Replacing Vladimir Gaï who is convalescing and on behalf of the host, Claude Ondobo Ndzana, Miguel Sales of the Unit for Freedom of Expression, Democracy and Peace at UNESCO welcomed participants.

INTRODUCTION

The new WRTVC chair Guillaume Chenevière welcomed and thanked all those present (see attached list) for having accepted his invitation.

Even though the original invitation mentioned a meeting of the WRTVC's Board of Directors, this was not a Board meeting but rather a strategic orientation meeting of the WRTVC.

To date the WRTVC has published:

• · A definitive document on public service broadcasting entitled "Public Broadcasting Why? How?" has been published in five languages (English, French, Spanish, Russian and Arabic), and is being translated into Danish with the help of Bo Torp Pedersen. It leads to a recently published important study by Professors Monroe E. Price (Oxford) and Marc Raboy (Montreal) entitled "Public Service Broadcasting in Transition". You can find the report at the following address : www.eim.org.
  
  
• · The Rabat Declaration contains the recommendations made to African governments by delegates to the September 2000 Rabat Conference on Public RadioTelevision in Africa organized by WRTVC.

• While there is general agreement with the objectives and action plan, there are too many objectives and the plan is overly ambitious.
  
  
• It was suggested that before a new structure is created, the old one should be analyzed. The WRTVC's legal status has to be redefined.
  
  
• Channeling WRTVC action through civilian society is fine as long as our vision of the latter is broad enough to encompass not only NGOs, but also regulatory agencies (50 worldwide), broadcasters. The WRTVC has to be mindful of its independence and the objectives pursued by certain NGO's.
  
  
• The WRTVC should be more representative of cultural diversity and North-South dialog.
  
  
• It is important to avoid duplicating what has been or is being done already by other organizations pursuing the same or related objectives: regulators, broadcaster associations, viewers' groups, public opinion representatives, universities, research centers, legislators, political circles, etc. It is important to contact, set up a communications network, coordinate and draw inspiration from what has already been done (e.g. training workshops by viewers' association like the Voice of the Listener & Viewer - VLV) and to create synergy. The WRTVC has to complement and encompass what is already being done.
  


• The WRTVC must not go off into a corner, talk to itself, preach to the converted. It must be heard and engage in dialog with those who don't believe in the value of public service broadcasting, to the apathetic; we have to target our audience. It is important to educate and sensitize the public, who are citizens yet also and increasingly consumers with individualistic values.
  
  
• The WRTVC's discourse must not be conventional, retrospective, nor attack the private sector.
  
  
• Public broadcasting needs the private sector, who make it easier to provide an alternative to government-controlled information, and private broadcasters need public broadcasters, who free them of non-profitable obligations and, due to public funding, exert less pressure on the advertising market.
  
  
• The WRTVC should compile information about financial interests in the audiovisual realm. This information and its analysis should be available on the Internet and brought to the attention of broadcasters and audiovisual decisionmakers.
  
  
• The WRTVC should help broadcasters, especially in Africa, measure their audiences and assess public expectations and needs.

• The WRTVC must redefine the public service criteria.
  
  
• It is difficult to define public service because each country is unique and some still have a government-run broadcasting system.
  
  
• A public service is one that serves and is financed by the public.
  
  
• While private broadcasters are increasingly meeting the criteria of globalization, public broadcasting serves a nation's dynamics. Public broadcasting is a forum where the cultural diversity of a country and its regions can and must be expressed.
  
  
• Human freedom implies freedom of expression and choice of information sources.
  
  
• We need to use facts to prove that public broadcasting is necessary and brings a specific contribution to the society.
  
  
• Public broadcasting follows trends. The events of September 11 demonstrated the strategic importance of public service.
  
  
• Public broadcasting is dependent on economic conditions: in boom times it gets funding, in hard times its budgets tend to get slashed.
  
  
• · Some participants fear that the cost of digital is jeopardizing public broadcasters already coping with financial problems.
  

• To be able to reach its audience around the world, the WRTVC should have a website. Mr. Chenevière feels this is a priority and has already talked to a small team in Switzerland that could design the site. There is a possibility of collaboration with existing sites. Ms. Smith told us about the www.publicservicebroadcasting.com site set up jointly by PBI and UNESCO (Vladimir Gaï). Other participants insists that the WRTVC should have its own site with links to member organizations and related sites.
  
  
• The WRTVC has to be more proactive than reactive. A tool such as the Web could be used to sound alarms.
  
  
• It is important for organizations with parallel or convergent missions to remain in contact and communicate with one another. Mr. Chenevière recognizes the importance of coordination with others. In the case of the PBI, we will from now on attend each other's meetings. Although David Barlow was unable to be here this time, Guillaume Chenevière will attend the next PBI steering committee in Hong-Kong. The WRTVC could also reach out to the Platform for Communication Rights, which is highly active in representing public interests at the World Summit on the Information Society. Mr. Chenevière will write to them to learn more about other members of the organization and
  pass the information on.
  
  
• The WRTVC should also seek the collaboration of the regulators' association. Pierre Wiehn of the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA) will look into this.
  
  
• The WRTVC should not become involved with training of viewers in French-speaking Africa because VLV is already doing it.
  
  
• A conference in Eastern Europe on the contribution of public broadcasting could be a significant move if big names could be lined up as speakers. This type of conference would further the cause of public broadcasting at a time when commercial networks are expanding their reach. The OSCE is apparently considering that type of project. The WRTVC could become associated with the conference planned by the OSCE.
  
  
• Events of this kind should also be planned for French-speaking Africa, but limited to the country. The discussion should first be sparked at the national level by, for example, workshops led by experts.
  
  
• One suggestion was to organize media campaigns to raise public awareness along the lines of those conducted by the Council of Europe on issues such as tolerance, racism,etc.
  
  
• It was also suggested that we publish a magazine or newsletter in addition to having a website. It could be done once the observatory is in place and providing information to feed a publication.Suite aux discussions, des modifications ont été apportées aux objectifs et au plan d'action ( initialement les pages 8 et 9 du projet de plan stratégique du CMRTV).

• Public broadcasting must be accountable.
  
  
• We have to agree on measurable indicators, parameters, performance indicators in line with the objectives and means.
  
  
• The indicators and performance benchmarks will have to be adapted to the differences between countries and between markets. Measurable instruments must be within the reach of television broadcasters on the way to becoming a public service. The model is designed for the North and will have to be adapted for Southern hemisphere countries. There must be different sets of measurements for each.
  
  
• Public service needs audience ratings measurements, but many Southern hemisphere countries lack the means for this.
  
  
• Programming is the area that distinguishes public from private broadcasting.
  
  
• Local identification and content are important aspects of public broadcasting.
  
  
• We should not restrict ourselves to considering programs by genre because the public is increasingly exposed to intermediate forms (infotainment, etc.)
  
  
• We cannot overlook the concept of entertainment, of enjoyment also being a dimension of public broadcasting. Public broadcasting must not become ghettoized by restricting itself to serious content stripped of anything entertaining. Public broadcasts must be enjoyable to watch and listen to.
  
  
• If people don't see themselves reflected on television, it will vanish. The key is proximity to and knowledge of your public.
  
  
• Financing is a prime issue for public broadcasters that can no longer live without advertising. The financial need for advertising change the way we acquire and produce programming.
  
  
• Public service broadcasting must not follow market trends and limit itself to the profitable at the expense of diversity and, ultimately, democracy. Yet it must not be afraid to compete with private broadcasters and attract audiences through greater creativity.
  
  
• To measure quality, we first have to define it in terms of our objectives.
  
  
• Each medium must be treated and evaluated as a whole rather than through its parts (individual programs or program categories).
  
  
• The indicators that are chosen must be technically measurable, politically acceptable and economically viable.
  

Mr. Chenevière asked participants to study Mr. Baldi's presentation, provide feedback and make comments and suggestions.