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In other words, Pierre Juneau felt the need to think global in order
to act efficiently on the local level.
The visionary project of the WRTVC was supported from the
start by UNESCO. It also obtained help from public service broadcasters
such as SRC/CBC or SRG SSR idée suisse, from several NGOs
and from some associations of viewers and listeners.
The WRTVC organized several important conferences on public service
broadcasting. The last one in September 2000 in Rabat (Morocco)
about public service in Africa led the WRTVC and UNESCO to publish
the Rabat Declaration, setting concrete goals for broadcasting
to serve more efficiently the African people.
The WRTVC and UNESCO also published in five languages (french,
english, spanish, arabic and russian) a definition of public service
broadcasting aimed as a benchmarking tool for broadcasters and
regulation authorities around the world. (The document will be
available at the meeting).
During the last five years, Pierre Juneau has dedicated countless
hours to the WRTVC and traveled extensively all around the world
to present the WRTVC case and to build support. In the spring
2001, he felt the need to hand over the organization and proposed
a new direction team : Guillaume Chenevière, former director
general of TSR, the French speaking public service television
of Switzerland, and highly involved in public service broadcasting
organizations became President, and Micheline Vaillancourt, director
of regional television and of corporate affairs of the French
speaking television network of CBC, as well as ex-president of
the Conseil des Radio-Télévisions d'Expression Française
(CIRTEF) and director of the CTF (Communauté des télévisions
francophones) board became General Secretary.
A strategic group was formed with the President, the General
Secretary, Javad Mottaghi, director of the Asia-Pacific Institute
for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) and Vladimir L. Gaï,
from UNESCO.
The object of this group was to define a project of strategic
plan for the WRTVC, including an evaluation of the means needed
to carry out its task. At present the WRTVC, does not have any
operational structure. It relies entirely on the good will of
its members. If the first five years of the WRTVC have repeatedly
proven that it answers effective needs all around the world, -
in the words of a UNESCO local representatives, "if it did
not exist, one should invent it right away" -, it has not
yet found the vast support in civil society which will permit
the realization of its ambitious goals.
The WRTVC Mission
- Defend the idea of public service broadcasting around the
world through civil society movements
- Support the specific values and services of public service
broadcasting in dealings with broadcasters, governments and
regulations authorities
- Promote the concept of public service in broadcasting programming
and communications
- Strengthen this concept where it is threatened
- Help introduce this concept where it does not exist
Why does the WRTVC mean to act through civil society?
In most countries, civil society is faced with the grave danger
of the absence or disappearance of a public domain in which all
citizens can meet and exchange. More and more does society accept
a division through which its more fortunate citizens live in a space
entirely separate from the one in which the majority of citizens
spend their life. An obvious way to fight this segregation is to
provide a public audiovisual space in which all citizens are represented
and served equally. This is one the main functions of public service
broadcasting and civil society, as the foremost beneficiary of such
a contribution to progress in society and democratic debate, must
organize itself to request, obtain and maintain such a concept.
It appears however that civil society is often not aware of the
potential of public service broadcasting and does not realize the
use it can make of radio, television and the new services of the
digital age. Acting through and animating civil society is thus
an essential part of WRTVC mission.
Why does the WRTVC intend to launch a worldwide movement?
Facing the globalization of the market forces, particularly evident
in the audiovisual sector, the WRTVC intends to activate an equally
global movement, showing the need for a public audiovisual space
and for public service broadcasters all around the world. It aims
at setting worldwide standards of public service performance and
best practices, helping to benchmark the performance of public
service broadcasting in each country. A worldwide movement is
also essential to promote the case of the public broadcasters'
decisive role in protecting the cultural identities of each nation
and region in the face of the massive trend towards a globalized
culture.
The WRTVC Organization
A UNESCO supported NGO, the WRTVC intends to coordinate, supplement,
interface and network existing regional, national, interregional
and/or continental organizations serving similar goals. In no
way does it intend to replace or succeed any of them.
It intends to act jointly, with the most important international
organizations in the field, such as UNESCO, CBA, AIBD, CIRTEF,
URTI, URTNA, EBU, ASBU etc., as well as other NGOs operating along
parallel lines, such as ACDI, ASDI, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung,
Friedrich Naumann Stiftung, Thomson Foundation, etc.
It is grateful for the support of public service broadcasters
such as CBC, SRG SSR idée suisse, etc.
It principal membership should be mostly composed of civil society
organizations, as well as independent personalities from the academic,
political or cultural world, willing to stand out for the audiovisual
public service idea.
Conferences and other events organized by the WRTVC will as a
rule take place within the framework of international or interregional
conferences and events organized by partner organizations, in
order to minimize costs and maximize efficiency, by adding the
global perspective to initiatives of a more focused scope.
The WRTVC Structure
Since its creation, the WRTVC hold a yearly general assembly
composed of individual members who specifically represent only
themselves, not the organization they belong to. The WRTVC has
in addition a very large board (35 to 40 people), a bureau composed
of 15 persons, a president and a general secretary.
There is no staff on the pay roll. No member receives any fees
for its involvement in WRTVC, which is entirely based on good
will.
Although we welcome the open, flexible structure of WRTVC, which
only directed at fulfilling its concept and ideas, there needs
to be a more practical, project oriented organization.
Depending on the scope of projects, project teams must be formed
on a professional basis to carry out their objectives. A coordination
unit must be set up, also on a professional basis, when the number
and visibility of projects require it.
Proposed New Structure
The general assembly, a rather costly operation, will meet every
2 years, preferably at the occasion of a conference or event organized
by the WRTVC. The board will be reduced to 15 members. Among them
a strategic think thank committee of 5 to 6 members will replaced
the actual bureau. Each member of this committee should represent
a part of the world (ex : South-East Asia, North Africa…).
This committee will have to work closely with the president and
his team.
The individual membership should be complemented by representatives
of partner organizations, named on a personal basis, but also
able to represent officially at the WRTVC board level the organizations
they belong to.
The general assembly will elect the president and the board members
for a period of two years renewable one time. The next general
assembly could be held in Montreal at the occasion of the 50th
anniversary of Radio-Canada/CBC television in 2002- 2003. Meanwhile,
an executive committee will be formed by the actual president.
Proposed Financing Model
Except personnel graciously put at the disposal of the WRTVC
by la Société Radio-Canada, there is no paid staff.
Resources for specific projects and even for meetings are to be
obtained from partner organizations. No regular resources are
available.
Ordinary expenses will be financed in future through an overhead
percentage on project budgets. Contributions will be requested
from partner organizations and subscription fees will be requested
from individual members.
WRTVC will look for 10 sponsors willing to spend 10 000 US dollars
each to finance a basis effort at insuring sizable project resources.
There is no lack of projects corresponding to effective and urgent
needs, but a crual lack of resources to implement them. In the
medium term, the WRTVC will try to create its own capital to insure
its financial independance. The sponsors of the start-up expenses
are to be found in the following circles ::
- Public service broadcasters and public service organizations
- Regulations authorities
- Ministries of culture
- Viewers and listeners' associations
- Organizations for Northern countries dealing with Third World
cooperation
- Foundations with similar goals
Estimated Budget
|
SF (Swiss FR) |
| Part time secretariat |
40 000.-
|
| Meeting (Board, strategic committee, general
assembly |
20 000.-
|
| Communications (documentation, translation,
website) |
25 000.-
|
| Travel costs |
20 000.-
|
| § Consultation fees |
25 000.-
|
 |
|
| Total : |
130 000.-
|
Performance Indicators
The WRTVC intends to measure the realization of its goals through
objective performance indicators giving project sponsors a guarantee
of cost effective management and of an appropriate relation between
expenses and results.
Objectives (2002-2004)
1) Build the basis of a stronger organization (structure, financing,
communications)
- Put in place the new structure
- Obtain an adequate financing
- Implement communication tools
2) Support the development of public broadcasting mainly
through civil society
- Promote the idea of public service in radio, television and
new services in audiovisual communication
- Help the implementation of public service broadcasting in
those countries where it does not yet exist and where they are
in danger
- Help civil society organizations becoming an efficient support
for public service broadcasting in every country
- Create a network of collaborating institutions in the field
of public service broadcasting development and research, as
well as support of audiovisual public service through civil
society
- Supplement and complement wherever needed the activities of
interregional, international and/or continental public broadcasting
organizations
3) Become a particular place of convergence for observation and
reflexion on radio and television public service
- Inform about the situation of public service radio and television
in each country
around the world
- Sustain a global reflection about the future of public service
radio and television in the new digital and socio-economic environment
as well as about the development of public service features
in the new personalized interactive services which complement
the audiovisual landscape
- Become a place of convergence for the most innovative experiences
as well as the best practices and performance indicators of
quality public service broadcasting, in order to optimize public
enterprises throughout the world
Action Plan : list of projects 2002-2004
- Define and implement specific audience measurements and other
indicators to evaluate the specific performance of PSBs; promote
objective standards in public service accountability
- Create an observatory of the performance of audiovisual media
at the service of social progress and democracy in every country
of the world
- Develop a WRTVC web site
- Organize a world review of public service broadcasting around
the world (in Montreal in fall 2002, on the occasion of the
50th anniversary of the Radio-Canada/CBC television, first public
service television in North America and the 30th anniversary
of Télé-Québec)
- Use the platform of the World Summit on the Information Society
in Geneva in 2003 to promote the visibility of the WRTVC
Core Activities
- Serve as a forum and a dialogue center for policy makers,
broadcasters and representatives of civil society
- Interface the interregional, national, international and/or
continental organizations serving the same goals
- Promote through publications, conferences, meetings and related
events the idea of public service broadcasting
- Collect funds and other contributions permitting to achieve
the objectives set forth
Key Success Factors
- Concept and purpose of WRTVC generally accepted as useful
and even necessary
- Support of existing international and supraregional organizations
- Many of the present WRTVC projects can be seen as supplementing
and reinforcing existing initiatives
- Key moment in the development of PSBs : confronting the digital
revolution is the right time to exchange and confront ideas
and experiences
- Key moment in the development of civil society : the fight
for cultural diversity and independant information has acquired
a momentum it did not have previously
- Key moment in the history of public service broadcasting :
several countries are rediscovering the merits of PSBs and the
limitations of an audiovisual service left to the market forces
Key Risk Factors
- To act on a worldwide scale does not facilitate the visibility
of WRTVC activities
- After five years of existence, the WRTVC still does not have
any kind of stable basis (no fixed staff, no fixed resources)
- It recognition either in civil society or among broadcasters
and
government agencies is weak
- The concept of public service broadcasting is often felt
as something of the past and there is danger for the WRTVC to
adopt a language of the past in defending its vision
- § The added value of the WRTVC is not easy to sell to
traditional broadcasters who tend to fear more constraints for
their core busines
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