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In
depth I
The right to communicate
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The plight of journalists in 98 countries reviewed
Source:
Reporters Without Borders
Apart from repressive governments, extremist religious groups, drug traffickers, organised crime, gangs, independence movements, armed rebels, corrupt politicians and aggressive secret police all behaved brutally towards journalists during 2007. March 2008.[see more]
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As Alain Ambrosi (President of the World Forum on Community Networking) points out, the right to communicate is a demand that has always been at the heart of social struggle, no matter whether the issue has been "inventing" democracy, defending its original principles, or transforming them into concrete action based on citizen participation. As times change, geographical contexts evolve, and technology progresses, this right has been given different names: freedom of opinion, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, the right to information, and, now, the right to communication. Nonetheless, the right to communication remains a part of all freedom struggles for greater dialogue, pluralism, tolerance, and participation - and against all forms of authoritarian, exclusive, and excluding power, be it religious, aristocratic, male, State- or market-controlled.
The struggle for the right to communicate has taken on a new dimension because communication itself has become a central issue in establishing a new world order. In accordance with neoliberal market logic, the "communications era" cannot be dissociated from economic, political, and cultural "globalization".
It is not enough simply to redefine the right to communicate and to entrench it in constitutions and international charters (for example, by amending Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights); instead, it must be ensured that all social actors can effectively make use of this right. Neither is it enough merely to master new technologies from a technical standpoint; there must also be a guarantee that they can be socially appropriated and made to serve democracy. Therefore, civil society organizations face a great challenge - only by aiming their innovative practices at the long term, learning lessons from past struggles, and pooling their efforts will they be able to make use of the right to communicate that they themselves have helped to define.
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en español
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Fri Feb 23 2007
Egypt: Blogger’s imprisonment sets chilling precedent
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Telecentres
Promoting digital inclusion, social equity and local development through mutual learning and exchange.
Media diversity under threat
Concentration of media property by large corporations is an obstacle for freedom of expression.
World Summit on the Information Society - WSIS
An opportunity to build an equitable information society.
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Technological Evolution and the Right to Communicate: The Implications for Electronic Democracy
William J. McIver, Jr. and William F. Birdsall
This paper examines the co-evolution of information and communications technologies and communication
rights. The emphasis is on the right to communicate. The paper provides a historical analysis through several
generations of human rights developments of the inter-relationships between technical advances that enabled
new communication modalities and the subsequent social and organizational interests that evolved.
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Policy and Participation on the Canadian Information Highway
William F. Birdsall
The debate over universal access is focused on too narrow a concept by all sides of the argument. Furthermore, this debate continues to be an exclusive one dominated by special interest groups operating in a legalistic regulatory process. As an alternative, this paper proposes that the issue of universal access be addressed in the broader conceptual framework of the right to communicate.
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For the Right to Communicate : The battle for citizen`s media
The author states that "The market model treats people as consumers, not as citizens who bear a co-responsibility in decision-making. This situation prevents the great majority, especially excluded social groups, from expressing themselves publicly and making their needs and demands known, an indispensable condition for democratic participation. This also affects the freedom of journalists to practice their profession in accordance with a criterion of public service. Consequently, a fundamental human right, the right to communicate has been severely constrained." Paper now chapter 12 of "Alternatives for the Americas", page 74 (pdf format)
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Note on the draft Declaration on the Right To Communicate
Source: Article 19
A draft Declaration on the Right to Communicate has been prepared by C. Hamelink and endorsements of this Declaration are being sought. This note by Article 19 assesses the Hamelink Declaration both for compliance with international human rights standards, in particular relating to freedom of expression, and for the
contribution it makes to further developing the right to communicate. pdf format.
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The right to communicate. The Internet in Africa
Source: Article 19
Sally Burnheim
The author analyzes the impact of the spread of the Internet in Africa. She notes that, while providing new opportunities for social and political dialogue, there is a danger that the new technologies will create a new form of information poverty, as those who do not have access to the potential benefits become further marginalized. (pdf format)
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Journalists killed for their work in 2003
Source: Comittee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
CPJ researchers apply stringent guidelines and journalistic standards to determine whether journalists were killed on assignment or as a direct result of their professional work. By publicizing and protesting these killings, CPJ works to help change the conditions that foster violence against journalists. The death toll that CPJ compiles each year is one of the most widely cited measures of press freedom worldwide.
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Africa's media push for more freedom
Source: Third World Network
Michael Fleshman
Although the expansion of democratic practices, greater domestic and international support for human rights and the emergence of a vigorous and independent civil society have combined to improve the media climate in Africa, journalists, broadcasters and publishers are still targeted for less severe forms of harassment. PDF format. September 2005.
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The Internet and the right to communicate
Source: First Monday
William J. McIver, Jr., William F. Birdsall, and Merrilee Rasmussen
The traditional understanding of human rights faces several challenges with the development of the Internet. There is a very urgent and specific need to address information rights within a comprehensive human rights framework, specifically a right to communicate. This paper examines the development of a right to communicate and how it can be defined and implemented. October 2007.
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After mobile phones, what? Re-embedding the social in China’s “Digital Revolution”
Source: International Journal of Communication
Yuezhi Zhao
This article explores the paradoxes in the ‘digital revolution’ that China has witnessed during the last decade or so. The author describes the enormous social and cultural tensions that have been engendered by the aggressive launching of a state-led, market oriented, and technologically-driven “digital revolution” in the context of regressive developments in the social domain. The paper then reviews the multi-faceted struggles that have been waged by various Chinese social forces, in rearticulating and reinserting a social agenda in the “digital revolution” and discusses the post-Jiang Chinese state’s reclaiming of the social in its developmental strategy. October 2007.
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Organizations in media and communication |
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Communication and human rights |
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Communication and gender |
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Communication and developing countries |
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Internet censorship |
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Privacy |
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Internet standards |
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