Geneva, 9 December 2003
Community media demand real “access for all”. The “access for all” slogan rings hollow for community and alternative media groups at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). Together with other civil society organisations, gathering in Geneva, they will reject the official Declaration and Action Plan to be negotiated at the United Nations sponsored summit.
For two years leading up to the summit, civil society organisations have been fighting for recognition and support. Community media groups such as AMARC (World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters), ALER (Asociación Latinoamericana de Educación Radiofonica) and Deep Dish Community Access Satellite Network have put forward proposals for governments to open up their airwaves and to allocate frequencies and channels for civil society and community based organisations to provide an alternative to mainstream public and private media.
New forms of community and alternative media are springing up in all continents of the world. Their real life stories will be present throughout the exhibitions, seminars and other events of the WSIS. Yet, despite the official rhetoric of “access for all”, community media are not to be found in the official WSIS texts.
This is why the community media working group, together with other civil society groups at WSIS, will not endorse the official governmental Declaration and Action Plan. Instead they have produced their own vision for a world in which information and communication is increasingly central. This “Civil Society Declaration” at the WSIS recognizes that community media have “a particular role to play in enabling access to and participation for all in the information society, especially the poorest and most marginalized communities.” “That we were suppressed from the official WSIS documents shows the lack of real commitment to civil society by governments at the WSIS,” says Steve Buckley, convenor of the Community Media Working Group and President of AMARC. “We have been creating local content, promoting human rights, building gender equality, and supporting sustainable development.
Community and alternative media have many success stories showing another information society is possible. We will continue to fight, at local, national and international, for removal of political, regulatory and economic barriers to community media.”
Press point: Friday Dec 12, 13.00 at the Community Media Forum, Palexpo, Conference Center, Room Salève
Contact/Spokespeople: Steve Buckley e.steve@commedia.org.uk
