New technologies in the
service of culture
-Louise Bastien, French Journalist
22,7 billion euros-150 billion francs,
is what French citizens’ spending each year on buying audiovisual equipment and
media, books, magazines, newspapers and theatre tickets. The press, and publishing and
graphics industries held these economic activities followed by television, records and
cinema. The art market, too, represents a far from negligible turnover of 760 million
euros, 5 billion francs. In the film, animation and multi-media publishing sectors, France
is in top position among European countries, and lies in third place, behind the United
States and Japan, at the world level. As for French developers and publishers, they occupy
an expanding place in the world’s video game industry. Companies like Havas
Interactive, Ubisoft or Inforgrames have become unavoidable in the space of a few years
and rival the biggest.
The culture industry and cultural services
are a central business sector in the French economy and they employ more than 300,000
people.. To remain among the leaders worldwide, France will have to face several
challenges. On the one hand, to promote French culture by offering the whole world access
to its heritage, and on the other, to encourage creativity by allowing multimedia
companies to develop in a favorable environment.
But the stakes are not merely economic. The
meeting of information and communication technologies and culture should allow everyone
free and easy access to educational and cultural content of high quality. Catherine Tasca,
the French minister for Culture and Communication, in June 2000 stressed that : "The
provision of culture and education is essential to the exercise of any form of
freedom".
By taking up these challenges, France will
also reinforce the presence of the French language on the network of networks, on which,
at the present time, only 2 to 4% of all web pages are available, in spite of the fact
that French is spoken by more than 150 million people in the world.
To promote heritage and creativity:
Today, the National Library of France, with more than 80,000 documents digitalised, has
pulled itself up into the ranks of the biggest digital libraries and is one of the assets
favoring the development of the French language and, more generally, of a multi-lingual
Internet. The ministry of culture and communication site has opened a gateway to the
cultural Internet, listing artistic, cultural and scientific sites and providing access to
fields as varied as architecture, cinema, photography, ethnology…
Finally, during its period of office of the
EU presidency, France is committed to taking initiatives to advance understanding of
digital tools and improve the dissemination of knowledge, by strengthening cooperation
between European cultural institutions, pblic research bodies and companies.
The digital revolution has caused profound
changes in all fields of the cultural industry, from conception to the distribution of
works. A new generation of creators has sprung up, from the audiovisual, graphics and
music sectors. Authors choosing this form of expression are seeking financial and material
support in order to bring their cultural projects to fruition.
A number of places are fulfilling the role of
breeding grounds for talent. Thus, around Paris, several experimental organizations are
providing technical and financial support for multi-media projects: CD-ROMS, websites,
video art, computer graphics, live performances, electronic music…These new places
are reviving creativity and audiences: Batofar, Glaz’Art, Ars Longa,la Maroquinerie,
etc. In 1999, the ministry of culture and communications created "Multi-media Arts
Centers" . Amongst other things, they permit experimentation with ICTs as tools for
creative work and artistic expression, particularly through special events and workshops.
Financing is also provided for innovative companies, in particular, the Multi-media
publishing Aid Fund, run by the French National Film Center and jointly financed by the
ministry of culture and the State Secretariat for Industry.
Media convergence or competition: Among
the highest ranking of the cultural industries concerned are the audiovisual sector, the
press and publishing. These are now present on the Internet, which gives them an
international dimension. Several thouand radio stations and dozens of television channels
simultaneously broadcast live and continuously on the Internet. TV on the Internet, of
which the company CanalWeb is one of the pioneers in France, alongside nouvo.com is on the
roll and is breaking free of the constraints of traditional television. The majority of
daily newspapers and periodical now offer an Internet edition. Some magazines, or
"webzines" are distributed only on the Internet. The Internet makes it possible
to minimize the barriers between the different media. Programs are becoming multimedia,
multiservice and multisupport. Experiments are being conducted by the publicly owned group
Radio France offering genuinely multimedia news reports. Thus, as well as listening to the
sound commentary, the Internet user can consult the sources used by the reporter, look at
the photographs taken while reporting at the scene.
A newspaper article broadcast on the Internet
can also be accompanied by all the visual and audio documents that contributed to its
production. The concept, developed by the French National Audio-Visual Institute, has been
tested on several broadcasts. This new form of presenting information foreshadows the
interactive television tools of the future, with all its possibilities for personalizing
programs . Digital technology is revolutionizing too, the way in which encyclopedias, for
example, are consulted and read. The Encyclopedia Universalis and the Quid are thus going
to abandon their paper versions in favor of off-line,CD-ROM or on-line,site, editions.
Will the Internet replace all these media or
give them a new lease on life? Over and above these developments, the far reaching change
will also come from the fact that every one-individual, organization or company-will be
able to become a creator and provider of information; with, as a consequence, the start of
fresh debates on the question of intellectual property , the quality and the credibility
of information, the disappearance of intermediaries between raw data and readers, the
identification of sources and the widespread way in which the tools of information have
become a commonplace feature of our lives. Questions which will not fail to continue keep
the ink flowing, for want of filling the screens of our computers!.
Nepali media has to work
under pressure from political parties
Professor Sushil R. Pandey, T.U
I would like to thank the Telegraph weekly
for extending me the opportunity to share with you this afternoon a few ideas that I feel
are important for the advancement of media in Nepal. As a regular reader of the weekly,
I’m delighted to do so.
The role of media has been well studied
in the Western world but in Nepal we have only begun to understand its importance; more
so, when Nepal has to face several challenges of democracy. Looking back at the events of
the past ten years, we have to put in concrete efforts so that we are able to maintain and
continually develop our sense of nationhood and our integrity. I believe it is the media
that can come forward in taking up the task. I believe there are a number of reasons why
the media is important in democracy. First, it helps to promote democratic structures and
processes by contributing to the nation’s social, political and economic stability.
Second, it creates a functioning mass communication network so that the state and the
society become more viable. Third, it bridges the information gap between the developed
industrialized North and the developing south. Fourth, it boosts the expansion of
communication between peoples and nations across the world. Lastly, an important agent of
civil society, it protects and advances the free flow of information which helps to
safeguard citizens’ freedom in a democracy. These functional activities on the whole
have greater meaning when they are integrated within a liberal democratic framework. It is
here the role of media becomes meaningful for functioning of Nepali democracy when the
public agenda today is dominated by democratic ideals and actions.
Without mincing I would say that the media
has a crucial role to play in Nepal. I say this with reference to the points raised during
the 21 general conference of UNESCO, which was held in 1980. It is this conference the
developing countries drew up the essentials of a fairer world communication order. The
main highlights of the conference were: # Elimination of public and private monopolies in
the world media system
# Removal of external and internal barriers
to more balanced dissemination of information and ideas; # Freedom of information and
journalists; # Plurality of news sources and channels; # Nation’s right to cultural
identity and participation in communication exchange; # Finally, improvement of the
infra-structure of the developing countries’ media to be supported by the industrial
states.
On all these areas, the Nepali media has much
to strive and gain. Furthermore, the recent history of media in Nepal reveals a few more
challenges to cope with.
# The right to information guaranteed by the
present democratic constitution demands that the media becomes more assertive to put this
right into action. The government no less has an important duty to see that the right is
not infringed in any way.
# News publications from Kathmandu, the media
capital of Nepal, reach only one-third of the total districts in the country within 24
hours and the news public is largely confined to the urban areas.
# The Terai of Nepal has mainly Hindi or
English newspapers in the morning while Nepali newspapers reach most places in the late
afternoon or evening.
# There is need for policy shift in granting
greater freedom to private radio stations that are willing to broadcast news according to
constitutional limits. At present, this is not happening.
@ As an important agent of civil society,
there is much for the media to discuss issues facing the society, and news reporting and
dissemination should be objective and factual. This is a difficult task for the media
which has to work under stress and pressure from political parties and there are limited
resources available. In my view partisan reporting will not help democracy to grow in a
healthy way.
With these ideas, I would like to wrap up by
saying a few words to the Telegraph weekly. The weekly in my view has been very
independent in reporting. It has also been very successful in drawing the Nepalese
academia and intellectuals to express their opinions freely. My congratulations to the
Telegraph family.
-Views expressed by the author at a
Telegraph/FES media seminar held last month-chief editor. |
