Thursday, June 24, 2004
Confusion over media role still haunts WSIS meeting
By Emrakeb Assefa, Highway Africa News Agency (HANA)
YASMINE HAMMAMET, TUNISIA. June 24, 2004 An influential figure in the Geneva phase of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) demanded today that the minimal role accorded to the media in building an inclusive Information Society should be altered, calling for a new round of talks on the issue in the second phase of the Summit taking place in Hammamet, Tunisia.
During the opening ceremony of the first WSIS PrepcomWSIS meeting, Mark Furrer, head of the organizing team of the Geneva phase of WSIS told participants that three pending issues remain to be solved, namely Internet governance, financing mechanisms and the role of the media.
Furrer said, “There are three issues we still need to resolve: financial mechanisms, internet governance and the role of the media in creating an inclusive information society.”
His remarks came as a surprise since other WSIS officials, including Yoshio Utsumi, the general secretary of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and Janis. Karklins, president of the Tunis Prepcom, see the role of the media as a closed chapter. They agree that only two broad issues, namely Internet Governance and financing mechanisms are open for negotiation and debate during the Tunis phase.
Furrer, explaining why the issue of media should be revisited, noted that one “mistake” made during WSIS Geneva was to bring the issue “too late to the board” and as a result, he maintained, negotiations were “incomplete.”
When asked to comment to Furrer’s statement, Utsumi, however, denied that there would be a reopening of discussion. He said that the statement was not the WSIS’s official position and should be regarded as Furrer’s “personal opinion.” The role of the media was one of the issues where a consensus was reached at the Geneva Summit, he further stressed.
Furrer’s statement echoed the complaints of several participants who believed that some important issues, such as media and freedom of expression, were glossed over at the Geneva WSIS.
Two working groups were set up during WSIS first phase to find solutions and reach agreements in the fields of Internet governance and financing mechanisms. The working groups are expected to provide inputs to the second phase of WSIS in Tunis.
By Emrakeb Assefa, Highway Africa News Agency (HANA)
YASMINE HAMMAMET, TUNISIA. June 24, 2004 An influential figure in the Geneva phase of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) demanded today that the minimal role accorded to the media in building an inclusive Information Society should be altered, calling for a new round of talks on the issue in the second phase of the Summit taking place in Hammamet, Tunisia.
During the opening ceremony of the first WSIS PrepcomWSIS meeting, Mark Furrer, head of the organizing team of the Geneva phase of WSIS told participants that three pending issues remain to be solved, namely Internet governance, financing mechanisms and the role of the media.
Furrer said, “There are three issues we still need to resolve: financial mechanisms, internet governance and the role of the media in creating an inclusive information society.”
His remarks came as a surprise since other WSIS officials, including Yoshio Utsumi, the general secretary of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and Janis. Karklins, president of the Tunis Prepcom, see the role of the media as a closed chapter. They agree that only two broad issues, namely Internet Governance and financing mechanisms are open for negotiation and debate during the Tunis phase.
Furrer, explaining why the issue of media should be revisited, noted that one “mistake” made during WSIS Geneva was to bring the issue “too late to the board” and as a result, he maintained, negotiations were “incomplete.”
When asked to comment to Furrer’s statement, Utsumi, however, denied that there would be a reopening of discussion. He said that the statement was not the WSIS’s official position and should be regarded as Furrer’s “personal opinion.” The role of the media was one of the issues where a consensus was reached at the Geneva Summit, he further stressed.
Furrer’s statement echoed the complaints of several participants who believed that some important issues, such as media and freedom of expression, were glossed over at the Geneva WSIS.
Two working groups were set up during WSIS first phase to find solutions and reach agreements in the fields of Internet governance and financing mechanisms. The working groups are expected to provide inputs to the second phase of WSIS in Tunis.
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