Envisioning a New World Order Through Journalism

Abstract

Journalism and communicative democracy in general were debated intensely on a world scale a quarter of a century ago, during the debates over a New World Information and Communication Order. In this article, I demonstrate that during this period, theory and reflexive practice in journalism were envisioned through radical ideas freely deliberated in intergovernmental, professional and scholarly spaces. I analyze related themes that appeared in statements issued by Third World journalists, and in selected scholarly articles published at that time. Analysis reveals that these themes articulated an alternate, more democratic world order. I conclude by discussing the relevance and importance of these ideas and themes to the present global era.

The View From Here

“…If this meant that developing countries were denied the THE VIEW FROM HERE 301 kind of freedom of information advocated in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it also meant that information about very serious problems such as arms proliferation, famine, poverty, illiteracy, racism, unemployment, environmental destruction and disease was not reaching the people and governments around the world affected by these problems and who might be called upon to address them (ICSCP, 1980, p. 35). Sujatha Sosale (2003), pp. 377 Á9) argues that the increasing control over information and communication technologies exerted by large, multinational corporations today exacerbates the problem of international communication flows.…”

Making public life work : can public journalism be used as a tool to further development in South Africa ?

“…Although public journalism is a "western" notion, if implemented in a developing context where there are so many real issues that people need to deal with on a daily basis, it could make a difference in how governments view development, as Gunaratne (1996), Shah (1996), Sosale (2003) and Berger (2002) argue. Berger (2000) asks, "Can third world media play a role in encouraging democratic participation of people marginalized from traditional journalism there?"…”

“…Although public journalism is a "western" notion, if implemented in a development context where there are so many real issues that people need to deal with on a daily basis, it could make a difference in how governments view development, as Gunaratne (1996), Shah (1996), Sosale (2003) and Berger (2002) argue. In addition, Beckett's (2008) assessment of "networked journalism," which is simply a new name for public journalism in 2010, aptly points out that developing countries can benefit from a more involved media because citizen input does not just contribute to the volume of political journalism.…”

“…Although there was a strong divide between Global South countries and the West in terms of the debate surrounding the MacBride Commission-Latin American representatives recommended that "national communication policies should be the exclusive concern of the state, acting as it does on behalf of the national community" (Ogan, 1982, p. 4) while Western journalists opposed any attempt to nationalize communication systems and media outlets and saw this as going against the fundamental right to choose and the right to information (Sosale, 2003;Ogan, 1982)-the final report was important to the discussion surrounding communication for development and was "the seminal international document establishing the essential elements of any process aimed at democratizing communications" (Mastrini and de Charras, 2005 p. 274; see also Sosale, 2003).…”

“…The health campaign led to latrines being built, streets getting cleaned, wells being dug, and preventative measures being adhered to. Rogers (1976) notes that although the radio programs (and related print materials) focused national attention on health problems and provided information about certain ways of solving them, each of the approximately 100,000 radio forums discussed these mass media Public journalism: Locally-developed solutions to local problems While there are similarities between development journalism and public journalism, there is a distinct difference that many authors such as Shah (1996), Sosale (2003), Servaes (1999) and Agunga (1997) have written about. The similarities lie in the fact that both strive for the public good grounded in the social responsibility theory of the press (Gunaratne, 1996).…”