The Director of TVE Asia Pacific has called upon the world’s broadcast media and film-makers to make poverty a ‘copyrights free zone’.
Nalaka Gunawardene made this appeal in a plenary speech to the 59th Annual United Nations NGO Conference, held at the UN Headquarters in New York, USA, from 6 to 8 September 2006.
The conference, titled ‘Unfinished Business: Effective Partnerships for Human Security and Sustainable Development’, was convened by the UN’s Department of Public Information (UN-DPI) in collaboration with NGOs. It was attended by more than 1,600 delegates from civil society groups and NGOs from 60 countries.
“I’m not suggesting that all copyright controls are suspended. But let us at least call for an end to the shameless commercial exploitation of the images of misery and suffering that are routinely gathered from the developing world. Currently, these trade for tens of dollars a second.”
- Nalaka Gunawardene, Director and CEO of TVE Asia Pacific, addressing 59th Annual UN NGO Conference in New York |
Gunawardene addressed the conference during the last plenary session of the conference, on the Role of the Media and Communications Technology in Achieving the Millennium Development Goals. In his speech, he asked broadcasters and other electronic publishers everywhere to release copyrights on TV, video and online content relating to poverty and development issues.
Such images, when made available for free use by educators, civil society groups and development activists, ‘can help fuel social change and, ultimately, combat poverty’, he said.
“Alas, most of the time these copyrights are far too restricted,” he observed. “It’s lawyers and accountants, not journalists or producers, who now decide which footage and material are allowed to be used under what conditions.”
He added: “I personally know several award-winning film-makers who are not allowed the educational use of their own creations by leading western broadcasters who co-financed their productions.”
If the audio-visual media and the broadcast industry are to play a meaningful role against poverty, HIV, corruption and other scourges, they need to break free from this mentality, Gunawardene further said. “We must encourage broadcasters to allow greater access to their vast visual archives, gathered from all over the world.”
He acknowledged that the broadcast industry is not likely to give up its copyrights easily, but pointed out that extraordinary situations have led to extraordinary measures in other sectors. He cited the examples of generic drug production to treat HIV, and the movement for free and open source software.
Both these were accomplished amidst much initial resistance from the industries concerned, he said. “But these breakthroughs enabled a greater sharing of benefits especially for those who are least able to pay for it.”
It was in June 2006, in an op-ed article published on the MediaChannel.org website, that Nalaka Gunawardene first proposed for poverty to be treated as a copyright free zone.
Elsewhere in his New York speech, Gunawardene acknowledged the multiple roles played by global, regional and local broadcasters in the aftermath of the Asian Tsunami of December 2004. On that occasion, he said, media organisations put aside their usual rivalries and commercial interests to be reporter, analyst, good Samaritan, fund raiser and sympathiser to millions of people affected by the disaster.
Media’s coverage inspired donations totalling over 13 billion US Dollars for relief, recovery and rebuilding.
“We have since seen a similar media response other disasters, such as hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Pakistan,” he said, adding: “The enormous challenge that confronts us is how to keep alive the stories of human survival and human security in our mass media.”
Gunawardene quoted the words of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who told the world’s broadcasters at the World Electronic Media Forum, in Tunis in November 2005: “I urge you to find the words and images that will draw attention to the silent, daily tsunami of poverty, hunger, disease and environmental degradation.”
“We should persuade our friends and colleagues in the broadcast industry to get back into ‘tsunami mode’ again,” Gunawardene said. “They can then play a greater role in our struggle against poverty and human depravation that MDGs symbolise.”
The pursuit of MDG would be helped enormously if the broadcast media were to continue in the ‘tsunami mode’ all the way to 2015, he suggested.
In his speech, Gunawardene also shared some of TVE Asia Pacific’s experiences and insights in communicating development to the world’s largest region, home to two thirds of humanity including a majority of its poor.
The non-profit media organisation was founded in 1996 in response to many communication challenges and opportunities in the Asia Pacific. It is mandated to use television, video and new media to raise awareness and catalyse discussion on the full spectrum of development issues.
In pursuit of its mission, TVEAP works with broadcasters, civil society groups and educational institutions to get these out to Asian audiences. It has slogan which sums up our vision: Moving images, moving people.
Trained as a science writer and journalist, Nalaka Gunawardene counts 20 years of experience in communications, initially in the mainstream media and later in the non-profit and development sectors. He co-founded TVE Asia Pacific in 1996, together with European and Asian communications professionals. He is also a Director of Panos South Asia and a trustee of the Science and Development Network.
Photos: Courtesy Bircan Unver, Light Millennium
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