The ICF's Origins, Development and Philosophy

With its presence in 116 countries, the ICF is a truly unique and exceptional phenomenon in the media world.
Many media organizations have a worldwide basis, focused mainly on professional problems. Uniquely, the ICF believes first and foremost in a person-to-person, conscience-to-conscience dialogue. Those inspired by the ICF are aware that they are not only media professionals but are above all human beings and citizens addressing other human beings and citizens. The media is more than a conventional business, making money with a product sold to a consumer. If we who work in the media do not serve the citizen with honesty and dedication democracy is in danger. The ICF’s conviction is that we in the media ought to give the people all they need not only to understand what is happening around them but also to understand each other, even those who are far away. Last but not least, those inspired by the ICF are expected to show in their day-to-day activity that they are striving to implement in deeds the principles they care for.

This conviction can be seen in the way the ICF’s Forums are organized. Unlike conventional conferences the ICF’s Forums are a unique occasion of sharing experiences. Those attending share in a common reflection between colleagues, seeking better ways of serving their profession and the people. We do not preach or promote a set of rules. We do not pretend to know better. The Forums do not end with the closure of the conference, but serve to build an ever-growing network of people of good will in the media linked by solidarity and friendship. The same principles apply to other parts of our programme. The ICF is indeed a truly exceptional phenomenon in the media.

The ICF's Objectives

1. To challenge those engaged in films, videos, television, newspapers, books, magazines, music, the theatre, public relations and advertising to promote a culture based on honest, clean and fair values.

2. To inspire those who work in these areas to provide knowledge and entertainment that will enrich and elevate young and old alike.

3. To challenge those who supply news and information to report and interpret situations in such a way that everyone can have confidence in what they read, hear and view - and that, in the process, no one has his or her privacy improperly infringed.

4. To stimulate publishers to uplift and not to degrade their readers, and to make the promotion of the highest values of civilisation their main objective.

A profound statement of ICF’s vision of the role of the media in the 21st century is embodied in the Sarajevo Commitment, promulgated in that city at a Forum organised by ICF in 2000.

Click here to read the Commitment:

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The ICF's Origins

But two things happened in the following months, firstly the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of world communism, and the second, for me, was reading in the Financial Times that the communications industry, including the mass media, had become the largest industry in the world. The first event seemed to give the chance for a more stable world and many of us thought that now we had it made for democracy and the free market. But, as a media man, the second factor was personally more disturbing to me. It led me to ask myself the question ‘If we are the lar¬gest industry in the world, are we the most responsible?’ It was here that, after all, the Caux experience must have been working under the surface, because I felt that the answer was ‘no’. What was my own attitude to responsibility as the chief executive of the British companies of a multi-national publishing group?
I realised that I had never asked myself the question, ‘What is the effect for good or ill of your products on the people who read, listen to and watch them?’ Nor had I been asked it by my peers or sup¬eriors. However, if we did something that had a good social effect, I was happy to take the praise. But if we caused a bad effect I washed my hands of it, saying that we had freedom of information and freedom to publish and that any untoward consequences were a problem for politicians, religious leaders and sociolog¬ists, but not mine. I began to think that this was not good en¬ough, that we were not like manufacturers of soap or chocolate, but that our products were affecting the hopes, fears and behaviour of mil¬lions of people. It was time that the media stood up to be coun¬ted for the influence that we had on society.

Then I asked myself what taking responsibility meant. There was no charter of human responsibility, no international legis¬lation on the subject. I realised that in each of us there is that remarkable piece of high technology called the conscience. It enables us to know right from wrong, truth from falsehood, good from evil. Perhaps with many of us it has been covered over with the compromises of a lifetime, but it is still there and is available for reference. I decided to accept my conscience as the basis for responsibility. This had some practical consequences. I decided to drop some questionable accounting devices, to stop using deceptive advertising, to no longer be highly imaginative with my expense accounts, and to be prepared to fight for sound practices in business life. If you think about it, criminality does not begin in our back streets and on our football terraces, but in the behaviour of those of us with position and influence. In company boardrooms, during lavish entertaining and in the backs of chauffeur-driven cars. If we clean up our act, there will be a remarkable lessening of criminality at all levels in society.

With this dramatic change in my own approach to life I decided to talk it over with my wife, who was Yugoslav, had been a heroine of wartime resistance, had spent three years in a concentration camp and had been sentenced to death by both the Nazis and the Communists, but had retained an amazing resilience and a construc¬tive and direct outlook on life. She listened to me carefully and at the end she looked me in the eyes and said, ‘If you are thinking that way, why don't you do something about it?’ It was that prod which led me to set about bringing a new thinking to the media. With some hesitation I decided to talk about it with some of my colleagues in publishing, the press, broadcasting and advertising. I say hesitation because I do not like to put up ideas that could be laughed at or ignored. I took the risk and discovered that some of them were also concerned about the effect that we in the media had been having on society over recent decades, unfortunately on a downward and not an upward track. And, simultaneously we have been losing the confidence of the public. Four of us decided to take action, with the pur¬pose of building up a worldwide network of men and women in the media who would apply moral values in their lives and work and thereby naturally influence their audiences and so create a new climate in the world in which a fair, just and peace¬ful civilisation could be built. Our activity was called the International Communications Forum and now reaches more than 2,500 media professionals in 114 countries. A recent President of the World Association of Newspapers, representing two thirds of the world’s press, said that the Forum had put the issue of the effect of the media on society on the world’s agenda.

If someone had told me on my first visit to the Caux Conferences that I could play a part in bringing a new thinking and living to my industry, I would have dismissed it as fanciful and unrealistic. But it is happening, and I would say to each of you here, that it can happen to you in your situation, and through your talents, and that you will then have the most satisfying and productive time of your life.

THE BATTLE LINE OF CIVILISATION

William Porter, the ICF's Founder

Click here for an essay by William Porter, the ICF's Founder: More...