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The ICF in 2005
- 2006
Report from ICF
President Bernard Margueritte, Caux, August 2006
It
is a special pleasure to see you all in Mountain House. We all need this
togetherness and the possibility to recharge our moral batteries and find a
renewed enthusiasm in the spirit of Caux. This is however also why
it’s so sad not to see among us dear friends, who were here with us
last year. I am thinking of course about our beloved vice-president Jara
Moserova. We miss her smile, her dignity, her passion. She was certainly
not an ordinary person. A multi-talented woman. A surgeon in the first
place, who tried to rescue Jan Palach and never afterwards could think
about this fighter for freedom without the deepest emotions. She was
herself a fighter for freedom against communism and a friend of Vaclav
Havel. She was a talented play-writer, an ambassador, a politician, the
vice-president of the Czech Senate, an almost successful candidate for
president of her country. But mostly she was always herself, a strong
personality, an authentic person looking to find the best in others. Jara,
the ICF without you will never be the same, but I know that you will stay
with us and that is for us a call to continue our commitment with an even
greater enthusiasm and dedication.
Indeed
are we doing well? Have we done well in the past year? To answer that
question we have to confront the results with the goals. What have been the
goals of the ICF, my goals since I became president? I can enumerate at
least 6 of them:
1/ to broaden the geographic reach of the ICF:
We have had 3 years
ago our first conference in Africa, in Cape Town. This was an important step,
but only a first step. We have now to develop our activity in Africa. I am happy that we have with us people from
the African continent, like prof. Guy Berger or Rafael Marques. I am sure
they will carry the word of the ICF on the whole African continent.
The ICF had also two
sessions on the media last September in Krynica, Poland.
This is a big East-West gathering and it gave us the opportunity to stress
our interest in Eastern Europe, in countries like Russia and Ukraine. I had also the
pleasure to take part in the International Congress of the Family in Kiev (where I spoke about the Media and the Family)
and to attend the Congress of the World Association of Newspapers in Moscow. This was also
of course an opportunity to make new contacts. I am convinced that the ICF
will soon develop, also with the friends we have here today, in those two
countries.
The ICF was also
responsible for a panel at the Panchgani conference, organized in India by our friends from IofC India.
Guy Berger was there and I think it was a significant, if modest, step
forward. We will do better and to a great extent thanks to the dedication
of my friend Sanjoy Hazarika, who is with us today. We will speak on
another occasion about plans, but let me just tell you that the ICF will be
involved in 2 important conferences in India in 2007!
An area where we
have not been strong enough is certainly South America.
This should be one of our first priorities for next year. I just spoke
earlier this month here in Caux with Juarez Pereira, from Uruguay and Brazil,
who offered his help to organize an ICF conference in Porto Alegre. This is a significant
opportunity.
You know that for
some years now we are trying to have a conference in Lebanon. We have the program,
the people, the venue, the organizational help. Everything was almost ready
when our great friend Gebran Tueni was assassinated. This is a tragedy for
his family, for the ICF, but above all for Lebanon. It seems it was
yesterday when we embraced each other. I see his smile, his elegant
dignity, his enthusiasm. I spoke also earlier this month here with Ramez
Salamé, the leader of IofC in Lebanon, who urges us to move
forward. And we will. It is our calling and also our duty, particularly now
when we see with anger, despair and compassion our dear friends in Lebanon
suffering under blind and inhuman violence. More than ever we are with
them.
2/ to encourage the building of local, national or
regional chapters:
We reached the
conclusion that the ICF is in need of some kind of decentralization. There
are many similarities in the problems faced by the media, but there are
also specificities. The situation is not the same in every country, in all
parts of the world. Moreover a national chapter gives the opportunity for
media people on the spot to show their own initiatives, to have their own
projects. Of course we have to find a nice balance between autonomy and
respect for the broader goals of the ICF. We will never let the ICF go
wildly in all directions and we have to make sure that the whole program of
the ICF as a network is binding for all chapters. That being said there is
still a large room of maneuvers for many local or national initiatives.
In this framework,
we have been happy to register the launching of two ICF chapters, one in America, the other one in the UK.
Another one is almost ready to start in Poland. India could possibly follow. We
are also looking at chapters in Russia,
in Africa.
To be honest, this is important to better motivate the energy of
media people on the ground, but it is also essential if we want to give the
ICF a strong financial basis, without which it would be difficult to
progress. Indeed it is much easier to raise money for our activities on a
local, national or regional basis than for the ICF as an international
network.
3/ to attract more media practitioners (or media
teachers):
If we want to change
the way the media operate, we have to reach primarily people working on a
day-to-day basis in the media. That seems obvious. We include in this group
media teachers because they are preparing the journalists of tomorrow and
also because, almost always, they are themselves practitioners (Guy Berger
is a remarkable example of this).
This is crucial also
because there is nothing upsetting more media people than to hear
“friends of the media” telling them what they should do. Indeed
how the advices given by people, who do not know in practice what it is to
fight a deadline, to argue with an editor, to find reliable sources, could
be fully relevant? Too often therefore the preaching coming from the
sideline is frustrating media practitioners and, as such, is by on large
counterproductive. As says the motto of the ICF, our goal is to act
“with the media, by the media, for the people”.
This is not to say
of course that we do not need sound advices, support and help coming from
all kind of good people. We need them, we strongly welcome them, but the
core group of the ICF should be media people. This is particularly true in
the new ICF chapters and I am happy that the chairman of ICF-America is Bob
Webb, who has had an outstanding career of working journalist, and the
chairman of ICF-UK is Magnus Linklater, an outstanding British journalist.
Indeed we have had
some significant successes in attracting true media practitioners. Happily
enough we had for example at our conference in Cape Town an overwhelming majority of
media practitioners. This will also be the case at our forthcoming
conference in India,
where we are fortunate to have a brilliant media man, with Sanjoy Hazarika,
as the leader. Needless to say, wherever I go, I try to meet primarily
media practitioners.
4/ to start new programs:
When we elaborated
practical ICF programs, the understanding was that we need to have not only
goals, missions, vision, but- maybe even more importantly- concrete ways to
show in deeds what we mean when we speak about “ethical media”,
“media serving the people and the community”, “media as
pillar of democracy or mutual understanding between people”. Of
course, every one of us has to listen his/her inner voice, everyone of us
has to find again and again new motivations, new commitment, new
dedication. It is indeed important to remind, for my own good and for the
good of others, what is my, our vision of the media.
To stop there
however would not lead very far. And even divert us to a side way, where we
could confront the danger of permanently preaching the converted; of
permanently repeating over and over again which high concepts of the media
we have, of permanently giving me/us good reasons to see how great we are
in a cruel world.
This is not enough. This
is why we decided to start concrete programs: a new web site, where our
members could show in practice what we mean when we speak about
“honesty in the media”, a research program with Ingrid Volkmer,
helping us to better understand the situation of the media in various parts
of the world, a video program promoting the ICF and- particularly for
schools of journalism- our vision of the ethical and social role of the
media, an exchange program- under the leadership of Sanjoy- bringing
together not only media practitioners but also media organizations sharing
our deontology, a media workshop program, with a few ICF people going in
various parts of the world to meet media students or young journalists (we
have already been invited to go to Russia with this program, as well as to
a variety of US schools of journalism or to the Poynter Institute), a Sonja
Porter Award clearly presenting the kind of media we would like to see
prevailing.
Well, those programs
are there. The people to carry them are there. And nothing has been done,
because simply we don’t have the money. Hopefully this will change
with the development of new sources of financing for the ICF. But a strong
fund-raising effort should be the task of anyone truly involved in the ICF.
5/ to develop valuable partnerships:
In this area we have
done much better. I am happy to recognize here Laurent de Cherisey. It is a
privilege for us to be a partner of “Reporters d’Espoirs”.
One of our leitmotiv has been for a long time that we need to achieve a
better balance in the media between depressing news and positive news. Our
friend Martyn Lewis spoke eloquently on this on a variety of occasions. How
could we not rejoice at the amazing work done by “Reporters
d’Espoirs”? Members of “Reporters d’Espoirs”
were with us at our conference in Le Touquet. Christian de Boisredon and
his wife were in Krynica. I am looking forward for a much broader
cooperation.
Bill and I attended
the Congress of the International Press Institute in Edinburgh. I took part at the Congress of
the World Association of Newspapers. Those are big media organizations. We
are no competition for them. But they are no competition for us either. The
IPI is valiantly fighting for the freedom of the press, we too but we tried
to concentrate rather on another problem: what we do with our freedom of
the press when we are fortunate enough to enjoy it? The WAN is mostly
interested in the economy of the media (of course an important topic) and
with the new technologies in the media, we prefer to deal with the content
of the media, how improving their ethical approach and their image is helping
them and allow them to be more profitable, how we can use new technological
tools to better serve the people.
We are a partner of
the Warsaw Eastern Institute and its Economic Forum in Krynica. We are
developing a close relationship with the Indian Centre for Governance, as
will show our conference in Delhi
next February.
All that of course
on top of all the partnerships already mentioned in the past ICF documents.
6/ to enhance the synergy with Initiatives of Change:
This has been for me
from the beginning a top priority. The ICF is not a program coming from
Caux but it is a program leading to Caux. At the core of everyone
commitment in this room is “the spirit of Caux”. We would not
be much without it.
Now that IofC is
starting its own communications program, a very close synergy and
synchronization is needed more than ever. I am happy than we have been able
to speak about this with our friends of IofC during the past few days. We
are different organizations, we are not the same, we are not targeting the
same people, but we share the same values and a similar vision of the world
and of the civilization of respect for the dignity of the human person we
all aspire to build, be it in the media, in the business community,
everywhere. The fact of the matter is that coming to Caux every one
realizes that there is no problem of the media as such, there is no problem
of business as such, there is no problem of education, etc., there is one,
huge problem of the civilization we want together to live in tomorrow.
Being in Caux is a
precious opportunity to see the whole picture, to go deeper into our
commitment. I will urge you not to miss this opportunity. As I said, I am
growing more and more worried of our/mine nice speeches, where we try once
again, after so many attempts, to preach the converted. I am convinced we
should move rather above and below this level at the same time. On one hand
we should concentrate more and more on practical projects, like the one we
will have next February in India, figuring out how the media can help
better governance in that country, and maybe elsewhere as well. Caux is not
the time and place for this kind of ICF conference, they are organized
locally in many parts of the world. And I am concerned that those of you
who are with us for the first time will not have a proper view of what the
ICF is all about. To understand that, please come to one of our meetings in
a particular country.
On the other hand we
should do what we can to improve as a person. This is why the fact we are
in Caux not for an ICF conference as usual is so precious. What we can get
in Caux is much more important than anywhere else, goes much deeper. And,
to be honest with you, it’s why I try not to be involved very much in
the preparation of this Caux ICF event. For me the ICF is here, but this is
not truly an ICF conference. It is much more. It is a unique chance to
understand “the spirit of Caux”, to let it go profoundly in
your mind and soul. And simply it is a chance for every one to find
him/herself. Do not miss it. Be part of this house. Go also to other
meetings, sessions, even at the cost of by-passing (on occasion) an ICF
session. I know that I should probably not say that and that some of my
best colleagues will be unhappy with me. But I know also that it is what I
will do myself. But, please, my friends, come back to us, come back as a
more dedicated, enriched person. There is a lot we have to do together. As
I said however all our dedication, enthusiasm, passion will not be enough.
We will not go much further without the means to achieve our objectives.
This is the task of anyone in the ICF to help in this regard and to make
sure that the programs we have prepared will start in the coming year. So
that we can together fight successfully not only for better media but
indeed for a better world, for a civilization based upon the respect of
human dignity in all aspects. This is our goal.
Bernard Margueritte
THE ICF LEADS LONDON
MEDIA DISCUSSION
London, April 2006
“The British
Media - a Force for Good?” was the subject of a Greencoat Forum event
at the Initiatives of Change offices in London on 4th April, 2006. It was
presented by an ICF Panel consisting of Dr. Frances Pinter, an international
book publisher, Simon Cohen, London
journalist, and Bill Porter, the ICF’s Founder President.
Frances spoke of the media’s
unhappy influence in undermining trust between leaders and the public,
often citing John Lloyd of the
FINANCIAL TIMES from his latest book, WHAT THE MEDIA ARE DOING TO OUR
POLITICS. However, she reminded us
all that the basic standards achieved in Britain are high and continue
to stand as beacons for many around the world. She affirmed that good could be done
through providing access to basic learning materials. She herself had the
good fortune to see the positive
effect that she had made through the work of THE OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE in
publishing translations of major books that had been denied to East Europe
and Russia during the long years of Soviet domination, and of bringing new
textbooks in history and sociology throughout the Russian school system - a
major contribution by a British publisher to bring freedom of information
and expression to the former Communist part of the world.
Simon Cohen
emphasised the practice of misinformation in some sections of the British
print media, often shown by the discrepancy of headlines in relation to the
full text of a report. As a young journalist he had begun to get the
impression that the British media was not a force for good, but felt that
there had been some positive signs for the better and cited the supportive
treatment given to Rajmohan Gandhi’s recent tour of the UK,
enabling his thinking to reach millions through TV, radio and the press.
Bill Porter gave an
initial survey of the statistics of the British media outreach with its
world-beating, mass-circulation dailies, more than 100,000 hours of TV
programmes per year and radio reaching 90 per cent of the population. In
his own statement he pointed out that journalists were not paid to solve
political and social problems. That politicians and diplomats were paid to
do that, but that their failure to do so provided most of the copy for the
reporting and analysis of the media. Nevertheless he felt that the media
played a significant role in creating the behavioural climate which makes
problems more difficult or more easy to solve. He concluded, We are asking
the question, Is the British Media a Force for Good?, The answer, of course,
is ‘Yes, in parts and sometimes.’ The real issue is how to make
it in more parts and at more times.
There was a lively
discussion and question time after the speaking, including a defence of the
positive quality of the regional press and a condemnation of a national
daily, which, fortunately for the speaker, did not have one of its many
lawyers present. There were also appeals from persons from Africa and Asia
that we in Britain
would encourage the development of free and constructive media in their
regions. More copies of Bill’s book, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, were sold
when many of the audience stayed to talk afterwards.
THE ICF’S UNITED KINGDOM
CHAPTER LAUNCHED
London, February 2006
The
United Kingdom Chapter of the International Communications Forum was
launched at a meeting in London
on 6th February 2006. The
meeting, chaired by Magnus Linklater, columnist for The Times and a former
editor of The Scotsman, was attended by thirty ICF supporters from all
branches of the media.
In his
opening address, Magnus Linklater
spoke of the need to rebuild the trust between media and the public which
had, over many years, broken down. He was particularly concerned about what
he regarded as the low esteem, even cynicism, felt by many members of the
public about the process of self-regulation. He had attended a talk given
by a senior member of the Press Complaints Commission, which suggested to
him that some of the less reputable activities of the press, such as
entrapment, impersonation, cheque-book journalism, and other acts of
subterfuge, by which the tabloid press managed to get cheap front-page
headlines exposing the private lives of public individuals, was precisely
the kind of behaviour which led to a breakdown of trust. The newspapers
involved simply cited the defence of “public interest,” making
no distinction between matters of genuine public trust and those which were
simply “interesting to the public.” Yet the PCC made no
observations about these, and, because of its silence, is increasingly seen
as being a creature of the media. Unless and until a more independent and
respected body could be set up, then the process of self-regulation would
continue to be regarded as being a hollow one. Mr Linklater argued that the profession
of journalism was an essentially honourable one, and that many young
journalists seeking newspaper work had high ideals. He hoped that they
would still be able to report and investigate genuine stories about matters
of public interest, rather than being led to believe that the lowest common
denominator of tabloid journalism was all that mattered.
Founder
President Bill Porter paid
tribute to the late Dr Zaki Badawi, principal of the Muslim
College in Britain, who had accepted an
invitation to the launch but had died on 24 January. Bill Porter then spoke of his concerns
about the role of the media and his own decision to ‘do something
about it’ that led to the foundation of the ICF.
ICF
President Bernard Margueritte
outlined the development of the ICF Network of chapters, with the United Kingdom following the launch of
chapters in the USA and Poland, and the intention of establishing
chapters in South Africa
and India.
ICF
Executive Director Robin Williamson
described the initiatives that the ICF had undertaken in the United Kingdom, including a major London conference held at the Financial Times in 1999,
followed by events in Scotland,
Northern Ireland and
Eire, and activities in England. Three current initiatives supported by
the ICF were described, by the Rev
George Pitcher of St Bride’s Church, a spiritual centre for the
media in London’s Fleet Street, Richard Yorke of the Next Century Foundation,
developing an on-line Institute of Media Ethics, and Simon Cohen,
director of Global Tolerance, on a project promoting media skills in ethnic
and underprivileged communities.
In the
course of a lively and constructive discussion, John Albert emphasised the need for research to identify what
is needed and requires change, and reflected on his experience in
establishing the Institute
of Business Ethics,
powered by those with a strong academic qualification. The ICF Chapter should have subscribing
members, and will require a positive
person to lead it.
David Kingsley was concerned that the
Chapter’s programme should have
clear co-ordination, and connect with the public.
Martyn Lewis said that the launch of the ICF
chapter was flowing with the tide, and
emphasised that we must partner with other organisations if we are
to make an impact. He suggested an
award programme to be pursued through the web. He believed that there must come a
change in the prevailing culture of the journalists. Owners have a role to
play in defining the parameters which must guide all media activity. He
cited an organisation in Canada,
which requires all journalists reporting news to seek out the actions being
sought to cure the problems about which they write.
George Pitcher saw the need for private
discussions between owners and editors on how their work should be made
more constructive. It was important
to recognise the positive in the media and not just dwell on the negative.
William Morris said that journalists do
provide a lead to the nation. How they do it is the issue. He believed that
there is plenty of research already done. We need now to use what is known
to make the case for change.
Pat Healey pointed out that the standards
to which journalists should adhere are already established. It is the
owners who are not helping journalists to fulfil these obligations.
MediaWise is already training journalists in Africa and Asia
in these issues.
In a
message read on her behalf because of her absence through illness Dr Frances Pinter, ICF Vice
President, announced the formation of a Steering Committee to help establish
the structure and programme for the UK Chapter, and asked those present to
help with this task. In response to
her appeal six colleagues came forward to form the Committee, and the
meeting approved a motion stating that “the Steering Committee prepare
a strategic plan and administrative structure for discussion and acceptance
at the next meeting of the Chapter”.
The
Steering Committee’s plans will be presented to the ICF Assembly in Caux, Switzerland,
in August 2006.
REPORT ON ICF ACTIVITY IN 2005
Please Click here for
a Report on the ICF in 2005. (This is a pdf file and may take some
time to download)
LONDON PRESS CLUB HONOUR RAJMOHAN GANDHI’S UK
VISIT
London, 23 November 2005
Professor
Rajmohan Gandhi spoke at a luncheon given in his honour by the London Press
Club on the occasion of his round-Britain speaking tour. It took place in
the beautiful premises of the Foreign Press Association which had been the
home of William Gladstone, the great 19th Century British prime minister.
The
occasion, with some sixty guests, was chaired by Carole Stone, a Director
of the Press Club and the Vote of Thanks was given by Steve Oram, Director
of the Newspaper Publishers Association. Canon David Meara, Rector of St.
Bride’s, the journalists
Church in Fleet
Street, said grace before the meal.
Professor
Gandhi’s subject was ‘The War on Terrorism and the Gandhian
Ethic’, and he made the
following points:
My first point today is to express my sense of marvel at the capacity of the British
people to prepare for difficult situations that may arise - avian flu
crisis, terrorism - to mention two. I consider however, that whereas
security and survival are essential factors in a nation’s life, they
do not constitute a national purpose for a great nation like this. To
settle for survival as an aim is to lose something of the greatness of a
nation.
My second point. There is a significant difference between our situation
during the Cold War and the present. There was a warmth between the peoples of the Communist world and
the rest of the world. At the same time, there was a natural dislike of the
leaders and their aims. Now by contrast, where there are the two great
blocks of the Western world and the Islamic world, neither of which is
homogeneous or united, an uneasy feeling exists between the peoples of
these two worlds about each other. This is what concerns me the most and
would have troubled the Mahatma the most.
Today there is caution, distrust and fear about the Muslims in the
West. Although there is a general acknowledgement that a whole group should
not be judged by the misdeeds of a few, it seems that this judgement should
not be applied to the people of Islam. Likewise in the Muslim world, there
is a tremendous propaganda teaching about the alleged wrongs of European
countries, America,
Christians and Jews. So you have a people-to-people mistrust which I regard
as a very serious matter.
Next point. I want the leaders of the Western nations to
differentiate between extremism, terrorism and nationalism. Let us not
assume that they all mean the same thing. There is talk at the moment at
the highest policy levels in the United
States, saying that there is a plan amongst some
Muslim radicals to create a Caliphate from Morocco
to Indonesia. Bush has spoken of the cruelty and danger
of these radical leaders and that they represent the greatest danger to the
Western world. He equates them with the Communist enemy during the Cold War. My response is as
follows. Are they a danger? Yes. Are they cruel? Yes, most
emphatically. Should they be elevated to the status of the greatest enemy
of the West? I should say, not. They are a dangerous fringe group only.
What the West really faces in the Middle East is nationalism. Admittedly nationalism is not always
constructive. Nationalism can indeed be destructive. it can mislead people and take them to a
place that they would be better off not to be. Nevertheless, the leaders
of the Western world have got to recognise and somehow address the issue of
nationalism, which of course is related to occupation, Palestine
and so forth. Unless the divides caused by some Western policies,
and the sometime unwise nationalistic responses to them, are recognised, terrorism
will continue to have a sympathetic
climate in those countries.
Last point. There have been times
in this country when some individuals with a
deeply held conviction in their spirits have been able to
change public opinion. Churchill mobilised Britain about the danger of Hitler. After the war it was
not easy, I imagine, for people in Britain
to establish good relations with Germany. It took a lot of
statesmanship of many people
to say that Germany too
can be a part of the new Europe and Germans and English can have constructive
relations. But I find today
reluctance on the part of policy makers and opinion formers to address
this business of Islam and the attitude of the West to Muslim countries in
a frontal manner.
Why is it dangerous to
the world? Because Muslims
and non-Muslims live amidst each other in virtually every country of the world. If we accept this
fundamental divide we can expect endless universal tension and trouble for all of us.
It is tough, especially when attacks like those in July take place. It is tempting to think that a whole people are
somehow a group that we should be careful about. It is a natural
reaction. It is
not a wise reaction. And this country is too great to yield
to this kind of knee-jerk reaction.
His
talk was followed by a lively question and answer session, from which, in
spite of intense but friendly media examination, he emerged unscathed.
Proposing
a vote of thanks, Steve Oram, the
Director of the Newspaper Publishers Association said:
The last two hours have been incredibly stimulating and for this we owe
gratitude to Professor Rajmohan Gandhi.
He has given us two key things which provide plenty of
food for thought.
1.
The first of these
and some of you might have found
this difficult to accept: survival is not the greatest aim.
Survival is a natural
instinct. There is much room for thought here. But. as we know, life goes on beyond that
2.
The next point. People’s feelings
towards each other and contrasting the Cold War attitudes towards leaders as opposed to those of the people. And the
current position – people’s suspicion of each other.
Very. very difficult. Again lots of
food for thought there.
What can be done? The
role and responsibility of the press
in forming public opinion both in
the UK and globally, is so,
so important.
Steve
Oram then presented Rajmohan Gandhi with a history of Fleet Street. telling
the story of the British newspaper industry, and a Life Membership of the
London Press Club.
The
occasion was notable for its welcoming and cheerful ambiance and a
pervasive sense of goodwill at the presence of such a distinguished
personality.
The ICF in 2004
- 2005
Report from ICF
President Bernard Margueritte, Caux, July 2005
I welcome
you all wholeheartedly. It is an emotional pleasure to be here in Caux once
again (for me that's the 10th time!) and to be together. It's also great to
be able to welcome newcomers. But before we start introducing ourselves, I
like to make three statements:
- I think we should all start
by honouring by a moment of silence the memory of those, who died in London, victims
of the terrorism. Let us also express at the same time our admiration
for the people of London,
who in these dramatic circumstances showed the composure, dignity and
courage for which Londoners have been known and respected for
centuries.
- On a much more pleasant
note I like to say how happy I am that this year Hugh Nowell and
Carolyn are with us. I would have hoped that they stayed away last
year only to show us how empty Caux and the ICF's sessions can be
without them. It's a great joy to be together.
- This year is Bill Porter's
year. Well, every year is Bill Porter's year. But this one more than
ever. This is the 15th anniversary of the ICF, founded and always
inspired by Bill. The ICF is Bill Porter. Remarkably we are also
celebrating the publication of Bill's book, a book that will inspire
generations of journalists to come and show them the right way, should
they ever forget what is their mission.
This has been, as usual - maybe
more than usual - a year where frustrations and disappointments met with
joy and satisfactions. We are growing. We do have great people and great
programmes, and it is frustrating to see that the lack of means does not
allow us to realise our full potential. We had promises from sponsors that
have not been realised the past year, as we anticipated. Let's hope it will
change soon. As it is, I had to reduce my travel to the strict minimum and
I was not able to attend neither the IPI congress nor the one of the WAN,
which is truly a shame and a blow for any media group that wants to be
recognized in the field. At this point I like to thank my family and first
my wife, who for the first time - and for a variety of reasons - is not
with me in Caux this year.
To
work as the president of the ICF is certainly making our family life more
difficult, to begin with in the financial area. For the past two years the
finances of the ICF have not allowed the president not only to get an
appropriate job loss compensation, but even the reimbursement of the
expenses made. The support of my wife and my daughter have made up for it,
with their conviction that this is a noble task that has to be done anyway.
I like also to thank my son Eryk. I was happy, thanks to the fact that he
is an Air France pilot, to use the few very cheap tickets I could received,
not for any tourist travels but for ICF duties.
A
year ago our main goals were the following: to expand geographically, to
build new partnerships, to promote a decentralisation of our activities by
building national chapters. Happily, in spite of all difficulties we have
made significant progress in all of these areas. I have been in India where we are a partner of IofC-India
for the conference in Panchgani next November (before that we all met for a
preparatory meeting in Berlin).
After our first conference in Africa, we will have our first in Asia.
.
New
partnerships have been established or reinforced with "Positive
Network" (they participated in the conference in Le Touquet and will
take part in the next one in Krynica,
Poland, in
September). As a matter of fact our cooperation with the Polish
"Eastern Institute", organising the biggest east-west conference
in Krynica with 1500 participants and among them many presidents and heads
of governments of central and east European countries, is growing. Krynica
is the place to meet hundreds of people, also media people, from Ukraine, Lithuania,
Byelorussia
and neighbouring countries. It is important for the ICF to be in touch with
those people, and particularly for me, since I used to. be also for many
years a correspondent in Ukraine,
Lithuania and Georgia.
I am happy to note here that Bob Webb
has had also excellent contacts with media people in the Ukraine, and he will in due
course tell us about it.
I had the immense pleasure to
attend the conference of the "World Spirit Forum" in January.
It's a particular honour to welcome here the president of the WSF, Sesto Castagnoli.
To be in Arosa was a special and profound blessing. We addressed the most
important problems of our time, with a deep ethical and spiritual
commitment. All the faiths were represented but remarkably each was able to
fully respect the faith of the other.
Going to the conference on
"Ethics and the media" in Budapest
in March was also a way to start a precious partnership with the Karolyi
Foundation.
We
extended many other partnerships. Just to mention three more. I was able to
arrange for Marvin Kalb, of the Shorenstein
Center on the Press, a meeting
with Walesa for the group of Harvard and Chicago
University alumni he was leading,
visiting Gdansk
in August 2004. I am working with the prestigious business group "The
Caux Round Table", which will have a conference on business ethics in
October 2005 in Warsaw and Cracow. I was happy to introduce them to
the Mayor of Warsaw, Lech Kaczynski, who decided to heavily sponsor the
conference.
Our
conference in Le Touquet, so remarkably set up by Bill Porter, ended up
with an offer to have in Le Touquet every 2 years, starting in 2006, a big
"World Media Forum", organised under the leadership of the ICF.
The mayor of Le Touquet and MP, Leonce Deprez, promised that he will go
around with me, trying to secure funds from the EU and the French ministry
of culture. This is a huge and fascinating task ahead of us.
As
far as the decentralisation of the ICF is concerned, the major achievement
is due to the work of our American friends, Bob
Webb and Alan Kania. ICF-America has been duly registered
as a non-for-profit organisation, which is also opening the way to get
funds from foundations. Bob will tell you more about it. Progress has also
been made in Poland
and Malgorzata Bonikowska will refer on that. In South Africa, Joao Rentao, the
deputy editor of the Star in Jo'burg, and a brilliant black gentleman,
expressed to me the willingness to work on building an ICF-South African
chapter.
The ground work has been
prepared a year ago by the Executive Committee for the building of such
national or regional chapters. Some rules have been established, that each
chapter should observe.
As you can see, we are working
on so many fronts that it is a little bit overwhelming, especially when you
are working on a shoe-string. It is essential therefore that, as soon as
the goals have been established, each of us works independently in his/her
own field of competence. I don't think it is needed to repeat here once
again the :tremendous job done by our Executive Director, Robin Williamson,
and the other members of the Executive Committee and by our vice presidents
and regional representatives as well.
It is particularly important since you cannot expect too much from
the president. I am getting on average 50 messages a day and, I confess, I
read roughly 35 of those and answer up to 20, the more urgent and truly
needing my attention. I cannot do more. Decentralisation is a must.
I end with the text of an Indian
poet written 3000 years before Christ, and quoted by one of our friends
from IofC-India, with whom we prepare in such a remarkable partnership and
closeness our common conference in Panchgani next November.
We are the birds of the same nest
We may wear different feathers
We may speak different tongues
We may believe in different religions
We may belong to different cultures
Yet, we share the same home, Earth
Born on the same planet
Covered by the same skies
Gazing at the same stars
Breathing the same air
We must learn to live together
Or, miserably to perish together
For, a person can live individually
But can only survive collectively
(Atharva Veda)
This Indian wisdom is certainly very much up to date. It
should incline us to show humility and respect and remind us how much we do
have to learn from a civilisation, which was able to produce such profound
verses 5000 years ago!
Seeing Orange, Up Close
By Bob Webb, ICF Vice President and board member,
Washington, D.C., Pro chapter, SPJ
My spring trip to Ukraine
was a journalist's dream. Coming in the wake of the Orange Revolution, it
meant one could assess it and try to help move it forward.
The trip originated
with an invitation from the Cincinnati-Ukraine Partnership to join a
delegation to Kiev and Kharkiv, Cincinnati's Sister City
and former capital. But as a vice president of the International
Communications Forum (ICF) and longtime SPJ member, I had an additional
mission: to meet with media executives, journalists and j-students and try
to give them a higher vision of the critical service they can perform.
Arrangements were
quickly made for me to speak to journalism students at Kiev National
Taras Shevchenko
University, V. Karazin Kharkiv
National University and Donetsk
State University.
I was also invited by Lyudmyla Olkhovska, director of the Journalists Fund
of Ukraine, to speak at a seminar in Kiev
for chief editors of Ukrainian regional newspapers.
As well, a good friend
of mine, Jara Kutsyna, arranged an Orthodox Easter week program for me in
her city, meeting with youth organizations and with a regional official of Ukraine's
equivalent of our Federal Communications Commission. She also interpreted
for me in Kiev
and Lviv.
I tried to help these
editors and students see how they can become a powerful force in building
democracy and enhancing the new spirit of freedom the Orange Revolution
projected, not only in their country but across the world. I was upfront
with how mass media in the United
States and many other countries had
failed to make the most of their constructive, nation-building, reconciling
and war-averting potential.
I called attention to
the ICF's visionary Sarajevo
Commitment, which Ms. Olkhovska had said was a compelling force for the
Journalists Fund in training media workers and arranging international
exchanges for them. The Commitment was launched at the Forum's
Sarajevo-2000 World Media Assembly, which had the strong support of John D.
Hopkins of the Miami Herald, then-chairman of the SPJ International
Journalism Committee, and Bill Kovach, chairman of the Committee of
Concerned Journalists, USA.
Typically, I also let
audiences know some of my own failures in the past - for example, how as a
Southern journalist many years ago, I had defended the South's racial
segregation. But after a transformative experience, I began to reach out to
people of all races, colors, creeds and nationalities.
When I mentioned that
to J-students in Donetsk in the eastern,
heavily-Russian sector of Ukraine,
one drew a parallel with her country's East-West divide. The thought I left
was that as journalists, they could help mightily to bridge that gap.
With the Orthodox
Easter, J-students at Ivan
Franko Lviv
University were on
holiday, so I couldn't meet with them. But my time in Lviv (in the western,
Polish sector of Ukraine)
was nevertheless rewarding. Thus, the marvelous evening in the studio-home
of an art professor with his inspiring stories from the Orange Revolution.
As well, I had a great
session with Petro Tseholko, Lviv regional representative of the
government's National Council of Radio and Television. I had a good phone
chat later with his son, Svyatoslav, one of Ukraine's most famous TV
journalists and a hero of the Orange Revolution. He and his colleagues at
Channel 5, Kiev,
together with ERA Radio and TV, dared report the truth while most broadcast
outlets toed the government line.
I also met in Lviv with
youth activists of It's High Time! and the Student Brotherhood, both
prominent in the revolution and determined to carry it forward, and with
student members of Foundations for Freedom, committed to democracy and the
character traits it requires.
Having helped plan and
implement the D.C. programs for three media delegations from Ukraine,
I hope my third trip there strengthened our links in the best tradition of
the Society of Professional Journalists and ICF.
Picture:
Bob Webb at the Kiev headquarters of
the Journalists Fund of Ukraine with Jara Kutsyna, left, his friend and
interpreter, and Lyudmyla Olkhovska, right, director of the Journalists
Fund.
![[image]](uploads/Webb%20Ukraine%202.jpg)
2003 - An Overview
Click
here for a Report on the ICF's activities in 2003
More...
Coup
d'œil sur 2003- Perspectives d'avenir
Cliquez ici pour un compte rendu des activités
du Forum en 2003
More...
FORUM
REPORTS
Click
on 'more' to see Reports on some key Forums:
Le
Touquet, France, October 2004
More...
Cape Town, South Africa, April 2003
NOTE:
The PDF file for this Report is 400kb and could take a little while to download!
More...
Three
Cities, Scotland,
November 2001
More...
Denver, USA, May 2001
More...
Caux, Switzerland, July 1998
More...
Pardubice, Czech Republic, May 1998
More...
Caux, Switzerland, July 1997
More...
Australia, March 1997
More...
Poland, December 1995
More...
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