more intelligent and interactive experience.
As a final observation, he said the Forum had presented many wonderful ideas and there were also many differences in opinion and outright contradictions. But, it was beautiful to see people, who were in fierce competition outside the United Nation's walls, come together for the common goal of a better information society.
YUKIO SATOH (Japan) said the Forum, the third to have been held at the United Nations, had been a great success. As the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, had pointed out at the opening session, there was a regrettable tendency by both the audio-visual and printed media to cut back
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on the coverage of international news. He hoped the media would reverse that trend, for in an increasingly interdependent world, "we cannot afford to be ignorant of events beyond the borders of our country". He also wished to ask the media to realize anew their capacity to educate and enlighten audiences.
All too often in a rapidly changing world, today's crisis became tomorrow's fading memory, he continued. The past, however, had valuable lessons to teach, as did events that were happening elsewhere in the world, even today. "We disregard these lessons at our peril", he added. The media could play a useful role, by providing the historical context and suggesting the broader implications of the news events they covered. He hoped the United Nations would continue to engage in similar exchanges with the media, to ensure that its roles, purposes, and activities were well understood by the world's public. Japan would be ready to extend its support to such endeavours.
FRANCESCO PAOLO FULCI, (Italy) said that in his report to the Committee on Information last April, the Secretary-General confirmed that communications belonged at the centre of the Organization's efforts to open up to the outside world. The Secretary-General reiterated that "building partnerships is one of the central priorities of the Department of Public Information", and "partnership with media organizations is an essential focus of the new orientation of communication policies".
In that respect, he said, Italy and the United Nations had moved at the same pace, sharing the same objectives of creating at the Organization a permanent forum for discussion and analysis of such issues as communication technology, the role of the media in society, convergence, audio-visual memory and the preservation of archives. That had been done out of the conviction that "this quest will bear long-term benefits and results." The theme of the present forum -- preservation -- was one of the major challenges facing television today.
He said the forum had succeeded in starting a global dialogue on how to make information a force for change and a tool for prosperity. As the Secretary General said, "we must, and we will, make knowledge and information our partners for progress, because today it has also become clear more than ever that development depends more and more on the capacity to forge a new, global partnership for information". In the year 2000, the United Nations will witness an event that will have deep impact and significance: the Millennium Assembly. "Can't we envisage a World Television Forum of the Millennium, to be held on that same occasion, dedicated to realizing the Secretary General's notion of global partnership in the field of information and communication"? he asked.
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He said a great Arab historian of the Middle Ages, Ibn Khaldun said that civilizations declined if they lost their capacity to comprehend and absorb change. "Let this reflection be our guide", he added.
In a closing statement to the Forum, LOUISE FRECHETTE, Deputy Secretary- General, said from a United Nations point of view, the round-the-clock, "real time" news coverage was a mixed blessing. "Sometimes it gives us an extra few hours warning of an impending crisis. But, by the same token, it gives us less time for reflection before we react". Also, the glare of publicity often encouraged the parties in a crisis to adopt public postures that rendered subsequent compromise more difficult.
Technical change had greatly increased the collective power of the media, she continued, adding that she hoped the deliberations during the two- day Forum had helped participants think of how to use that power responsibly. "We are all in danger, these days, of suffocating under a deluge of information. Our chance of emerging from that deluge as better-informed citizens and decision makers depends in large measure on the service you give us". That applied not only in the area of peace and security. Better communication could also help alleviate poverty.
She said better communications could also promote global solidarity, by bringing the plight of the poorest into the world's living rooms. The media made possible exciting new approaches to education and learning at all levels. Improved communications infrastructure could help link developing countries to the global economy. Advanced media enterprises could also help those countries acquire the know-how and experience they needed to be contributors, not passive spectators, in the "information age". That in turn put the media in a strong position to take a stand for freedom of communication against censorship.
She said new technologies had a built-in individualism and pluralism, which, in the long run, favoured freedom. They had helped produce a new era in which the United Nations could openly promote democracy and human rights, without being accused of overriding national sovereignty or of favouring one geopolitical camp against another. The challenge now was to make information available to all. For too long, ordinary people in many countries were kept in ignorance; prisoners of poverty and fear. Even today, as the poverty gap widened, the information gap was becoming yet another line between the haves and the have-nots, between those forging new paths to development and those left behind. "With your help, ladies and gentlemen of the media, we can build a planet on which no one is left behind", she added.
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