Views on News Flow

Media Development 4 11982 vol xxix very great extent a one-way, unbaIanced Journalism School at Louidana State. traffic.' He believes the Third World can University, rejects the argument that help the flow imbalance by relying less major changes are needed in practices Views on heaviiy on western news agencies, guiding news collection and dissemina- developing their own news organizations, tion. He explains the basic conceptual news flow .and cooperating in pools. direrences between western and Third. Professor Elie Abel of Stanford Univer- World journalists are not sufficiently sity argues for greater diversiftcation in stressed in international communication- message flows and cooperative action by debates. As long as countries go their Crisis in International News: Policies and more and less industrialized nations. Abel, different ideological ways. he adds, these Prospects by Jim Richsrad and Michael formerly of the National Broadcasting differences will be reflected in their H. Anderson, Editors. Columbia Company, notes philosopbica1, political journalistic phiIosophies and systems. Dr University Press, New York. 1981:4~&3pp.-:--. ., .. issucs.~~~~~.~onp;. &?CS .mL ckq,,, Y~.millthinks it unrealistic to expect news - $12.50 paperback. matic assenions. but do not lend'thein- to flow in -a balanced way between ands selves to solution by consensus. Included within individual nations because--- Twenty-three authorities examine issues are rights of access to countries and infor- 'unevenness of flow is a basic character-. on news collecting and dissemination and mation sources within them. censorship, istic of news - and not only of news flow, policy making in this comprehensive licensing ofjoumalists. ethical codes, right but of water flow, money flow, population anthology. They represent varied view- of recenification, and demands for equit- flow and food flow.' points of developed and developing able access to the radio specrrum. Gerald Long, Managing Director of nations about the New World Information Jean d'Arcy. French President of the Times Newspapers, London, and former and Communication Order (NWICO). International Institute of Communica- Managing Director of Reuters, said, 'We Editors and co-authors are Jim tions, London. and Video-Cites, Paris, are criticized for not doing those thing Richstad, Research Associate with the makes an eloquent plea for recognition- of that we have never set out to do, cannot East-West Communication Institute, the individual's right to communicate. do. cannot reasonably be asked to do.' Honolulu, and Michael H. Anderson, D. R. Mankekar, former Editor of The Richstad explains that Associated Press Information consultant with Unicef at the Times of hrdia and fcrmer Chairman of (AP) which provides services for an-. United Nations. They stress deveiop- the Coordinating Cornmiltee of News estimated one billion news consumers, ments on three issues: impact of inter- Agencies Pool for Non Aligned Countries, receives only 1% of its revenues from sub- national communication on cultural, said a pool is the first step toward the scribers in developing nations, so news economic, political, social and value N WICO. content is designed for the western marker systems; control over communication on Phil Harris, Coordinator of the of mass media and audiences. He notes the . sovereignty; and, communication re- Research and Information Sewice of Inter limited resources of news agencies for the searches in forming new structures, tech- Press Service, argues for a structural immense task of covering the world. nology transfers, spectrum allocation, and change from vertical to horizontal Jeremy Tunstall, Sociologist at City news exchanges. communication systems in international University, London, says news organiza-- Y. V. Lakshrnano Rao, Unesco staffer in news as a long-term way to end the cause tions are relatively small and weak. He Paris, believes world communication of imbalances between South and Xonh thinks economic rather than politid- problems can be traced at all levels ro and the dependence of the former on the pressures produce a bleak future for information imbalance. Rao, former latter. By horizontal, he refers to journalist agencies as stable, global news endeau- Secretary General of the Asian Mass interaction in a dialectic process.' ours. Communication Research and Informa- Leonard Sussman, Executive Director Dr Wilbur Schramm. former Directo~: tion Center, Singapore, contends, 'The of Freedom House, New York City, once of Communication institute of the East- concept of free flow of information has observed 'developing nations' complaints West Center and former Director of generally worked solely to the advantage are real and pervasive and will not dis- Communication Research at Stanford; of the industrially more advanced appear if ignored.' He advocates further reports on studies of international news nations.' sensitizing of Americans to problems of coverage in Asian publications. He con- Mustapha Masmoudi, Tunisia's per- developing nations in getting their news tends there is no shortage of wire news, manent delegate to Unesco and leading transmitted world wide and establishment and, if anything is wrong, it must be in the Third World advocate for NWICO, cites of better links between the West and the kind of coverage. the flagrant quantitative imbalance Third World. Dr George Gerbner, Dean of the, between North and South on information Rosemary Righter, correspondent for Annenberg School of Communications at resources. He criticizes the marked media The Sunday Times, London, suggests the the University of Pennsylvania, and indifference in developed nations to prob- West concentrate on practical pro- George Marvanyi, Programme Director lems, concerns and aspirations of develop- grammes for improvement of Third for Hungarian TV, report on a study of ing countries. World access to information, a funda- foreign news coverage of 60 dailies of nine Herbert I. Schiller, Professor of mental right. She describes bitterness of capitalist, socialist and non-aligned Communications at the University of developing nations about cultural imperi- nations. They determine that Soviet California at San Diego, contends that the alism, the language barrier between North readers get more news about the US and ideas of the free flow of communication and South, and the belief that western western and eastern Furopc than readers exist only for tlic privileged international govcrnments control information flow of of those areas get about the Soviets. They and intrlinational 'haves'. He contends the news agencies. observe that 'The regions of Africa, informational flow between nations is 'to a Dr John C. Merrill, Director or the Australia and Oceania, and the Eastern Socialist countries of China, Mongolia, contends. He laments the 'gap between light of the industrialized world. Leaders and North Korea were barely visible in the decision makers and researchers' and who want to bring about fundamental world press of the 1970s.' suggests their need for dialogue and co- changes in the political, social, and Richstad and Anderson are optimistic ordination. He observes much communi- economic conditions in a country are that the world is moving forward in cation research in developing nations is labelled "extremists", "guerrjllas", or the promising policy directions and that the based on irrelevant models from indus- equivalent, while those who work for the spirit of the 1980s and beyond can be one trialized western nations. system a're characterized as "legitimate", of pluralism, harmony and positive Hedebro affirms researchers must study or "pragmatically oriented".' cooperation. They realistically note risks problems from the perspectives of 'the Hedebro foresees continued dependence are great, but are worth the effort if they weakness groups', so that development of developing nations on developed ones, develop innovative ideas, patience and can become a process of liberating the because the former will buy the techno- public diplomacy. poor and powerless. He says that in logical hardware of the latter and adopt One chapter contains the 82 recommen- developing nations, persons experience their systems of using it. Additionally, the dations of the International Commission difficulty in gaining knowledge about con- big five international news agencies trans- for the Study ofCommunication Problems ditions in their own country, because of mit most of the foreign news used by the (that is, the MacBride Commission) and travel impediments and lack of reading 200 nations, and the West also dominates six appendices reprint the Declaration on materials. He recommends mass media in sending TV programmes, movie films, Mass Media and Human Rights of the devote educational programming -to and music. The US provides about Council of Europe; Non-aligned Summit stimulating interpersonal contact, so 150,000 hours of TV programming over- Statement on Communication Issues at individuals can exchange ideas and infor- seas annually or triple the combined totals Algiers; Statement by Participants in the mation as teams solve problems. of the other top three sending nations. of Dag Hammarskjold Third World Jour- The author believes capitalism has not Great Britain, France and the Federal nalism Seminary, New York City; the improved Third World peoples materially Republic of Germany. Conference on Security and Cooperation and seeks an alternative approach not This interesting, well-written, valuable in Europe, WeIsinki; Declaration of

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