FOURTH WORLD TELEVISION FORUM OPENS AT HEADQUARTERS ADDRESSING THEME "MIRROR OR MAP? THE IMPACT OF TELEVISION ON PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT"

Press Release
PI/1200

FOURTH WORLD TELEVISION FORUM OPENS AT HEADQUARTERS ADDRESSING THEME ‘MIRROR OR MAP? THE IMPACT OF TELEVISION ON PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT’

Secretary-General Addresses Forum from Istanbul, Turkey; Discusses ‘Television and the United Nations’ with Three Television Journalists

Addressing the opening of the World Television Forum at Headquarters this morning -- through a live videoconference from Istanbul, Turkey -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan said television was high on the United Nations list of new partners in the fight against war and poverty.

Timely media attention could give the world community the chance to do something about abuses or potential conflicts before they exploded in all-out warfare, the Secretary-General said. "You could help us”, he said, “and help the people of those countries, simply by staying with us -- and staying with the story”. Together, it was possible to make the world understand the United Nations better by understanding that it was their United Nations; theirs to improve, theirs to engage, theirs to embrace.

The two-day Forum, which is the fourth such annual event, has brought together television professionals, policy makers and United Nations officials to explore the theme of "Mirror or Map: The Impact of Television on Peace and Development". A series of workshops will be held on news and current affairs programming; educational programming; and the role of television in development.

The President of the United Nations General Assembly, Theo-Ben Gurirab (Namibia), told participants this morning that one television set per village, together with the programming to instruct and train, could work miracles. He called on the industry to co-produce programmes with United Nations Television to generate quality educational and outreach programming. Together, it would be possible to create a culture of peace, tolerance, caring and human security.

Television could be a “formidable instrument” in the struggle for peace and development and the battle to eradicate poverty, by providing information and raising awareness, the President of the Economic and Social Council, Francesco Paolo Fulci (Italy), said. In the wrong hands, however, it could amplify political and social discord,

- 1a - Press Release PI/1200 18 November 1999

exaggerate cultural differences and values, and promote strife and confrontation, rather than harmony and reconciliation. Failure to observe an ethic of communication could unleash dangerous and destablizing elements in many countries at vulnerable moments in their history.

The Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information and moderator of this morning's meeting, Kensaku Hogen, noted that the Forum was becoming more globalized, with over 800 registered participants from some 90 countries. The Forum provided television professionals an opportunity to discuss the link between programming and the United Nations central mission: the peace and development of the human family. Television contributed to the shaping of the social, political and economic forces that animated human affairs. Those same forces, in turn, shaped television content.

The keynote event this morning was a dialogue on the theme of "Television and the United Nations" with the Secretary-General and three prominent figures from television news: Tom Brokaw, Anchor and Managing Editor of NBC News; Jean-Pierre Elkabbach, Chroniqueur Editorialiste, Europe 1; and Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Johannesburg Bureau Chief for CNN. Panelists also took questions from the audience.

In the course of the dialogue, support was expressed for the creation of a United Nations global television news network. The Secretary-General, however, said such a network would cost millions of dollars, and was perhaps not now possible. Other topics raised were the need to package news in an attractive way, in order to engage viewers in world affairs, and the importance of securing diverse sources of information. While the impact of the Internet was highlighted by some, others drew attention to the gap between "technology rich" and "technology poor" nations and stressed that the poor had to be "wired" in order to take advantage of available information and education.

Statements were also made this morning by representatives of the Forum's sponsors: Roberto Zaccaria, Chairman of the Board of Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI); Fedele Confalonieri, Chairman of Mediaset Group; Robert Ottenhoff, for the World Broadcasting Unions; Ahmet Oren of TGRT Turkey, for the International Council of National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Yoshimori Imari, speaking for the Chairman of Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK); Reinhard Keune, of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung; and Guiliano Beretta, Director-General of the European Telecommunications Satellite Organization (EUTELSAT).

Workshops will be held this afternoon and tomorrow morning. The Forum will reconvene at 3 p.m. tomorrow for the closing session.

Welcoming Statement

KENSAKU HOGEN, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, said this was the fourth consecutive year that the Forum had been convened to discuss the challenges facing the television industry worldwide and the central role that television played in addressing critical issues of the day.

The General Assembly had proclaimed 21 November "World Television Day" following the first Forum, in 1996, which bore witness to the importance the international community attached to the role of television, he said. Previous Forums had dealt with such themes as globalization, the new multimedia environment and the future of audio-visual memory. This year's Forum was entitled "Mirror or Map: The Impact of Television on Peace and Development".

Television contributed significantly to the shaping of the social, political and economic forces that animated human affairs, he said. In turn, those same forces shaped television content. The current forum provided television executives and professionals from around the world with the opportunity to discuss the future of programme content and how it related to the United Nations central mission: the peace and development of the human family.

He said he looked forward to a dynamic and inspiring examination of the many issues that the theme touched upon. The number of participants and the geographical representation at this year's event was greater than ever before; there were over 800 registered participants from some 90 countries here today. This year's Forum would include workshops on three broad sub-themes: news and current affairs programming; educational programming; and the role of television in development.

Opening Statements

THEO-BEN GURIRAB, (Namibia), President of the General Assembly, said today’s attendance illustrated the strong interest in the theme of evaluating the impact of television programming on conflict, peace and development. In reflecting on that theme, he had asked himself how television programming impacted on one of the central objectives of the United Nations: saving lives and promoting peace and development for the world’s 6 billion people, the majority of whom lived in abject poverty.

How could television impact on people who would never see it? he asked. The current discussion must look beyond the viewing audiences in the industrialized countries, where many homes had several television sets, as well as cable access to hundreds of channels. The population of the North was but a small fraction of the population of the world. In the developing world, where most of the planet’s population lived, if television could be harnessed for education and training, its success would be unprecedented.

The power of television images in galvanizing society was unmatched, he said. That power could be seen in the international outcry and swift reaction to the crises in East Timor and Kosovo. But, that contrasted with the conflicts in Africa, such as the conflict in Ethiopia and Eritrea –- described by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as the world’s largest war this year –- which were virtually forgotten by the world, because no television news teams recorded the anguish.

Television’s immense potential must be harnessed for the benefit of all, he continued. It should be more than a medium for entertainment. It should also be about informing and training people; giving them skills to improve their lives. Its programming should reach more of the world’s people. Forum participants were the molders and shapers of what the world viewed on television, and could effect positive change on the global audience. Television images that fostered enlightenment should be accessible to audiences everywhere; in classrooms, in local languages and for those isolated by lack of resources and geography.

But, the best programming would not mean much if the people lacked the necessary equipment and logistics, he continued. First and foremost, television sets were needed, as was the transfer of technology. One television set per village, together with the programming to instruct and train, could work miracles. In local communities, people could gather and learn from television. Television had been accused of never having reached its full potential, due to over- commercialization and certain prejudices. Using it to promote social change, human security and progress would help restore its tarnished reputation. The industry could undertake more co-productions with United Nations Television, to turn out quality educational and outreach programming. Despite limited resources, United Nations Television succeeded in telling the United Nations story. Working together, it would be possible to create a planet where no one was left behind in the creation of society imbued with a culture of peace, tolerance, caring and human security. He called on all participants to chart a future course in television programming that would be inclusive and beneficial to all humankind.

FRANCESCO PAOLO FULCI (Italy), President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), said the Forum had as its goal the establishment of a dialogue between television professionals worldwide and representatives of the international community. With each passing year, for the past four years, an increasing number of protagonists from the dynamic world of television had proved the vitality and relevance of the event. The current theme, “The Impact of Television on Peace and Development”, promised to make the discussion intense and provocative.

He said the debate would focus on the relationship between television and two of the fundamental goals of the United Nations: peace and development. Social and economic development, as well as universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, had accounted for over 70 percent of the human and financial resources of the entire United Nations system. Truth was sometimes obscured, however, by the glitter and glamour of another principal organ of the United Nations, namely the Security Council. Meaningfully, however, all the previous Forums had been held in the ECOSOC Chamber, where participants will also gather for the current final plenary.

Four years ago, Italy’s Foreign Minister, Lamberto Dini, had spoken of the need to fill the gap between North and South, not only in the economic sphere, but also in the media, he went on. Thus, it was pleasing to note that so many participating delegations were from developing countries. Television, and in particular satellite television, traveled across national borders, spoke in different languages, and reached all the people of the world, without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion. Its messages were concise and effective. As the ancient Chinese proverb said, a single picture could express 10,000 words.

Television, he said, could be a “formidable instrument” in the struggle for peace and development and the battle to eradicate poverty, by providing people with information, raising their awareness and forcefully denouncing poverty and its effects. If television failed to observe an ethic of communication, however, it could unleash dangerous dynamics and create destablizing elements in many countries at vulnerable moments in their history. In the wrong hands, television could amplify political and social discord, exaggerate cultural differences and values, and promote strife and confrontation, rather than harmony and reconciliation. Those must be avoided.

Every participant had a major responsibility to assure that the news they broadcast was constructive, rather than destructive, and that it helped the never- ending quest for peace and development, he continued. In that battle, his country had long stood by the United Nations, which had given him the opportunity to confirm the commitment to keeping the World Television Forum alive, productive and result-oriented. Next year at the United Nations was the Millennium Assembly, which would be a great opportunity to launch new ideas and even more ambitious projects in the ever-growing communications field.

Dialogue with Secretary-General

Secretary-General KOFI ANNAN, in video remarks broadcast live from Istanbul, Turkey, said that while peace and development were the main goals of the United Nations, they were no longer the exclusive responsibility of governments or intergovernmental organizations. Globalization had increased the influence of non- governmental actors, including the international media, even while leaving millions of people in developing countries almost untouched.

"So we at the United Nations must find new partners in our unending struggle against war and poverty”, he said. “You in the media, especially television, are very high on our list." Could television be a weapon in the fight to win freedom from want? he asked. Could it help make the difference between war and peace? Could it transform the response to a crisis from one of inattention to one of intervention? By intervention, he did not necessarily mean the use of force, but any form of action which might prevent violence, poverty or suffering of any kind.

By drawing attention to abuses or potential conflicts in good time, the media could give the international community the chance to do something about them before they exploded in all-out warfare, he said. No less significant than the way a crisis was reported was the decision of which crisis to report. "You could help us, and help the people of those countries, simply by staying with us -- and staying with the story. Together, finally, I believe we can make the world understand the United Nations better -- understand that it is their United Nations, theirs to improve, theirs to engage, theirs to embrace."

TOM BROKAW, Anchor and Managing Editor of the NBC Nightly News, said there was a kind of continuing myth that the persistent focus of television on matters of international concern would cause the world to rise up and lend a hand. When Ambassador Fulci said the medium had an obligation to do something constructive and not destructive, that had reminded him of the greatest enduring truth -- that bias, like beauty, was in the eye of the beholder. What might be perceived as constructive media coverage in Moscow of what was going on in Chechyna, for example, was not perceived in the same fashion in Chechyna. In parts of the world where there had been extensive television coverage, such as in Bosnia, that coverage was still open to interpretation.

He said there was a symbiotic relationship between poverty and country building; the television medium and its gatekeepers; and the political leaders that made up the United Nations. Television had put Somalia on the map and that then accelerated the world’s attention. Once there was a drift away from the day- to- day coverage, policy changed and suddenly television was in the business of nation building. In Uganda, there had been a great deal of television coverage and almost no response from the rest of world. Television coverage had had a great deal to do with changes in South Africa, but only after a long period of time and only as a result of organized political pressure, both internal and external.

It was not enough just to put the picture up there, he went on. Everyone had some responsibility what television was doing. As far as the idea that the problems of the world could be alleviated by a television in every home, he pointed out that it was important that every member of society had access to information, but a television in every home often had the “Baywatch” programme on the screen, rather than programmes about poverty in the Third World, the situation in East Timor, or the conflict between India and Pakistan. The idea of a global news network, given the available technology, should prompt the United Nations to establish one. Other organizations should be thinking about establishing their own channel and going onto the Internet, a broad spectrum intensively used by so many.

JEAN-PIERRE ELKABBACH, Chroniqueur Editorialiste, EUROPE 1, said the person who defined the Forum’s theme might be a comedian. Television was not interested in peace and development. Such topics did not create an audience. Television relied on catastrophe; it highlighted pain and misery. It was a voyeur, showing earthquakes as fatal scourges to the extent that they blended together and tired people. Television was not interested in negotiations over water, or over the well-being of people. It emphasized the immediate and the irrational. Globalization also brought about concentrations that led to planetary dissemination of the same. The phenomenon was brutal. The same films were shown on large and small screens; heroes were the same. Information was increasingly struck by the same syndrome.

Public television was also forced to adopt the weapons of competition, he said. Television reproduced inequality. It created a web, but all citizens did not benefit the same way. Information from television was received as manna from heaven. Television was dangerous when it centralized, but freeing when it informed. It could make people feel guilty, and trigger awareness and acts of solidarity against crimes against humanity. The world would be blind and deaf without television. Television had the sacred power of saying “here is a war”. War comes with television and peace does too. Computers, satellites and television had all opened a new age. If accessible, the new medium would weaken selfishness.

Many had criticized the United Nations as lacking confidence and speed, he said. Its wings prevented it from walking. Yet the world needed the Organization to bring it closer together. Who could be turned to if not the United Nations? he asked. The United Nations was part of a world network and was itself a network of unequaled proportions. The challenge was not the same for television and for the United Nations. The world wanted instant solutions to crises, and those who led television met in New York from time to time at annual gatherings to express wishes and prayers.

What prevented the creation and promotion of a universal and humanist planetary television expressing the actions and ambitions of the United Nations -– a United Nations network? he asked. All peoples would better understand the work being done by the Organization. There was much good will to support such an endeavour. If the United Nations created or encouraged the development of an international television, it would have many networks. It would be a magnificent project for the next meeting planned for next autumn. Television could awaken humankind and create guardians of democracy.

CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT, Johannesburg Bureau Chief, Cable News Network (CNN), said she wished to return to the days of yesteryear, when ladies went first, because all of the good things had already been said. The media personnel had been struggling for some time to define their role in a post-cold war world, with varying degrees of success. Forums such as the present one were very useful in helping to refine that process. On the continent she now covered, the United Nations had helped that process by some extraordinary work in many African countries. Those had included South Africa, where the United Nations had been out front in documenting, among others, the growing problem of AIDS orphans, for example, or the aftermath of the Rwanda genocide, where numerous children under the age of nine had been made heads of households because of the deaths of their parents.

She said she had appreciated efforts made to get to the story of a new class of war victims -– the women and children deliberately targeted by the so-called war criminals. The United Nations had been one of the main players on the leading edge of “new news”, or that news which had filled the void left by the cold war paradigm, or the “good guys versus the bad guys” scenario. To that extent, simply by doing their job, the media had already begun to provide some answers to the challenging questions just posed by the Secretary-General. In today’s realities, especially on the African continent, nothing was “simply simple”. The United Nations, like the media, had been undergoing a process of change. As such, it was often the victim of its own missteps in the process of learning to walk in a new way in an emerging new world.

Thus, she continued, everyone had faced the challenge of having to learn to see and manage anew. The question posed by the Secretary-General had had special relevance to Africa, a continent still viewed by the media “through a glass darkly”, when it was viewed at all. Even South Africa now had a hard time getting attention for anything other than its “lingering pathologies”. Over half of the building where she worked in Johannesburg, once filled with journalists, was now filled with cobwebs. The role that television could play in Africa had been impeded by governments that were determined not to let the truth “will out”. Those governments had their own agenda, which was not always consistent with the people’s agenda. Journalists who had tried to tell the truth were not enemies of the governments, but watchdogs for the people.

Responding the SECRETARY-GENERAL said that television could be used positively and negatively, depending on in whose hands the choice had lain. It was not television, per se, that made the decision; that was made by the decision- makers worldwide. Everyone, including the non-governmental organizations, had to become engaged at the outset of a developing crisis. The United Nations, itself, had a role to play, and he was not sure it always told its story or made use of all the available means to raise public awareness when a crisis first developed.

He said that, yes, television cameras could awaken the public. At times, governments had acted or faced a public outrage because of the response of television viewers who had asked how they could allow something to happen and who vowed that something must be done. The politicians had thus reacted. But, was it the duty of television alone? he asked.

Continuing, he said Tom Brokaw and Jean-Pierre Elkabbach had made the point that television per se was not enough. Everyone had to become engaged, to work in tandem to get the sort of positive action being sought at the Forum. There should be United Nations television, a subject he had raised with colleagues in the Department of Public Information. He had learned that it would cost millions of dollars. For an Organization that was “broke”, perhaps that project was not now possible.

The floor was opened for questions and a member of the audience asked for an opinion on how a proposed global information network would make information more interesting to the public, and how that would work as a commercial and/or non- commercial entity. Mr. Brokaw said it would not do to put the Secretary-General in a bikini. While television made use of "eye candy", if there was to be a United Nations channel, it would be unrealistic to have a forum like this on television and expect people to watch it. It was increasingly difficult to reach people. Those in television worked on appearance, as well as content. If the United Nations was to engage in an effort such as the proposed global network, it would have to enlist persons skilled in making information attractive. The Organization was a repository of valuable information, but it must be produced in a way to compete with "Baywatch".

Mr. ELKABBACH stressed that, if there was to be a world civil television, it would require an autonomous legal statute, and equipment and manpower "on the spot". The United Nations probably already had part of what was needed to create such a humanistic network. Pictures should be made available through the Internet on what the United Nations was doing. There was one time frame for press and another for diplomacy; on occasion, the two coincided. Through a network, the United Nations might be able to put forward its own aspirations. Certain issues, such as science, cloning, environment and public health would be better discussed in such a medium, than in national television.

Ms. HUNTER-GAULT agreed that good television often required sophisticated production. On the other hand, she had been part of the AðRights and Wrongs@ð human rights television show for four years. A great deal of what that programme had put on the air could serve as a model for United Nations Television. Small video cameras had been given to people in the field in areas where the show could not reach. Sometimes that meant war zones. One person with a hand-held video in crisis zones had resulted in programmes that were interesting and engaging. That was the future of news, perhaps.

There had been an eager audience for the show, she continued. While some complained about the apathy of youth, the show had found that college and university students had responded with great enthusiasm. The audience was there. The presumption that people were not interested in international news must be rethought. In fact, there were people who would happily watch such programmes, so long as they were interesting and challenging.

When an audience member asked about people in the developing world determining programming, Ms. HUNTER-GAULT said there was a small but determined group of Africans who wanted to portray themselves in ways that they themselves recognized. They were eager to link with partners in the industrialized world. They, and groups like them, needed support.

An audience member asked how an open information stream could be created from the ground up, given the electronic curtain of privatization and globalization. Mr. BROKAW said it was the dawn of the most powerful information age. The Internet was not costly; it could convey information and reach the farthest corners of the world. It would empower people in a way that no other medium had in the past. In the future, the big screen would be less important than the computer screen for the dissemination and exchange of information. The United Nations and other organizations should be focusing on how they could harness the Internet.

Mr. ELKABBACH said he commended such idealism. There were countries where media technology that was Aðnot costly@ð was not available to anyone. He would like to see such countries as Myanmar open to such technology, through which the resistance movement could express itself. One per cent of the population in sub- Saharan Africa had Internet access, compared to over 50 per cent in the United States.

The Secretary-General had expressed confidence in the press, he continued. It was true that the press could be convincing. He could subscribe to the concept of "preventive journalism". It was hypocrisy to say that journalists conveyed reality. In fact, no "facts" existed by themselves. There were no "innocent" facts. With the resources available to the profession, journalists could prevent or warn of conflicts. They should not only report on events after they occurred. The world public television idea could slowly gain ground and find fruition.

In concluding comments, the SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN said he left today's fruitful discussion with several interesting ideas. He had heard it stressed that education and information were important, and so too was presentation. If properly presented and accessible, people might watch. The other message that had come through was diversity. Diversity should be celebrated and the world not become too homogenous.

Reaching out to the public through information technology would be pursued, he said. Under-Secretary-General Hogen and his Department had been conducting a study on the matter, from which he hoped real ideas would soon be proposed. Networking was another idea brought up today. The United Nations must do more of it. Also, the Organization should be open to the media and provide information to it.

He stressed that there was a wide rift between "technology rich" nations and "technology poor" ones. The means for technology must be developed. The poor had to be "wired", or they would be unable to take advantage of information and education available.

On the transformation of the Trusteeship Council, he said he had proposed that it become a people's forum where global issues, ranging from oceans to information, could be discussed. It would be a place where the voice of civil society could be heard. But, Member States had not approved that proposal. He maintained that there was need for a forum for exchange between the United Nations and civil society.

Remarks by Sponsoring Partners

ROBERTO ZACCARIA, Chairman of Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI), said he would show a few seconds of television footage filmed in Serbia and Kosovo. It was of war and destruction, but also the first steps towards reconstruction.

Following the screening, he said that citizens were entitled to impartial news broadcasts, informed by a variety of sources, as well as information that embraced a broad range of trends and opinions, including of non-citizens. That was especially necessary when confronted with issues that divided public opinion, such as war -- the most controversial of all subjects. In such coverage, a news broadcaster had an enormous responsibility to the citizens, the public, and national and international communities.

The real problem, however, was linked to the extreme difficulty during war of accessing reliable and verifiable information from multiple sources, he said. Looking back at the coverage of the Gulf War, one would see that all the footage from Peter Arnett of CNN, had been accompanied by a notation concerning its release by the Iraqi Board of Censors. Similarly, the footage from Kosovo had reminded viewers that martial law had governed news and information.

He said those examples had drawn attention to the ways in which censorship and the lack of multiple sources had defined the transmission of information during war. That reality, although widely understood, had created a stubborn barrier. One of the essential features of news was the plurality of sources; the lack thereof had risked turning news into propaganda. It had even been said that news was an instrument of war. An even more serious risk had been posed by the fact that such a skewed starting place might create a public opinion devoid of any critical elements. That could result in a simplified outlook vulnerable to all kinds of manipulation.

The recent war in Kosovo, he said, had deeply touched Italy television and radio audiences. In fact, his country had entered directly into the conflict, which, in turn, had given rise to an increased demand for information. His own news bureau was located in Belgrade, but when it was impossible to verify sources -- and technology could not help -- events had been recounted through the testimony of eyewitnesses. The RAI had also decided to devote space to in-depth news and analyses programmes, airing the views of NATO and other on-site organizations, including the United Nations and the Church.

For the first time, he added, the Internet had played an important role in war coverage due to its capacity to provide alternative views. The war, as “seen” on the Internet had enabled contacts through hundreds of e-mails generated by people both requesting and offering information. Meanwhile, Belgrade's own home page had displayed only the flag and the national anthem.

Another important problem concerned the security of reporters in places of great suffering, he said. Their safety must be pursued in order to achieve the goal of relaying accurate information. Too many reporters had died in war zones. Thus, the international community must face, once and for all, the problem of the safety of the reporters and decide that those who presented the news about wars or natural disasters and who had bravely looked for news in the face of censorship and violence should be considered protected persons, worthy of the democratic principle of any democratic society. In the last decade, 472 correspondents had died during such coverage.

FEDELE CONFALONIERI, Chairman, Mediaset, said the media could look with satisfaction at its achievements, even while it reflected on the ethical aspects of its job as broadcasters. The year 1999 would be remembered for many reasons. For Europe, it was the year in which war had returned to the old continent, and Europeans saw on television bombs falling on European cities a short flight from home, something they had not seen since the Second World War. Television had shown the latest war in all its terror and truth. The camera had shocked the entire world and provided an important lesson; in destruction and death, there were no winners, only losers and tragedy.

He said it had not been a war of generals’ briefings or the workings of intelligent bombs shown on video, but one which had been told by the technology. That had worried the propagandists, but it had provided the public with a wealth of information, including questions about the role of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Television coverage had shown the politicians and soldiers alike, as well as the abandoned widows. Credit for defeating propaganda belonged to the journalists around the world who had brought the conflict into the home. Those journalists had worked behind the lines to discover the truth behind the mystification. Was television a mirror or a map? he asked. The answer was clear; television should be both. It was a mirror when showing the realities of a war, for example, that had defied comment. It was a map when it needed to trace a path through to the historic facts and deep roots that ignited a conflict. At the same time, television should avoid the temptation to be moralistic. Rather, it must attempt to represent diverse views and allow viewers, through the use of different voices, to develop a critical awareness of events. Indeed, the media was a party to an unwritten contract with millions of viewers. It must mirror the society in which it operated and reflect the signals of change, however faint at times. The more broadcast television united in that role, the more it could give people a sense of common identity. The map would, for many yeas, constitute the added value of broadcasting.

Television had been a formidable element in the globalization process, he said. It had opened the senses and widened receptive capacities. Also, it had made the world smaller and turned viewers into global spectators. It had given rise to an intimacy, a sort of global neighbourliness, thereby creating opportunities to know other people from other countries. The Forum had established that a network of personal contacts between managers in the media could promote a common sensitivity and joint initiatives.

ROBERT OTTENHOFF, World Broadcasting Unions, spoke on behalf of the eight geographically distributed unions. He said that each was an essential ingredient for a strong and dynamic broadcasting industry. Their participation in the Forum had excited them, as it had promised to provide critical information on the impact of television on peace and development, an important topic with profound implications for broadcasters. The comments made earlier today had been motivating. The unions wanted to make television better and more productive. In turn, they needed help to ensure that television remained free from undue influence and constraints, to enable broadcasters to provide unfettered information. That was essential to their constructive role in societies. The unions, for their part, pledged to work closely with all participants in the Forum and the United Nations, as well as other international organizations, to cooperate fully on practical steps for taking action and sharing knowledge.

AHMET OREN, Chairman, Turkiye Gazetesi Radyo ve Televizyon (TGRT), spoke on behalf of the International Council of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He said that one of the most visible signs of his country’s transition had been the meteoric development of broadcasting. The proliferation of private television in the last decade had had an enormous affect on the economy. The TGRT had set a world-class standard for broadcasting by covering every corner of his country’s mountainous terrain. Its reach had also taken its cameras into the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. The broadcasters had put family first, with a strong commitment to news and current affairs in a diverse and contemporary programming mix. Its aim had been simple –- to get the entire family to watch.

Television not only entertained, but had informed in a very special and unique way, he went on. The most powerful medium on earth brought live into the living rooms the joy and agony of humanity. All opportunities must be seized to bring people together and to turn enemies into friends. Through a unique opportunity to demonstrate the common bind of Turkey and Greece -–historic rivals -- an alliance was forged with Greek broadcasters to show the agony shared by all their citizens from the killer earthquake of three months ago. In that respect, television had known no political boundaries. In the long run, his country had a great need for the continued good will of the global community to overcome that devastating disaster. YOSHIMORI IMARI, reading a message from Katsuji Ebisawa, Chairman of the Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK), said information technology was progressing on the global scale, affecting every aspect of life, from industry to art. That fact should not be viewed only as a business opportunity, but rather as a means to improve living standards.

In Japan, full scale digital service would begin in the year 2000, he continued. High vision television was the result of research since 1964, and close to 2 million households were already enjoying high vision programmes. The NHK planned to broadcast world events in high vision, such as the upcoming Olympic games. The NHK would be working with Australian broadcasters to transmit images of coral reefs laying eggs, a rare occurrence.

The advance of digital programming could result only if commercially profitable programmes were available, he cautioned. Fierce competition among broadcasters resulted in huge increases in fees to broadcast sporting events; yet, every person had the right to view such events. He drew attention to efforts to address the rising cost of broadcasting World Cup Soccer. Broadcasters must do their best to contribute to development and world peace.

REINHARD KEUNE, of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, said his foundation had for three decades engaged in activities in partnership with broadcasters, including promoting the presence of broadcasters from the South whenever important relevant issues were being discussed. With the United Nations, the foundation was studying the role of communication in peacekeeping and had recently organized a conference in Geneva, with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, on the role and function of media and communication in peacekeeping operations and in reconstruction after crises ended. The foundation was making the participation of a group of broadcasters from the South in today's Forum possible, which he hoped would add to the dialogue and result in adequate attention being paid to television for development and peace.

GIULIANO BERRETTA, Director General of the European Telecommunications Satellite Organization (EUTELSAT), said his organization was one of delivery and transmittal. With 15 satellites currently in orbit, it was the third largest fleet in the world. It was expanding into different activities. The EUTELSAT had participated in operations for peace in Kosovo, sending terminals for mobile communications, he said.

He said he strongly supported the proposal for a United Nations c