[WSIS CS-Plenary] RE: U.S. worried about Tunis phase?, Perhaps.

[Richard Vincent]

Hello Rony:

I appreciate your response about US press reactions the last couple weeks.  I agree with you that the Alan Riding 13 October NYT article was much more evenhanded than the others I cited in my posting.  However, the Riding piece you mention does not appear to be without problems.

For example, the Riding piece mentions the present conflict in UNESCO, yet fails to relate this to earlier UNESCO and NWICO events, something that definitely was warranted when the article's first paragraph refers to the 19-year UNESCO boycott by the US.  Information on these earlier events would have better explained events that otherwise are left hanging.  I found that many non-US written stories did get into these circumstances.  Likewise, the Riding article labels the cultural diversity treaty convention as a free trade issue, but does not go deeper and opts to focus on potential US retaliation instead.  Other non-US stories appear to have often been more interested in better understanding how such differences of opinion might arise, and they note how media arguably are not the same as most other trade products, thus deserving different treatment.  Haider Rizxi even quotes Allen Scott of the University of California to explain such trade product differences in an IPS article.  All I am saying is that US-written stories seemed to be more limited in scope, and I have written books and articles on this over the years, the latest with coauthor Johan Galtung.

As for my expressed concern that we were beginning to see a rash of news articles on this and the internet governance "conflicts" at UNESCO and WSIS, I agree that this does not appear to have happened.  My concerns were based on articles, press releases and interviews coming out of Washington late last week and early this week.  However, US Ambassador to Unesco Louise Oliver moved to downplay the significance of the treaty convention vote on Thursday.  Since then, the stories appear to have abated.  

Perhaps it was activity on this and other lists that influenced events.  Perhaps it is mere coincidence that more level heads finally prevailed in Washington.  Whatever the reason, I am glad the activity seen earlier has changed course.  I hope it continues this way.  On the other hand, I think it was useful to remind everyone that we too have access to media organs and we should use them whenever it appears appropriate.  

Regards,

Rick Vincent




Dr. Richard C. Vincent
Professor 
Department of Communication
Indiana State University
Terre Haute, IN 47809
U.S.A.

email: rvincent at indstate.edu
telephone: +1 812 237-3246
fax: +1 812 237-3217
>>> KovenRonald at aol.com 10/19/05 4:05 PM >>>
Dear All --

That's a very unfair set of generalizations about the US press. Alan Riding's 
piece in the NYTimes was a very nuanced and fair piece. It is far from 
adopting the State Dept.'s propaganda line on the Cultural Diversity Convention. 
George Will's piece is indeed predictable propaganda, but he's a columnist and is 
close politically to those putting out the line.

I think if you parse who is writing what, you will find that it is as 
diversified as the press and as the the US political scene. One shouldn't fall into 
the trap of mimicking one's adversaries, by saying the exact opposite of what 
they say.

Best, Rony Koven