Workshop Partner

Background
In the media dominated world of today, the different types of mass media play a key role in informing the public, influencing public opinion and in setting public agendas. By recognising this reality, those working for education for sustainable development (ESD) can find ways to strategically engage the media as a powerful tool and multiplier.

Media plays several different yet complementary roles in relation to environmental awareness, understanding and action. These include:

• Gathering and disseminating information in straightforward reporting
• Analysing information and offering opinions in editorial commentary
• Providing a platform for individuals and organisations to express opinions
• Catalysing informed public discussion and debate on key issues
• Focusing on social and environmental impacts of policies, practices, trends
• Showcasing good practices in natural resource management and social development
• Campaigning for policy, legal or corporate reform on public interest issues
• Holding public, corporate and community bodies accountable for the management of common property goods

While these are some of the key services that a responsible and responsive mass media can provide to help societies achieve ESD, the primary obligation of mass media remains with their audiences — readers, listeners, viewers or online visitors — to inform and entertain. Most mainstream media outlets do not see themselves as educators, campaigners or reformers: these are useful by-products of the media engaging in their primary function.

Thus, the mass media is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for achieving ESD. For the media’s core functions to benefit our pursuit of socially and environmentally sustainable societies, we also need certain broader factors to be in place, such as accountable and responsive governments, effective public regulators for utilities, markets and public goods, socially responsible corporations (and active consumer watchdogs), freedom of information and freedom of expression, socially conscious, committed and active scientists and professionals and informed and well organised civil society.

When we analyse instances where sustained media coverage has led to positive changes, we see that these became possible because there was cooperation and collaboration with other sections of society. In many cases, media coverage was preceded and/or followed by action at other levels.

The workshop on media and sustainable development will recognise the past and current contributions of the media and look at how civil society, professionals, activist groups and communities better engage the media. It will acknowledge that the many and varied forms of media are only one part of a broader communications process necessary for ESD. Communicating through media alone may not always end in positive actions for sustainable development. Positive action can happen only when there is an understanding of the situation, capacity to act accordingly and, above all, the attitudinal change.

Issues

Through presentations and discussions, the workshop will address:

• Balancing media’s need for journalistic balance and editorial integrity with the development community’s own needs for advocacy and action
• Enhancing the ‘common ground’ for media, educators, activists and community, so that each can support the other while retaining their own identity and focus
• Identifying opportunities available for education in the existing system of media, e.g., dedicated educational TV channels, educational slots in the radio, print and television medium, etc., learning from media focusing exclusively on ESD.
• Tackling concerns of increasing commercialisation of media and how to promote the public interest in the current media landscape
• Strengthening the capacity of media practitioners to better understand complex sustainable development issues, problems, solutions and alternatives
• Improving trust and cooperation between media and other partners
• Choosing the right media mix, and the right use of the media, for ESD
• Making informed and smart choices on the new media technologies and options now becoming more widely available and affordable
• Going beyond mass media to niche media, narrowcasting etc.

With the increasing penetration of electronic media - particularly television and video - in South Asia, the workshop will spend considerable time looking at this aspect.The co-organiser of this workshop, TVE Asia Pacific, will bring in their experiences and insights on using audio-visual media (television, video, film) and new media (Internet, World Wide Web and CD-ROM) to raise awareness on environment, development, health, human rights, science and technology issues in South Asia and elsewhere in the region. TVE Asia Pacific’s national partners from different South Asian countries will present some of their experiences and case studies. TVE Asia Pacific staff will present experiences from elsewhere in the region.