FOURTH WORLD TELEVISION FORUM CONCLUDES AT HEADQUARTERS, AS SPEAKERS STRESS MEDIUM'S ABILITY TO UNIFY, DISTORT

Press Release
PI/1203

FOURTH WORLD TELEVISION FORUM CONCLUDES AT HEADQUARTERS, AS SPEAKERS STRESS MEDIUM'S ABILITY TO UNIFY, DISTORT

Author Arthur Clarke, Addressing Forum Live from Sri Lanka; Says Global Television Driving Force in Creation of Global Family

Global television had been the driving force in the creation of the global family and the unification of the world, Arthur C. Clarke told the World Television Forum this afternoon, in a live satellite broadcast from Sri Lanka.

Addressing the final plenary of the event, the author of 2001 a Space Odyssey and the originator of the principle for satellite communications using satellites in geostationary orbits, said that unification, however, should not destroy diversity. Television had already helped to save customs, perhaps even whole cultures that would otherwise have been lost forever. Perhaps only television could preserve the multitudinous images and voices of our time for future ages.

He added that, though there was a danger of “compassion fatigue”, television coverage now played a leading role in funding and directing relief for major disasters. Efforts were still underway to improve television images even further and to establish universally accepted standards, and that presented yet another problem for the United Nations to consider.

The two-day event -- the fourth annual television forum held at the United Nations -- brought together television professionals, policy makers and United Nations officials. Its main theme was "Mirror or Map: the Impact of Television on Peace and Development". More than 750 participants from over 80 countries took part in the Forum, including 64 speakers and panelists, participating in workshops concerning, among others, the questions of reporting of armed conflicts; balancing education and entertainment in children's programming; and globalization versus cultural imperialism. The event was organized by the Department of Public Information, with the support of Italy and Japan.

Also speaking in the final plenary, the Executive Director of the Federation of African Media Women -- Southern African Development Community, Jennifer Sibanda, said the "television mirror" was distorted. Among many distortions presented by television, was its focus on the many ills, which were blamed on Africa. Positive images of Africa should be developed, for

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that continent had a lot to be proud of. It was true that the media had given a voice to the voiceless. However, for sustainable development to take place, the people's agenda should also become the agenda of television. Without participation of greater masses, television would only offer "a talk-down communication".

Also speaking in today's final plenary, entitled "Winds of Change", were President of Groupement des Radiodiffuseurs Francais Xavier Gouyou Beauchamps; Senior Vice-President of Technology, CBS Corporation, Joseph Flaherty, and the Minister for Press, Television, Radio broadcasting and Media Communication of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Lessin.

Closing the Forum, Kensaku Hogen, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, said that the Department of Public Information would work together with television in support of peace, development and culture. The question now arose of how the television industry could best help the United Nations. The mandate of the Department was to form public understanding of the work and objectives of the United Nations. It was his hope that the delegates had gained a greater understanding of that work. If that were the case, the Forum had been a great success.

Statements

MIKHAIL LESSIN, Minister for Press, Television, Radio broadcasting and Media Communications of the Russian Federation, said the Forum had turned out to be an extremely important event, and the high level of representatives made it really impressive. Russia had just begun using independent communications media, and a legal basis was being established for that purpose. Russia was undertaking democratic changes, which had brought to life private companies and agencies. Like the rest of the world, Russian society should be allowed to take advantage of private enterprise and free means of communication. It should also be able to take advantage of technological progress.

XAVIER GOUYOU BEAUCHAMPS (France), President of Groupement des Raiodiffuseurs Francais, addressed the subject of children's programming and educational television, which had been among the subjects discussed at the Forum. Numerous programmes had been created for children, and new genres had been created to serve their needs. With respect to education, school and university, television was widely used. The second type of educational television was aimed at the socialization of educational content, professional training and distribution of knowledge. There was also cultural television, which had a very high level of requirements.

At present, there was a variety of educational missions, and technological change meant that the requirements had grown immensely, he continued. From learning to write to mastering new technology, educational television was an appropriate tool, for it reached wide audiences and its outreach was constantly growing. In practice, however, problems of access sometimes arose.

Budgetary choices had a considerable impact on educational television, he said. Computer technology had also led to the development of new programmes. A more general role was expected from television than long-distance learning. Educational and children's programmes were expected to promote freedom, human rights and responsible behaviour. The role of television was also to help citizens learn more about their civil rights.

In recent years, French programmes for children had proliferated and had become more popular, he said. Competitiveness and the need to find the necessary capital made the question of values even more crucial. Profit should not overshadow values. Local programmes for children should be encouraged. It was necessary to determine what kind of message the programmes would bring to children and what kind of future they would produce. As far as public service objective was concerned, children's public television should consider the questions of viability and objectives.

Efforts should be undertaken to teach educators, who were often unaware of the advantages of television, he added. It was important to encourage all action and international cooperation on the subject of educational and children's television.

JOSEPH FLAHERTY, Senior Vice President, Technology, CBS Corporation, said that television technology, as good as it was, had yet to fully mature and develop its potential. While its present shortcomings were manifest, television’s near- term potential was astonishing and the technical winds of change were blowing at tornado force. The roots of that astonishing change were the “ones and zeros” of digital technology. Digital Television and High Definition Television were sweeping present analog television systems worldwide. As digital techniques reinvented television technology, so would it reinvent broadcasting, cable, direct- to-home satellite systems, home video, and consumer electronics.

Digital Television permitted the audio and video signals to be compressed, enabling the more efficient use of recording media, of wired services, and of the radio frequency spectrum, he said. Thus, Digital Television was able to deliver higher quality definition, multiple program streams and large quantities of data over a single standard television channel. Simultaneously transmitted data could be either program-related, or independent data services.

Wide-screen, High Definition Television was not just pretty pictures for today’s small screen television sets, he continued. Rather it was a wholly new digital platform that would support the larger and vastly improved displays in development for commercialization. High Definition viewed on such high quality, wide screen displays, would create an entirely new viewing experience for the home, the classroom and the theatre. The quality and flexibility of Digital Television and High Definition Television would offer twenty-first century viewers a host of new and better services. The challenge would be to develop new specialized, or niche market, services to better serve the world’s population in information, education, training and culture, in addition to the classical entertainment and news.

The global transition to digital telecommunications would take some time, but no time should be wasted, he warned. One should participate in the design, development and standardization of the new service. Further investments in analog equipment would be unwise. One should make equipment plans and purchases now to “future proof” the system, and one should have one’s requirements heard by the manufacturers as early as possible.

Digital Television and High Definition Television would find application in the development of international and domestic trade, in “e-commerce”, in news reporting, in major sporting events. However, the digital tornado had produced another new delivery medium: the Internet. The Internet stood to make a great leap forward, as the present low bandwidth modems were replaced by Digital Subscriber Lines, cable modems and high speed terrestrial and satellite communications. Those advances would assure that future Internet sites would carry television programming, marrying the richness of television with the interactivity of the Internet. That powerful combination presented another opportunity for developing countries to leapfrog into the telecommunications era of the next century.

JENNIFER SIBANDA, Executive Director, Federation of African Women -- Southern African Development Community, said the Forum was a resounding success. The communications and technological environment was undergoing rapid changes. Populations were opening up to more information, and governments were under journalists' scrutiny, forcing societies to be more accountable. Global television services had enhanced the flow of information about global events. Television was an extremely powerful medium.

Discussions in the workshops had showed fears that the rich in the information sphere were becoming richer, while the poor were becoming poorer, she continued. It was true that the media had given a voice to the voiceless. However, for sustainable development to take place, the people's agenda should also become the agenda of television. Without participation of greater masses, television would only offer "a talk-down communication".

Audiences in different parts of the world were not homogenous, she said. Nevertheless, in Africa, television programmes were often pre-packaged. Some foreign material that found its way to African countries ran counter to their cultural values. Violence and sex seen on screen led to violence among the youth. The issue of culture had turned out to be a passionate one in the Forum's discussions, for culture formed the foundation for development. Development that was “parachuted” from the outside often failed, because it did not take cognizance of the culture of the people at whom it was aimed. Television should incorporate development. Culture was central to a human being and to the development process. Some initiatives were supportive of culture, among them local access television.

A narrow view of the world presented by many programmes, especially those coming from America, led local people to question their own values and culture, she said. Another issue was language, which was part of the national identity. Local languages were dying because of the dominance of imported programming. Communication tools were in the hands of very few, and that illustrated the cultural dominance. Africa was being viewed as a big market.

Another issue was the speed at which the technology was evolving, she said. That was a great concern for many African countries, many of which still used manual typewriters and had no electricity, let alone the Internet. It was necessary to take that into consideration.

A distorted view of the world presented by television was among the concerns voiced in yesterday's and today's debate, she said. The "television mirror" was distorted. For instance, many ills were blamed on Africa and that was a distortion. Positive images of Africa should be developed, for that continent had a lot to be proud of.

An element of justice should be restored, she said. Foreign programmes were also an important issue, for they often presented distorted images. Some speakers had tried to convince the audience that most viewers preferred to view "Baywatch". That could be true only because no alternatives were available. Local programming was indeed preferred by audiences in Africa.

Speaking by live satellite broadcast from Sri Lanka, ARTHUR C. CLARKE, author, said that the development of television was the swiftest technological revolution in history. There were people still alive who could remember 30 line postage-stamp-sized images viewed through spinning disks. Although today’s television images were excellent, great efforts were still underway to improve them even further and –- perhaps even more important –- to establish universally accepted standards; another problem for the United Nations to consider. Perhaps the point where further improvements would be marginal had been reached already. The limitations of the medium were no longer chiefly technical, so much as economic and political, not to mention cultural.

Recently, he said, he had paid his first visit to the West in a dozen years. In New York, scanning scores of channels, all he saw were "moronic panel shows, endless traffic and weather reports, interviews with victims of petty crimes, ranting televangelists all selling different brands of salvation, and fashion shows parading half-starved models in hideous costumes”. What he really objected to was the amount of brutality and sheer ugliness of so many programs, especially those directed at children. Together, with Steve Allen, he implored those responsible to do something about it.

However, television’s “great wasteland” did contain many wonderful oases, he continued. There were programmes that had enriched countless lives, and educated whole generations in a way that was never possible in any earlier age. Perhaps most important of all, it had been the main driving force in the creation of the global family. For the first time in history, everyone, everywhere could see their planetary neighbours, and share their joys and sorrows, their triumphs and tragedies. Though there was a danger of “compassion fatigue”, television coverage now played a leading role in funding and directing relief for disasters, natural and man-made.

Less dramatically, he said, global television had contributed to what Arnold Toynbee had called the “unification of the world”. The underprivileged millions who watched “Beverly Hills” would not remain satisfied forever with their own standards of living. On the other hand, unification should not destroy diversity. Television had already helped to save customs, perhaps even whole cultures, that would otherwise have been lost forever. Perhaps only television could preserve the multitudinous images and voices of our time for future ages.

Radio waves traveled at the same speed as light, Mr. Clarke said, a thought which might give pause to some of the sponsors. The television programmes from planet Earth now occupied a sphere more than 100 light-years in diameter. That proved, according to him, that there couldn’t be any advanced civilizations in the local neighborhood. Otherwise, the cops would already be on the way, sirens screaming right across the electromagnetic spectrum.

In his closing remarks, KENSAKU HOGEN, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, said that the Forum had elaborated on issues of great interest throughout the world. He had been asked what the United Nations and the Department of Public Information expected from annual meetings with the leaders of television. The answer was very simple: the mandate of the Department was to form public understanding of the work and objectives of the United Nations. It was his hope that the delegates had gained a greater understanding of that work. In such a case, the Forum had been a great success.

Television was a major medium of public information, and its impact was tremendous, he said. For its part, The Department would do its utmost to develop its connections with world television. It would work together with television in support of peace, development and culture. The question now arose of how the television industry could best help the United Nations. It was necessary to seriously consider that question.

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