Abstract
The New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) have attracted substantial scholarly attention and received several book-length treatments. None of the existing literature, however, has made an attempt to bring these two major events in the global history of international communication together and provide a comprehensive analysis of the continuities and discontinuities between them. This is the niche that Divina Frau-Meigs and co-editors sought to fill with their edited collection.
The book is divided into three sections, each focusing on a distinct period in the history of global media policies. The first section maps the key developments that gave rise to the NWICO and the controversies surrounding it, discusses the role of the key international actors including UNESCO, the International Telecommunications Union, the United Nations and the international news agencies, as well as provides a useful genealogy of debates surrounding key concepts such as the ‘right to communicate’ and the ‘free flow of information’.
The second section, focusing on the period between the 1980s and 2000, is possibly the most original and insightful. It deals with a period marked by major political changes as well as key developments in information and communication technologies that displaced the NWICO’s agenda and brought fundamental changes to political discourses surrounding information and communication. Julia Pohle’s contribution traces the shift from a techno-deterministic perspective on informatics to a more socially sensitive perspective that sees information technology as an instrument of human interaction, while Robin Mansell provides an overview of the changing notions of development in discourses of major international organizations.
The last section tackles developments after 2000, tracing the continuities between the WSIS and NWICO and identifying the emergence of new issues and actors in the realm of global media policy. Particular attention is paid to the rise of civil society actors, ranging from various non-governmental organizations to labour unions, artists and researchers. This section also provides a useful introduction to some of the ongoing processes of change affecting the socioeconomic arrangements, legislation and regulation of international communication flows.
A particularly valuable feature of this book is the inclusion of testimonials written by ‘witnesses from the past’ – activists, politicians and policy makers who were themselves involved in the two events. These include Alain Modoux, one of the Assistant Director-Generals of UNESCO, Mustapha Masmoudi, former Minister of Information of Tunisia at the time of the NWICO and member of the McBride Commission, and Hıfzı Topuz, president of the Union of Journalists in Istanbul and member of the Turkish National Commission for UNESCO. Contributors also include several academics that played a key role in the events, such as Divina Frau-Meigs, who served as the vice-president of the International Association for Media and Communication Research during the WSIS, and Kaarle Nordenstreng, president of the International Organization of Journalists at the time of the NWICO.
From NWICO to WSIS will provide a valuable resource for anyone interested in the historical background of contemporary controversies surrounding information and communication technologies and their global regulation, including not only academics but also policy makers. Given its global remit the collection also makes a contribution to ongoing efforts to ‘de-westernize’ media and communications research.