MacBride report
Encyclopedia
Many Voices One World, also known as the MacBride report, was a 1980 UNESCO
publication written by the International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems, chaired by Irish
Nobel laureate Seán MacBride
. Its aim was to analyze communication problems in modern societies, particularly relating to mass media and news, consider the emergence of new technologies, and to suggest a kind of communication order (New World Information and Communication Order) to diminish these problems to further peace and human development.
Among the problems the report identified were concentration of the media, commercialization of the media, and unequal access to information and communication. The commission called for democratization of communication and strengthening of national media to avoid dependence on external sources, among others. Subsequently, Internet-based technologies considered in the work of the Commission, served as a means for furthering MacBride's visions.
While the report had strong international support, it was condemned by the United States
and the United Kingdom
as an attack on the freedom of the press, and both countries withdrew from UNESCO in protest in 1984 and 1985, respectively (and later rejoined in 2003 and 1997, respectively).
The members of the MacBride Commission were:
The commission presented a preliminary report in October 1978 at the 20th General Conference of UNESCO in Paris
. The Commission's seminal session on new technologies to address the identified problems, was hosted by India at New Delhi in March 1979. The final report was delivered to M’Bow in April 1980 and was approved by consensus in the 21st General Conference of UNESCO in Belgrade
. The commission dissolved after presenting the report.
Because of controversy surrounding the report and the withdrawal of support by the UNESCO leadership in the 1980s for its ideas, the book went out of print and was difficult to obtain. A book on the history of the United States and UNESCO was even threatened with legal action and forced to include a disclaimer that UNESCO was in no way involved with it. The MacBride report was eventually reprinted by Rowman and Littlefield in the US, and is also freely available online.
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
publication written by the International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems, chaired by Irish
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
Nobel laureate Seán MacBride
Seán MacBride
Seán MacBride was an Irish government minister and prominent international politician as well as a Chief of Staff of the IRA....
. Its aim was to analyze communication problems in modern societies, particularly relating to mass media and news, consider the emergence of new technologies, and to suggest a kind of communication order (New World Information and Communication Order) to diminish these problems to further peace and human development.
Among the problems the report identified were concentration of the media, commercialization of the media, and unequal access to information and communication. The commission called for democratization of communication and strengthening of national media to avoid dependence on external sources, among others. Subsequently, Internet-based technologies considered in the work of the Commission, served as a means for furthering MacBride's visions.
While the report had strong international support, it was condemned by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
as an attack on the freedom of the press, and both countries withdrew from UNESCO in protest in 1984 and 1985, respectively (and later rejoined in 2003 and 1997, respectively).
The MacBride Commission
The International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems was set up in 1977 by the director of UNESCO Ahmadou-Mahtar M’Bow, under suggestion by the USA delegation. It was agreed that the commission would be chaired by Seán MacBride from Ireland and representatives from 15 other countries, invited due to their roles in national and international communication activities and picked among media activists, journalists, scholars, and media executives.The members of the MacBride Commission were:
- Alie Abel (USA)
- Hubert Beuve-MéryHubert Beuve-MéryHubert Beuve-Méry founded Le Monde in 1944 at the behest of Charles de Gaulle. Following the liberation of France Beuve-Méry built Le Monde from the ruins of Le Temps using its offices, printing presses, masthead and those staff members who had not collaborated with the Germans.He retired his...
(France) - Elebe Ma Ekonzo (Zaire)
- Gabriel García MárquezGabriel García MárquezGabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...
(Colombia) - Sergei Losev (Soviet Union)
- Mochtar LubisMochtar LubisMochtar Lubis was an Indonesian Batak journalist and novelist who co-founded Indonesia Raya. His novel Senja di Jakarta was the first Indonesian novel to be translated into English. He was a critic of Sukarno and was imprisoned by him...
(Indonesia) - Mustapha Masmoudi (Tunisia)
- Michio Nagai (Japan)
- Fred Isaac Akporuaro Omu (Nigeria)
- Bogdan Osolnik (Yugoslavia)
- Gamal El Oteifi (Egypt)
- Johannes Pieter Pronk (Netherlands)
- Juan SomavíaJuan SomavíaJuan Somavía is the current Director-General of the International Labour Organization .He was elected to serve as the ninth Director-General of the ILO by the Governing Body on 23 March 1998.-Term as Director-General:...
(Chile) - Boobli George Verghese (India)
- Betty Zimmerman (Canada), in substitution of Marshal McLuhan, then ill
The commission presented a preliminary report in October 1978 at the 20th General Conference of UNESCO in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The Commission's seminal session on new technologies to address the identified problems, was hosted by India at New Delhi in March 1979. The final report was delivered to M’Bow in April 1980 and was approved by consensus in the 21st General Conference of UNESCO in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
. The commission dissolved after presenting the report.
Because of controversy surrounding the report and the withdrawal of support by the UNESCO leadership in the 1980s for its ideas, the book went out of print and was difficult to obtain. A book on the history of the United States and UNESCO was even threatened with legal action and forced to include a disclaimer that UNESCO was in no way involved with it. The MacBride report was eventually reprinted by Rowman and Littlefield in the US, and is also freely available online.
External links
- The Macbride report Communication and Society Today and Tomorrow, Many Voices One World, Towards a new more just and more efficient world information and communication order. Kogan Page, London/Uniput, New York/Unesco, Paris. Unesco, 1980. A French version is at http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0004/000400/040066fb.pdf and a Spanish version at http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0004/000400/040066sb.pdf