Expanding the people?s right to know to the right to own

The global community media, and the movements for development and social change communications have put ?the right to communicate? on the agenda of new and expanded rights that require the world?s attention.

The global community media, and the movements for development and social change communications have put ‘the right to communicate’ on the agenda of new and expanded rights that require the world’s attention.

The ‘right to communicate’ goes beyond the already legally protected rights to freedoms of expression and information, to individuals’ rights to claim the right to access and control the means of communication. Although this right is not yet legally protected, it implies recognition of the need for public participation in communications. It also implies recognition of the fact that the frequency spectrum is a public resource, and should therefore be regulated as such at both the international and national levels.

The right to communicate does not yet even have the status of soft international law. And, strategies on how to proceed differ. Some argue that the rights to the freedoms of expression and information already imply this right, and that what is needed is a push for broader interpretations of these rights. Others argue for a strong push through international policy negotiations, for recognition of ‘the right to communicate’ in what would constitute soft international law as a first step towards having it recognised in hard international law that is legally binding.

The ‘right to communicate’ holds specific relevance for the community media. In Africa, the most important roles of community media are its ability to enable citizens to enjoy the rights to the freedoms of expression and information through enabling our participation in the media, and to relate or to tie the coverage that it does to human rights. This means ensuring that processes for women and men’s participation at all levels of community media are in place.

Community media’s obligation in promoting and safeguarding this right also means knowing what human rights are so as not to get deflected by short-term political considerations or by conservative cultural or religious arguments. The community media should further look for the human rights angle to all coverage to promote human dignity; and, it should ground all coverage in claims that are both moral and legal to promote accountability.

African women (and men) in community media are in a unique position to create links between those at the community level and the development and policy-making processes that affect our lives. The ‘right to communicate’ in and through community media also should enable a two-way dialogue between those at the community level and the national, regional and international levels.

We can amplify the voices, concerns, interpretations and alternative solutions of those at the community level with respect to development and peace. This is our mandate as Africans in community media.

Human rights must translate into supportive laws and policies—regulation—to be of any use. The regulation of media, Information Communications Technologies (ICTs) and telecommunications is the most critical challenge to the enhancement of access to and control over and the development of both independence and pluralism in these sectors on the continent.

In lobbying for the ‘right to communicate’, media activists must push for the recognition of and distinction between the public, commercial and the community media, with licensing and performance criteria for all three.

Also, financing possibilities and options need to be developed—publicly debated and agreed upon—for each. These could include advertising standards which match the mandates and roles of each of the three, cross-subsidisation arrangements and transforming the transmission systems of the public broadcaster into publicly managed and accountable common carriers with scaled access fees for all three. Blocks of the frequency spectrum need to be reserved for each, and finally, appropriate planning for the financing of gendered universal access in the liberalisation and privatisation processes of telecommunications needs to be done.

This is what we fought for within the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) last December. And this is what we will continue to fight for as we move towards Tunis in 2005. Our human rights depend on it.

L. Muthoni Wanyeki is a political scientist who works on development communications, gender and human rights and has published in these fields. She is currently the Executive Director of the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET).

This article is part of the GEM Opinion and Commentary Service that provides views and perspectives on current events.

janine@genderlinks.org.za for more information.