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Broadcasters'
Declaration
World Broadcasting
Unions (WBU), World Summit on the Information Society
December 09, 2003
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Statements
from broadcasters representing the world's main regions:
Fritz F. Pleitgen,
for Europe
Comments on Article 3 (paragraphs 1-3) of the Broadcasters' Declaration.
Article 3 of the
common platform of the World Broadcasting Union speaks about the vital
role that electronic media in general, and broadcasting in particular,
will play in the information society. In this new era, all of us will
communicate individually via the Internet - thus in a somewhat isolated
way. But we will also need overviews of what else is happening in
the world and explanations as to why it is happening.
In the knowledge
society, we will be more dependent on information than ever before
in human history. At same time, the need to develop individual professional
expertise will grow ever greater. However, the more people become
experts in one small area of human knowledge, the less capacity
they have to follow other developments. This means they will need
to depend more on trusted agents to provide them with this information
in a reliable and easily understandable way.
Speaking to
you from the perspective of Director General of a large independent
German public service broadcasting organisation and as a journalist,
I can testify that this is what we are mandated to achieve: Our
role is one of a trusted agent. Through our radio and television
programmes we aspire to bring the world to our listeners and viewers
whereever they are, whatever their personal background, and whatever
their economic means.
However, this
kind of task brings with it great responsibilities. Television is
a powerful communications tool. It disseminates compelling images
and important messages for 24 hours a day to millions of people.
This is why independent broadcasting services are so important:
Distanced from political and economic pressures, i.e. independent
of either media moguls, giant corporations, or governments, and
with public instead of private funding, our public service mission
requires us to provide unbiased information. It also requires us
to contribute to cultural diversity through informational, educational,
cultural, as well as entertainment and sports programmes. We are
expected to reflect vulnerable and minority interests in our programmes,
promote indigenous productions, and generally guarantee access for
every citizen in society to a wealth of high quality information,
knowledge, culture, and entertainment.
Europe, we refer
to independent broadcasting services with such missions as public
service broadcasting. This signifies that our programmes are considered
to be in the general public interest. We are not providing a commercial
service which is simply determined by the market laws of demand
and supply. In Europe, this public service is legally safeguarded
in a special amendment to the Treaty of the European Communities,
because we believe that public service broadcasting plays a vital
role in the freedom of speech, media pluralism, cultural diversity,
and democracy as a whole. In order to ensure that we properly fulfil
our public service remit, independent representatives of the general
public control our activities through so-called broadcasting councils.
This makes us accountable to the citizens for what we do as public
broadcasters.
We in Europe
are convinced that public service broadcasting can serve as a model
for the information society. With media concentration ever growing,
and globally marketed audiovisual content flooding our television
screens, we will be needed, perhaps more than ever before, to be
the trusted information agents for our citizens, to contribute to
cultural diversity, and to help safeguard media pluralism.
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