The McBride Commission, officially known as the International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems, was established by UNESCO in 1977 to address the challenges and opportunities posed by the rapidly evolving field of communication. The commission aimed to analyze global communication issues and recommend policies to promote a more equitable and balanced flow of information among nations. Its objectives included fostering a better understanding of communication problems, promoting cultural diversity, and ensuring that the media serves the interests of all countries, particularly those in the developing world. The McBride Commission emphasized the need to reduce the dominance of certain countries in shaping the international communication landscape, advocating for a more pluralistic and inclusive media environment.
India, as a member state of UNESCO, has historically supported the aims and objectives of the McBride Commission. Given its commitment to cultural diversity and its status as a developing nation, India has endorsed efforts to democratize global communication structures. India has consistently called for reforms that address the imbalances in international media, ensuring that the voices of diverse cultures and nations are adequately represented. The country emphasizes the importance of fostering a communication environment that respects the cultural identity of each nation, and it actively participates in international forums to advocate for policies aligned with the principles outlined by the McBride Commission. India’s position reflects a broader commitment to creating a more inclusive and just global communication system that accommodates the perspectives of all nations, regardless of their economic or political power.
Tag: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Decoding the Question:
- In the Introduction, try to briefly write about the McBride Commission.
- In Body, discuss the aims and objectives of the McBride Commission.
- In Conclusion, try to end your answer by discussing India’s position on the McBride Commission.
Answer:
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which answers to its International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems, authored Many Voices, One World, better known as the MacBride report, in 1980. It had the goal of analyzing communication issues in contemporary societies, particularly those involving mass media and news, considering the emergence of new technologies, and proposing a form of communication order (the New World Information and Communication Order) to lessen barriers to furthering peace and human development.
Aims and Objectives of McBride Commission:
- The research listed several issues, including media concentration, media commercialization, and unequal access to communication and information.
- To reduce reliance on outside sources, the group recommended, among other things, that communication be made more democratic and that national media be strengthened. Internet-based technologies were then used as a tool to further MacBride’s goals during the Commission’s work.
- The MacBride study helped bring about significant improvements in media and communication in the 1970s and 1980s.
- They supported measures aimed at monopoly power, the deregulation of the telecom industry, and the comparative advantage, or dominance, of media and newspaper firms.
- Even though the report had a lot of support around the world, the United States and the United Kingdom saw it as an attack on press freedom. In 1984 and 1985, they both left UNESCO in protest, but they came back in 2003 and 1997, respectively.
India’s position on McBride Commission:
- India has also played a crucial role by facilitating various meetings in different general, cultural, and geographical backgrounds. This was supported by India’s diverse language culture, and the need to preserve and share one’s language beyond the realms of culture was what made MacBride unique back then.
- B.G. Varghese was the Indian who represented the nation in the committee that drafted the MacBride report.
- In India, modern media technologies, particularly the Internet and satellite communication, have become the infrastructure, which has made possible a new global market system and spread of political, economic, and cultural ideas.
The McBride Commission Report is a significant multilateral intervention in the history of international communication. It aimed to analyze communication problems in modern societies, consider the emergence of new technologies, particularly relating to mass media and news, and suggest a kind of communication to diminish these problems to further peace and human development.
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