---------------------------------------------- Disruption of communica-ch meeting http://www.worldsummit2003.de/en/web/795.htm ---------------------------------------------- Relatively typical example of the Tunisification of the UN. Special only because it shows a WSIS secretariat official participating in disruption, not just the usual trouble-makers. video http://www.worldsummit2003.de/download_en/Moncef_Achour_prepcom3.AVI Download letter to secretariat for detailed account. I gather this meeting was held privately because the human rights caucus could not meet publicly without participants getting personally attacked. -------------------------------------------------- Community Media Working Group Meetings impossible -------------------------------------------------- The community media working group is the only (if narrow) platform for Œour media¹ type organizations at the WSIS, and has been rather successful in pushing community radio so far (coordination list: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/cm). However, it cannot meet anymore, as the convenor is being followed and hassled for his open criticism of the host government. An attempted meeting at PrepCom3 was flooded with people who admitted to knowing nothing about community media (They thought ³community² referred to ³European Community²!) But they refused to leave, and continued talking loudly and off-topic. (The same people and techniques as in most other civil society meetings.) -------------------------------------------- Should we fight united with 'their media' ? -------------------------------------------- Under these circumstances, strange bedfellowships emerge: http://campaigns.ifex.org/tmg/news.html ŒTheir media¹ (including our traditional non-friends, the world press freedom committee) and Œour¹ community media champion AMARC fight together for ³freedom of expression² in the host country. Forgotten the battle fought in the media caucus until recently: 'their freedom¹ vs 'ours,' corporate rights vs communication rights, their media vs ours. Perhaps not a bad thing to fight together against censorship? An important strategic alliance? If the fight is won and this authoritarian government eases up on censorship and media control, perhaps the corporate media and professional journalists will remember us as friends and fighters for a common cause? This seems to be the AMARC strategy. Though history gives us little reason for optimism... So back to square one, the freedom of journalists and private media? And hope we will get a slice of the freedom pie later? There has to be a better way. We started to revive the discussion on the role of our media in a renewed media democratization agenda. Let's continue this overdue task in the ourmedia network. Gabi