Listed below are the foreword page and the table of contents.

Foreword

The term Information Society has been coined to refer to communities in which there is ready access to information and knowledge, leading to sustainable and equitable opportunities for growth and progress. In an Information Society, there is free flow of two-way communication between governments and their people, and among the people themselves. In such a society, everyone is informed of current affairs, especially those affecting them directly; and everyone has the ability to make his or her voice heard. Hence, everyone has a say in shaping socio-economic plans and strategies of national relevance.

So, what does the media have to do with such an Information Society?

Without exaggeration, everything! In an Information Society, communication has to reach the masses. It has to seep down to the grass-roots level  to fishing villages by the sea, hamlets on mountainsides and even to remote nomadic settlements wherever they may exist. But it cannot be merely a one-way transfer. Community needs and aspirations, culture and values, indigenous wisdom and experience have to filter up to policy makers and other stakeholders in order for communication to truly improve peoples quality of life.

The most cost-effective way of achieving such widespread communication is through the mass media, and especially the radio. Of all forms of media  both traditional and new  radio has by far the most pervasive reach. People living in rural areas in many countries in Asia, Africa,
Latin America and the Caribbean, depend heavily on the radio to connect them to the bigger world outside.

The potential of newer forms of media  such as the Internet  in non-urban areas is also there. However, these forms of media have not as yet made their way to a large enough area beyond major towns and cities to have significant mass impact. The concentration of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in urban enclaves, as we all know, has led to the digital divide which neatly splices the world into its haves and have-nots.

Once again, traditional mass media can make a difference. Radio, television and newspaper journalists can make a bigger effort to educate those on the other side of the digital divide about ICTs and how they can be used to improve standards and quality of living in hitherto neglected areas. There is as yet very little reporting on ICTs and their long-term potential and consequences in the traditional media. Yes, superficial news on the launch of an updated version of some hot technology will make the pages of newspapers, but in-depth, analytical and thought-provoking pieces on the impact of ICTs on development do not often appear. As a purveyor of information and change, the mass media has a duty to shine the spotlight on this potent tool and agent for global change.

The Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) has, since its establishment, advocated the use of ICTs to catapult growth and progress of developing nations. However, we realise that ICTs on their own are not enough. ICTs depend, for the time being anyway, on the mass media to create greater awareness of the potential benefits that can be derived from it. In order to promote a higher level of awareness among journalists of ICTs and their ramifications, and to motivate a higher standard of reporting on these, GKP along with one of its members, Panos  a global network of NGOs working with the media  launched the GKP/Panos Media Awards in 2003, a few months before the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva, December 2003.

There are admittedly certain challenges that the mass media has to overcome if it is to fulfill its grass-roots duty. Over the last decade and a half, media around the world has grown in number and acquired greater freedom with regard to content. This has been due to a gradual liberalisation of the various forms of media, as well as erosion of traditional government monopolies. At the same time, financial independence has meant greater reliance on advertising which has tended to concentrate media houses in urban areas where there is an obligation to cater to urbanites demands. In terms of radio, this has resulted in higher entertainment content and hip programmes imported from developed nations.

Mass media, and radio stations in particular, needs to break from the commercial groove and focus more intensely on rural folk as well as other marginalised groups. The ultimate aim is to create what has been termed media pluralism, namely media that reflects the needs of all
members of society, and especially those whose voices have till now been ignored.

GKP hopes to see media pluralism materialise by advocating for policies and regulatory frame-works that will facilitate free, plural and inclusive media. It also plans to support local content creation by local stakeholders through the use of ICTs, particularly those that contribute to poverty reduction. Towards this end, the GKP will intensify its efforts on capacity-building, awareness-raising, knowledge-sharing and advocacy on this issue.

This publication is part of the Global Knowledge Partnerships Knowledge for Development Series, an overall effort to increase the availability of information and knowledge on various issues in the area of ICT4D. The hope has been to highlight the importance of the media in general, and further to create greater awareness of what can be done to help media promote the concept and goals of the Information Society.

Rinalia Abdul Rahim
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE PARTNERSHIP SECRETARIAT
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
APRIL 2004

Table of Contents

• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction  Mass media in and for the Information Society
• Second Global Knowledge Conference Media Forum: Issues and Recommendations
• GKP Issues Paper On Mass Media and Communications
• Bellagio Symposium on Media, Freedom and Poverty: Joint Statement
• GKP/Panos Media Awards 2003
• Brazil in the Information Society
• An Information Society without involvement?
• India s first computer-literate village
• Shiroro:In the wake of the great flood