Public policy, and why media geeks like us should care
Sourcefabric lives and breathes technology. We work daily with media organizations in both developed and developing countries. People who, like us, work at the crossroads of technology and media can often see early how new technology will affect the public.
If we share our perspective with policy-makers, we can help them improve and develop more responsive policies to serve the people affected by technological change. That can lead to a “virtuous circle” of improvement and development based on the real-world feedback we provide.
As a non-profit, non-governmental organization with one foot in the world of media and one in the world of technology, Sourcefabric has recognized the need to step up its engagement in policy and advocacy — especially in those areas where we can have the most impact, and always where our expertise and experience can be brought to bear.
This engagement makes sense for several reasons, including the fact that the media and technology communities have a long history of talking over each other instead of engaging in meaningful discussion about the very real implications of developments in both fields.
If technological developments are on the leading edge, policy has a tendency to be on the trailing edge. Technological developments have wide-ranging and often unforeseen impacts, but those are only reflected in policy well after they’ve been created, after they’ve had an impact on people and after those affected feel strongly enough to contact their leaders.
Recent examples of this would be in laws against distracted driving or cyber-bullying. And the battle over net neutrality may require lawmakers in the United States to create clearer laws on what its citizens are entitled to access — and what they are not.
Roadmap for future development
One example has to do with something called the Millenium Development Goals, which 189 member states of the United Nations — all of the nations of the world at the time — adopted in 2000. The Millenium Development Goals include such things as cutting extreme poverty rates in half and stopping the spread of HIV to providing universal primary education, all by 2015.
This September, the UN General Assembly will discuss the follow-up to the MDGs. As the 2015 deadline gets closer, it’s becoming clear that, while significant progress has been made on many of the MDGs, the goals will not be met in time. We need a new process to take their place. At the same time, the MDGs didn’t touch on the media at all, and mentioned technology only tangentially.
It’s hard work getting all the countries of the world to agree on anything, and the process of deciding what happens after the MDGs has been underway for several years. National governments, diplomats and international organizations, civil society, philanthropists and interested individuals are all involved in shaping what together is referred to as “post-2015.”
How you can help
Just like with open source development, the best projects in international development and policy are those with sound goals and strong communities.
One of our first efforts at engagement has been to join the Global Forum for Media Development and to join discussions on media’s role in the post-2015 period. The GFMD brings together leaders in media development, including BBC Media Action, the Deutsche Welle Akademie, the African Media Initiative among many others.
We’ve already participated in two GFMD events and gained valuable insights into the issues at hand, as well as introductions to other organizations working toward the same goals. It was a pleasant surprise to find out that we know and have worked with many of these in the past.
GFMD members, working with other organizations active in the fields of freedom of expression and human rights, have put together a statement on the role of the media in meeting the post-2015 sustainable development goals (below). Sourcefabric is a signatory to the statement, and we would like to encourage organizations working in technology, media and international development to join us in signing this statement.
We also encourage the open source community to make its voice heard in the international development process. We’ve argued for years that open source technology presents an historic opportunity for poorer countries to make more progress, with greater impact and at a lower cost. Open source just works, and our community’s success stories form a message that we’ll be sending to those shaping policy at the highest levels.
Make your voice heard. Write to coordinator@gfmd.info and ask to be added to the Post 2015 Agenda statement.
POST 2015 AGENDA: Access to information and independent media are essential to development
Human development in the coming decades will depend on people’s access to information. Ground-breaking new media and technology are enabling major expansion of economic, social and political progress.
We believe that freedom of expression and access to independent media are essential to democratic and economic development. Freedom of speech and the media are a means to advance human development and are ends in their own right.
We, the undersigned, therefore call on the Open Working Group to fully integrate the governance recommendations of the UN High Level Panel of Eminent Persons Report (A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies through Sustainable Development) into the proposed post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, specifically in relation to its recommendations to:
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Establish a specific goal to “ensure good governance and effective institutions”.
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Include as components of this goal a clause to "ensure people enjoy freedom of speech, association, peaceful protest and access to independent media and information" and to "guarantee the public's right to information and access to government data".
Signatories:
ARTICLE 19, International
Global Forum for Media Development, Belgium/International
ABONG (Brazilian Association of NGOs)
Access Info Europe
Access to Information Programme, Bulgaria
Access-info Center, Moldova
Acción Ciudadana “Capitulo de Transparencia Internacional Guatemala”
Adevarul (Truth), Armenia
Adil Soz, Kazakhstan
Afghanistan Journalists Center
AFP Foundation, France
Africa Freedom of Information Centre
African Media Initiative, Kenya/International
Albanian Media Institute
Alliance of Independent Journalists, Indonesia
Alianza Regional por la Libre Expresión e Información, South America
Comunicação e Direitos (ANDI), Brazil
Arabic Media Internet Network, Palestine
AMARRIBO - Articulação Contra a Corrupção e a Impunidade, Brazil
Asociación Ambiente y Sociedad, Colombia
Association “For Sustainable Human Development”, Armenia
Asociación por los Derechos Civiles, Argentina
Association EPAS, Romania
Association of Caribbean Media Workers
Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM),Serbia
Bahrain Center for Human Rights
Bahrain Transparency Society
Brazilian Association for Investigative Journalism (ABRAJI)
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Egypt
Cambodian Center for Human Rights
Campaign for Freedom of Information, UK
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Cartoonists Rights Network International
Center for Defending Freedom of Journalists, Jordan
Center for Effective Government, USA
Center for International Environmental Law, Canada
Center for Independent Journalism, Romania
Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, Philippines
Center for Media Studies and Peace Building, Liberia
Centre for Independent Journalism, Malaysia
Centre for Law and Democracy, International
Centre Ibn Rochd, Morocco
Centro de Archivos y Acceso a la Información Pública, Uruguay
Centro de Iniciativas de Politicas Ambientales, Nicaragua
Centro de Reportes Informativos sobre Guatemala
Centro Ecuatoriano de Derecho Ambiental, Ecuador
Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental, Mexico
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Comité por la Libre Expresión (C-Libre), Honduras
Committee to Protect Journalists, International
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, India
Comunicación y Educación Ambiental SC, Mexico
Conselho Indigenista Missionário - Regional Norte / Indigenous Missionary Council - Northern Region, Brazil
Corruption Watch UK
Cultura Ecológica, Mexico
DATA Uruguay
Defensa de Niñas y Niños Internacional – DNI, Costa Rica
Derechos Digitales, Chile
Deutsche Welle Akademie, Germany
Electronic Frontier Foundation, USA
English PEN, UK
Espaco Publico, Venezuela
European Endowment for Democracy
FEMNET (African Women’s Development & Communication Network)
FOJO: Media Institute, Linnaeus University, Sweden
Fondation Hirondelle, Switzerland
Foro de Periodismo Argentino (FOPEA), Argentina
Free Media Movement, Sri Lanka
Free Press Unlimited, The Netherlands
Freedom Forum, Nepal
Freedom Foundation for Media Freedom Rights and Development, Yemen
Freedom House, USA
Freedom of Information Center of Armenia
Freedom of Information Foundation, Russia
Fundación Andina para la Observación y el Estudio de Medios (Fundamedios), Ecuador
Fundacion Construir, Bolivia
Fundación para el Desarrollo de la Libertad Ciudadana, Capítulo Panameño de Transparencia Internacional, Panama
Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa, Colombia
Gaspar Garcia Centre for Human Rights, Brazil
Global Human Rights Communications, India
Global Infancia, Paraguay
Global Integrity: Innovations for Transparency and Accountability, International
Global Movement for Budget Transparency, Accountability and Participation (BTAP), International
Globe International Center, Mongolia
GPOPAI, Research Group on Public Policy for Access to Information, University of Sao Paulo
Greenhost, The Netherlands
Groupe d’Action de Paix et de Formation pour la Transformation, Central African Republic
Hibr, Jordan
Hong Kong Journalists Association, China
Human Rights Center, Azerbaijan
Human Rights First Rwanda Association
Human Rights Network for Journalists, Uganda
Human Security Alliance, Thailand
Iilab, UK
Independent Journalism Center, Moldova
Independent Media Center Kurdistan, Iraq
Index on Censorship, UK
Initiative for Freedom of Expression, Turkey
Institut du Gouvernance Numérique, Canada
Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, Indonesia
Institute for the Studies on Free Flow of Information, Indonesia
Instituto Prensa y Sociedad, Venezuela
Instituto Prensa y Sociedad, Peru
International Center for Journalists, USA
International Federation of Journalists - Asia Pacific
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
International Media Support, Denmark
International Press Institute, Austria
International Publishers Association
International Records Management
Internews Europe
Internews, International
Iraqi Journalists Rights Defense Association
Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate, Iraq
Lisbonreporter.com
LokaalMondiaal, Netherlands
Lori TV, Armenia
Maharat Foundation, Lebanon
Media Foundation for West Africa
Media Industry Development Authority, Fiji
Media Initiatives Center, Armenia
Media Institute of Southern Africa
Media Rights Agenda, Nigeria
Media Watch, Bangladesh
Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, Australia
Mediacentar Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
MediaLink, Indonesia
Medical Mission Sisters, USA
MICT Berlin, Germany
Mizzima News, Burma
Nancy Fashho, Individual
National Union of Somali Journalists
Obong Denis Udo-Inyang Foundation, Nigeria
Observatorio Latinoamericano para la Libertad de Expresión, Peru
Observatório Social de Belém, Brazil
ONG Ativa Buzios, Brazil
ONG Transparência Cachoeirense, Brazil
Open Data Forum Indonesia
Open Democracy Advice Centre, South Africa
Open Society Foundation, Serbia
Open The Government, USA
Ovdinfo.Org, Russia
Pacific Islands News Association
Pakistan Press Foundation, Pakistan
Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms
PEN American Center
PEN Canada
PEN International
Privacy and Access Council of Canada / Conseil du Canada de l’Accès et la vie Privée
Privacy International
PRO MEDIA Skopje, Macedonia
Programa Transparencia para Tod@s, Mexico
Public Association Journalists, Kyrgyzstan
Publish What You Fund, International
RadioExpert.org, Czech Republic
Reporters Without Borders, France
Sawt el Hor, Egypt
School for Broadcast Media, Indonesia
SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom, Lebanon
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, Nigeria
Sourcefabric, Czech Republic
South African History Archive, South Africa
Southeast Asian Press Alliance
Syrian Journalist Association
Syria Newsdesk
Teeba Press, Sudan
Terra-1530, Moldova
The Justice Project, India
The MediaWise Trust, UK
The Zimbabwean, Zimbabwe
Tifa Foundation, Indonesia
Trac FM, Uganda
Transparency International
Transparency International Bangladesh
Transparency International, Croatia
Transparency Morocco
Tunis Center For Press Freedom, Tunisia
United Journalists Center, Egypt
Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania
Uznet, Uzbekistan
Videre Est Credere, UK
Viva São João, Brazil
VOICE, Bangladesh
Vuselela-Media, South Africa
Walter Keim, Individual, Norway
Wesam Al-Haq
World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters
World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers
(WAN-IFRA)
World Pulse, International
Youth Association for Development, Pakistan
Zambezi Fox, South Africa
Zimbabwe Association of Community Radio Stations
To add your organisation’s signature, email coordinator@gfmd.info