International TeleSUR Conference: Discussion on Media Ownership and the Right to Information

International TeleSUR Conference: Discussion on Media Ownership and the Right to Information

CARACAS, May 23/PRNewswire/ --

- The pan-Latin Television Network TeleSUR Held a Conference With the Participation of Noted Journalists, Media Executives, and Intellectuals.

The International Communication Conference, held in Venezuela by TeleSUR, the New Television Station of the South, concluded on Sunday, May 20, after two days of interesting roundtable-style debates that were open to the public. Some of the topics addressed were: "Impunity and power of major media outlets," "The responsibility of national governments," "The use of radio and TV airspace as a public asset," "Social ownership of the media," and "Alternatives to the current situation."

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070523/258426 )

The conference titled "The right to inform and to be informed" was attended by journalists such as Ignacio Ramonet, director of "Le Monde Diplomatique;" Miguel Bonasso, an Argentine congressman and reporter; Michel Collon, a Belgian reporter; Ignacio López Vigil, a reporter specializing in community media; Tariq Ali, editor of the British magazine "New Left Review;" Fernando Buen Abad Dominguez, a Mexican philosopher and specialist in audiovisual discourse; and 20 other specialists. An equal number participated from TeleSUR's advisory council, such as movie directors Pino Solanas (Argentina), Jorge Sanjinés (Bolivia), Tristán Bauer (Argentina) and Orlando Senna (Brazil), and actor and African-American rights activist Danny Glover (USA). Also in attendance were executives from Canal 7 Argentina, Cubavisión, Canal 7 of Bolivia, and other television stations from a variety of Latin American countries, including, Venezuela, the host country for the conference.

During the two days, the participants drew important conclusions and came up with proposals that were welcomed by Venezuela's social organizations, such as those of journalist Ignacio Ramonet, who spoke about the power of the media and outlined an alternative to hegemonic power based on a three-pronged strategy - using national governments to reinforce the public service remit, the creation of community-based media outlets and strengthening their ties to the Internet and grass route organisation by users.

Actor Danny Glover said that in the United States, the issue of control of the media and citizen participation in the media is not on the agenda. "People (in the United States) don't participate in a dialogue that allows them to see that they have the power of information," said Glover. "We see the positions that the media take, and people should take that power back and make themselves the architects of the media."

Participants agreed to promote the creation of a unified platform of independent, community-based alternative media outlets as a counterweight to the limits to public opinion imposed through transnational media power.

As a wrap-up to the conference, TeleSUR's advisory council approved a final manifesto with the help of all of the conference participants, which included the following points:

"Radio and television broadcast frequencies are an asset for humanity, administered by national governments to promote the greater good of their peoples. No one can claim that they are the property of corporations.

Therefore, national governments have the authority to concede, revoke, or renew licenses in accordance with their constitutions, their national legislations and the criteria of the UN on human rights and collective best interest. Numerous state governments, including Latin American governments, have made use of this sovereign power in the recent past.

"This issue has nothing to do with the freedom of the press or freedom of expression, which means a clear and resounding ratification of the fundamental rights of citizens to free expression."

"To guarantee that they remain the asset of humanity, it is crucial to democratize radio and television frequencies in Latin America, the concession of which to date has favored concentration among large transnational and national economic groups, not the creation of public television stations.

We therefore applaud the recent decisions of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay to reclaim public air space. In Argentina, the cultural channel Encuentro opens a new perspective, thanks to the government itself. Brazil succeeded in creating a national public television station that involves state-owned, regional, legislative, educational, university and community television stations in a move toward democratization of radio and television airspace."

About TeleSUR

The New Television Station of the South, TeleSUR, is a pan-Latin television network that has been broadcasting 24-hour satellite programming since 2005, opening a window of communication from Latin America on the world. Its editorial policy is based on promoting Latin American-Caribbean integration based on plurality and diversity. TeleSUR, which is supported by Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, comes to millions of people in 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries, as well as part of Europe and Asia thanks to agreements signed with other regional, independent television networks.

For more information on the event, visit the TeleSUR website at www.telesurtv.net.

Source: TeleSUR

For more information: Cristina Valentín/Francisco Porras, Weber Shandwick, Tel: +34-91-7458600, cvalentin@webershandwick.com/fporras@webershandwick.com; Note for Editors: Television images are available at: Address: ftp://telesur@mpcontent.com, Username: telesur@mpcontent.com, Password: Vel28006

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Profile: International Entertainment