Global Media Governance: Reflections from the WSIS Experience

This article examines media governance - "the ever more closely entwined relations between media, culture, the entertainment industry, telecommunications, the Internet, free trade agreements, intellectual property rights and the public domain of information and knowledge, among others".

Author Sally Burch begins this discussion with the following reflection: The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), whose first phase took place in Geneva 10-12 December 2003, proposed to "address the broad range of themes concerning the Information Society" and to "develop a better understanding of this revolution and its impact on the international community". As such, it was the first global multilateral forum dedicated to discussing governance issues and policies in relation to communication, since the so-called digital revolution took centre stage. The far-reaching societal implications of the present reordering of the communications, technology and media sphere might lead us to assume that this Summit would have high-profile media coverage and launch a broad public debate on the role of information and communication in society and the corresponding policies. Yet the Summit came and went almost unnoticed by the public, and much less as something of concern to them. [footnote number omitted]

After describing reasons for this lack of impact, Burch states that "The main role of global communications policy and regulation should be to ensure that the public interest is served and to apply the necessary checks and balances to excessive market power. But given the reticence of most governments to touch the media, and in the absence of public debate, this will be no easy task. Civil society organizations (CSOs) saw the WSIS as an opportunity to reopen this debate." However, she indicates that CSOs seeking to raise awareness of the importance of media reform face considerable obstacles.

As an example, Burch discusses the efforts of the Campaign for Communication Rights in the Information Society (CRIS), which promoted self-organisation of civil society around the WSIS through working groups and caucuses. While issues such as "the right to communicate" were considered for inclusion in the official WSIS Declaration and Plan of Action by the WSIS organisers, Burch states that "The only issues on which consensus could be reached were the defence and implementation of freedom of expression, access to information including in the digital environment, and the concern that security issues should not affect freedom of expression. It is thus clear that a much broader civil society platform will be needed to defend media reform issues." To this end, she indicates that "most actors in the WSIS process will be able to find language in the final documents that they can use as support for their agendas, and to leverage support from governments and international institutions. But many other issues are absent or inadequately dealt with and overall there is little coherence. The Civil Society Declaration is a much more coherent document that - while there is room for further development and refinement of the proposals - will be a reference point, not only for the next phase of the WSIS but also for many organizations concerned with these issues in other spheres."

In light of these challenges, Burch urges that efforts be made among CSO actors to build consensus and alliances. She indicates that, despite some encouraging examples of CSO collaboration at the WSIS, work in the area of media governance remains to be done. This work might include:

1. increasing debate on possible actions, policies, priorities, and strategies in relation to the issues that have been put forward at the WSIS.
2. mobilising and networking with other organisations and actors at both the national and global levels - beginning by raising awareness of the global dimensions of these issues and how they are impacting on people's lives locally.
3. establishing alliances with organisations and movements that have not necessarily focussed on communication aspects per se, such as those working on related issues in intellectual property rights.
4. raising public awareness of the issues and understanding of their public interest implications. In Burch's words, this "brings us back to our starting point: how to deal with the media boycott of these issues. CSOs will need to develop a dual strategy: both to demand media coverage of the issues, and to mobilize public opinion through other means."