International Information Order Research Articles

The attempt to create a post-World War II international information order

The attempt to create a post-World War II international information order

Development Journalism in Nigeria: Unveiling Potentials and Confronting Challenges

This article delineates the opinion gap between what we see as pan-globe journalism worldwide with regards to the birth of New International Information Order. It discusses development journalism as a misunderstood concept and how Nigerians perceive this form of journalism. Create an interactive experiential exhibit that simulates various aspects of local history, such as citizen involvement, cultural traditions, ethnic diversity, or natural features. Emphasizing media’s significant position in development of the society, the work brings to focus the necessity of a change from politics and business orientation to an inclusive reporting which addresses the gaps and the livelihood issues affecting the differing strata of the society. Cultural development of the media press is the basis of the article. Hence, first of all, national culture is preferably reflected in content and language. Also, as one of the main themes, it gives principles of peace journalism which is intended to be a responsible reporting tool that can bridge up Nigerians and bring unity and development within the country. On the other hand, the author discusses obstacles obstructing the adequate deployment of the African development journalism in Nigeria including digital impact, ownership of the media houses and profit-oriented news outlets. Keywords: Press, Development, Media, Order, Journalism and Nigerian Press.

Coloniality and the Global North war against disinformation: the case of the European Union

Recent years have seen a growing contestation of the liberal international information order and an increasingly aggressive pushback by Global North governments. The pushback has been accompanied by burgeoning research on the contentious politics of international political communication. Reviewing this research, I find and critique that it fails to embed the Global North’s war against disinformation in the global matrix of the coloniality of knowledge. I elaborate Mignolo’s conceptual couplet dewesternisation/rewesternisation in relation to political epistemology to develop the claim that braided into the Global North’s counter-disinformation campaigns are discursive practices that entrench international epistemic privilege anchored to the global geopolitical hierarchy of knowledges. To substantiate my argument, I zoom in on the European Union’s counter-disinformation campaign against Russia. I end by reflecting on the broader take-away of my paper for decolonial thought and practice.

The Janus Face of the Liberal International Information Order: When Global Institutions Are Self-Undermining

AbstractScholars and policymakers long believed that norms of global information openness and private-sector governance helped to sustain and promote liberalism. These norms are being increasingly contested within liberal democracies. In this article, we argue that a key source of debate over the Liberal International Information Order (LIIO), a sub-order of the Liberal International Order (LIO), is generated internally by “self-undermining feedback effects,” that is, mechanisms through which institutional arrangements undermine their own political conditions of survival over time. Empirically, we demonstrate how global governance of the Internet, transnational disinformation campaigns, and domestic information governance interact to sow the seeds of this contention. In particular, illiberal states converted norms of openness into a vector of attack, unsettling political bargains in liberal states concerning the LIIO. More generally, we set out a broader research agenda to show how the international relations discipline might better understand institutional change as well as the informational aspects of the current crisis in the LIO.

Selling Democracy and Press Freedom to the Third World

In December 1983, the United States announced its intention to leave the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Great Britain followed suit shortly thereafter and formally withdrew in 1985. The principal reason for these dramatic departures was UNESCO’s alleged “hostility toward the basic institutions of a free society, especially a free market and a free press.”1 Both the United States and Great Britain complained that Third World representatives were undermining the free flow of information, a value that the agency’s Constitution vowed to defend. Over the previous decade, many UNESCO delegates had questioned the fundamental tenets of liberal press freedom by advocating for a New International Information Order (NIIO), which called upon governments to guarantee fair media content and to globally redistribute information technology. Whereas North Atlantic countries emphasized negative press freedom, principally freedom from state interference, representatives from decolonized, non-aligned, or so-called developing nations—what I refer...

The ‘emancipation of media’: Latin American advocacy for a New International Information Order in the 1970s

AbstractThroughout the 1970s, journalists and leaders in the Global South organized around the concept of a New International Information Order (NIIO), premised upon the self-determination of news access and production. Though largely forgotten today, the NIIO constituted a key platform of the ‘Third World’ solidarity movement. Latin America was a prominent site for NIIO activism, and this article examines the regional and local meetings that frequently brought together governing officials, reporters, and academics. Focusing on the shifting expectations of exiled Latin Americans living in Mexico City, the article explores the domestic political factors that eventually attenuated enthusiasm for the NIIO. By the late 1970s, Latin American advocates argued that repressive governments could not be trusted to safeguard socially responsible information initiatives, such as regional wire services. Moreover, they underscored that national democratization was necessary before global inequities could be resolved.

New International Information Order (NIIO) Revisited: Global Algorithmic Governance and Neocolonialism.

The field of Internet governance has been dominated by Euro-American actors and has largely resisted consideration of a holistic and integrative rights-based agenda, confining itself to narrow discussions on the technical stability of Internet Protocol resources and debates about nation-state involvement in multistakeholder governance of those resources. In light of the work of Edward Snowden documenting the close relationship between government security agencies and dominant social media platforms, this paper revisits the relevance of the New International Information Order (NIIO), a conceptualisation of the global politics of information described at the 1973 Fourth Summit Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement of nations in Algiers. This paper argues that critical analysis of the oligopolistic structure of “platforms” and their algorithmic forms of governance can build a more inclusive movement toward social justice by extending the NIIO framework’s emphasis on decolonisation, collective ownership of strategic information resources, and documentation of powerful transnational entities.

Cross-Curtain Radio Cooperation and New International Alignments during the Cold War

The transformation of the international system in the 1970s had remarkable consequences for East-West relations in the field of international radio communications. The two opposing blocs were compelled to join forces in an international system that was in a state of flux. Third World countries had started putting forward their demands for a “New International Information Order” and increasingly exerted pressure to achieve a reallocation of the spectrum for their own benefit. However, they were not able to reach their objectives at the World Administrative Radio Conference convened in 1979 by the International Telecommunication Union in order to reallocate the entire radio frequency spectrum. Expert groups from East and West cooperated closely on this issue, developing a coordinated strategy that enabled them to defend their shared interests.

‘Creative industries’: Economic programme and boundary concept

On 31 December 1985, Singapore left the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), turning against the ‘New International Information Order’ demanded by UNESCO at that time. In October 2007, after 22 years of absence, Singapore rejoined UNESCO, looking for an intensification of cultural and scientific exchange. Taking this example of reviving co-operation between Singapore and UNESCO, this paper assesses the concept of ‘creative industries’ as a boundary concept that allows for increased co-operation between players with generally opposing knowledge concepts — as manifested in their respective knowledge and cultural politics. The paper starts with a conceptual discussion on the crossing of boundaries. This is followed by an assessment of first, UNESCO's and second, Singapore's gradual repositioning towards culture. While UNESCO turned from distinctly separating ‘culture’ and ‘market’ in the 1970s and 1980s to an increased openness for profit-oriented conceptualisations of culture today, Singapore identified the economic potential of culture, creativity and the arts, and therefore the need to foster these as part of its development into a knowledge-based economy. The underlying differences in interests and the orientation of content, expressed by the traditionally opposing conceptualisations of knowledge and culture, are still valid today, yet the concept of ‘creative industries’, adopted by both sides, seems to offer a common meeting ground. It acts clearly as a bridge, and hence a boundary concept, allowing for an intensification of mutual co-operation. This is discussed in the final part of the paper.

Страны тропической Африки и новый международный информационный порядок

Страны тропической Африки и новый международный информационный порядок

De UNESCO en de vrijheid van informatie : Een reconstructie van 50 jaar machtspolitiek

This article assesses the role and profile of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in the international information and communication debate over the past fifty years. It describes the ideological controversies and shifts which took place as a result of and for conditioned by political and economic power changes.The concepts freedom of information' and 'free flow of information' are of a relatively recent date. However, the ideas on which they are based are very old. For centuries, these principles have been at the base of the Western way of thinking. The practical application of these liberties soon escaped the national level and the need for international agreements was felt. This shift can partly be explained as a result of changing power factors, partly also through culturally defined interpretation problems.A number of examples are presented. The interpretation of communication principles, the MacBride Report, or the New International Information Order, is linked to powershifts on the political and for economic level, as well as to the questioning of their universa[ validity.The article also adresses the role of the Western newsmedia as agenda setters for the public and political opinion.

Editorial Note

In this issue we have a collection of very interesting articles. There is thelead article written by the late Professor Ismail al Faruqi, founding Presidentof the International Institute of Islamic Thought in Reston, Virginia, and thefirst President of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists in 1972. Thesetwo organizations, which are separate but work together as partners in Muslimscholarship in North America, are the sponsors of this journal.Dr. al Faruqi's contribution on the important question of world theologyintroduces a four-part presentation on aspects of the Islamization of Knowledge.Well-grounded in this field of knowledge and coming from a background whichclearly made him one of the few Muslim scholars capable of engaging in ameaningful dialogue with Western thinkers on their own ground, Professoral-Faruqi identifies the main areas of discourse and then offers a critical Islamicperspective on the problem.Following his article are two position papers on pressing current issues.The first is the piece written by S. Abdullah Schleifer, an American Muslimcurrently working and living in Cairo, Egypt. A prominent journalist withmany years of experience in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world,Schleifer looks at the needs, feasibility and limitations of an independent IslamicNews Agency. This piece is provocative and provides food for thought to thoseMuslims who are interested in the current debate on the New InternationalInformation Order (NIIO). The second paper deals with the operations ofmodern financial markets for stocks and bonds and its relevance to an Islamiceconomy. Written by Professor Raquib uz-Wan, it focuses on a very importantissue in the current discussion on Islamic economics.We regret to announce that Dr. Musa O.A. Abdul, a member of our AdvisoryEditorial Board has passed away due to natural causes. Students andfaculty of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and all others who came to knowhis work in Islamic studies will always benefit, inshallah, from his inspiringdevotion to the cause of Islam.We hope that this issue will continue the steady improvement in the qualityof this journal. We are determined, insha' Allah, to raise the quality of productionand the quality of scholarship in this journal. For this and other relatedreasons we call on all scholars who are interested in the Muslim World tosend in their comments and suggestions. Contributions are welcome fromall over the world ...

Forget the NWICO...and Start All Over Again

Despite the emphasis which has been placed on the New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO), developing countries still do not see information as a key resource to decision-making. The external debt problems which were not foreseen by Latin American countries illustrate how the neglect of specialized information flows weakens the position of developing countries in negotiations which affect their interests. A study undertaken by the author showed that Latin American debtor countries lacked the information necessary to renegotiate their debts due the absence of a mechanism for sharing information and surveying the world economy. By contrast, at an early stage the main creditors had established their own information centre, the Institute for International Finance. Some guidelines for future strategies to improve the position of developing countries in the international economic and information order are suggested.

The Mass Media Declaratian of UNESCO

This is a book that could do with a long-winded subtitle. The title, though not inaccurate, is simply inadequate to describe the contents. This book is much more than a simple explication of, or a commentary on, the well-known Mass Media Declaration (unfortunately, this knowledge usually does not extend beyond the title and the controversy that surrounded it). First, it is an analysis of the Neb International Information Order debate, with special emphasis on developments in UNESCO. Secondly, it is a contribution to the field of international law of communication. Thirdly, it is an attempt to revitalize the discourse on ethics and mass communication.

NIIO: a Hope or a Nightmare?

NIIO covers news as well as specialised information on all matters, technical, political, social and economic. It includes all means of information and encompasses all aspects of information technology.From the onset reactions ran high. Critics developed a rigid attitude at the debate on the New International Information Order. They acquired an intellectually and emotionally antagonistic Pavolovian response to NIIO.

‘Is Togo television yours or mine?’

When the President, General Eyadema, put this question to the presenter of the 8 o'clock evening news, there was no doubt about the answer. The debate about a New International Information Order seems for the time being to have ground to a halt. Western critics of these proposals tend to fall back on one basic argument: the safeguarding of freedom of information, already in a poor state around the world. Their concerns are shared by many journalists in countries whose governments are calling for change, which only serves to show that their arguments are not entirely without foundation. But then, how do Third World governments make use of the means of information at their disposal? Why is it that the very idea of their countries' playing a more active part in the international exchange of news should spark off such distrust, not only in the West—particularly in the United States — but even among their own journalists? The ideal way of obtaining a complete response to this question would be to take each country in turn and analyse its system of information, taking each piece of the mechanism apart in order to demonstrate the various obstacles, deliberate or otherwise, to the free flow of information. Such a study is beyond the scope of the present article. Instead, we will limit ourselves to one example which may serve to shed light on the others: the tiny West African state of Togo — 35,000 square miles and 2 1/2 million inhabitants. Not that everything that happens there is valid everywhere else; but one can find solid examples of practices employed, to a varying degree, in a significant number of other Third World countries, particularly those of French-speaking Africa.

Publishing for Rural Areas in Developing Countries in the Context of the Debates on a New International Information Order

oral literature should be granted a much higher rôle in development politics than books or the press […] the rdle of the book has been overrated in uncritical pursuit of modernization theories.[However] as a medium for learning in the social environment, print media, produced in decentralized printing plants, have a major, pro-social function. Publishing for rural areas appears to be meaningful only if it happens in rural areas and with peasants.

The New International Information Order after the MacBride Commission Report: an international powerplay between the core and the periphery countries

The New International Information Order after the MacBride Commission Report: an international powerplay between the core and the periphery countries

Finland: Brave plans and grave problems

This extract f rom Proposals for an International Programme of Gommunication Research, formulated by Unesco with the assistance of an international panel of experts in I97I , 1 provides a typical perspective into the question of mass communication in the contemporary world. Throughout the I97os, this perspective has been more and more widely recognized at the national as well as international level, as demonstrated by the debate about a ~new international information order'.2 Well-known land-

Prospects for Non-Alignment: India's Role

Non-alignment is not a dinosaur. Never less than one-half and now almost two-thirds of the members of the United Nations Organization have styled their approach to external affairs as non-alignment. In the course of the last three decades and more, not one of the non-aligned nations has forsaken it in favour of alignment, not even in the most adverse of circumstances. On the other hand, there have been instances when some aligned countries have opted for non-alignment. The non-aligned countries are no Rip Van Winkles either. Ever alert to the realities of international affairs, they constantly endeavour to effect changes in the international power balance. During the fifties and the sixties, they helped to bring about a change in the international security order in the face of a strident Cold War. Since the beginning of the seventies, they have been working for the setting up of a New International Order (NIO) in all its three major facets, viz., the economic (New International Economic Order), the technological (New International Technological Order) and the informational (New International information Order). Non-alignment, personal preferences notwithstanding, has certainly succeeded to some extent in shaping the international system as it appears today. As the driving force of the resource-rich as also the resource-scarce yet volatile regions of the le tiers monde,1 non-alignment has almost always evoked extreme reactions, ranging from outright condemantion to lofty praise. However, having to live with non-alignment, it is necessary to ask what course non-alignment would take in the hands of its powerless votaries in the years ahead against the hindsight of what it has achieved so far. This paper endeavours to examine at some length the success and continued relevance of non-alignment with the focus on India.