U.N. PANEL: THE MEDIA AND THE UNITED NATIONS NEWS: 27/12/2008 (MaximsNews Network) Dr. Max Stamper, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief of MaximsNews Network, discusses new online media technology in the Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium at United Nations headquarters in New York.

       UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network / 27 December 2008 -- A U.N. panel discussed new technologies in the Media and its relation to United Nations news in the Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium at U.N. headquarters in New York City on 04 December 2008. 

Ms. Gail Bindley-Taylor Sainté of the United Nations Department of Public Information opened the Briefing at UN headquarters to discuss new technologies in the Media and United Nations news.

Following the recent Paris meeting it was realized that new media tools were needed to communicate with various audiences from whatever the capital in which the  conferences were being held. This recognition was the motivating factor behind the decision to choose the theme for this Briefing: “Exploring New Technologies in Media: Where Do YOU Get Your UN News?”

The speakers included Dr. Max Stamper, Publisher and Editor-In-Chief, MaximsNews Network; Sarah Brown, Senior Journalist, Al Jazeera English; Caroline Petit, Chief of the Promotion and Distribution Unit, News and Media Division, U.N. Department of Public Information and Matthew Lee, Blogger; Accredited Journalist at the United Nations and Founder of Inner City Press:

Dr. Max Stamper, Publisher and Editor-In-Chief, MaximsNews Network, began by stating that much of the news, especially the news about the United Nations, is written from the perspective of the United States, even though the rest of the world accounted for 95% of the global population. He said this was one of the reasons why he started MaximsNews, which is read by diplomats, NGOs, and journalists around the world. He stressed that the fifty columnists who work for MaximsNews included some of the most influential and intellectual individuals around the world, among them Richard Holbrooke, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Anwar Ibrahim, the political leader in Malaysia. MaximsNews now boasts a record of having 345 news stories in one thirty-day period on Google News, mostly related to news about the United Nations or international community. He explained that MaximsNews utilized search engines effectively to ensure maximum visibility for readers, especially since more readers now use web search engines such as Google to find their news. Dr. Stamper described the strategies MaximsNews was using to attract larger viewership, such as establishing MaximsNews YouTube channel, publishing videos of the UN Secretary General’s noon Press Briefings, and using celebrities to attract readers. He stressed the importance of using celebrities in campaigning for international causes, because, he noted that in his experience, one picture of Angelina Jolie wearing a UNHCR (The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) T-shirt attracted more viewers than pictures of all the intellectuals working for MaximNews. He stressed that the Water Section of MaximsNews is now a leading source of international news about the global situation of water and sanitation. Utilizing new technologies was critical, he said and noted that within his organization new tools such as Skype, web communications and instant messaging were being utilised by its Editors to more efficiently communicate with each other. In conclusion, he said that MaximNews was available to assist NGOs to get their messages out to the public and welcomed submissions of NGO press releases, videos and photos. 

Sarah Brown, Senior Journalist, Al Jazeera English, began her presentation with an example of how technology was changing the way journalists worked and reported. She recalled the terror attacks in Mumbai, India, of the previous week, which she said were tracked every second by those plugged into various social media tools and websites. Ms. Brown said the speed with which bloggers and “so-called citizen journalists” in Mumbai posted pictures on Flickr, videos on YouTube, live-streamed material to local TV stations and posted blogs on the Internet left conventional media looking “dangerously clunky,” almost old fashioned. The lesson learned from this experience, she noted, is that today the media cannot rely on conventional methods for gathering and disseminating news to a world audience because people are no longer passive consumers of information. They are actively engaged in both absorbing and shaping world news and events. Ms. Brown emphasized that this was why Al Jazeera thought of itself as a news channel, not merely a television channel and focused on being “the voice of the voiceless.” In addition, she explained, Al Jazeera realized that it needed to be where the audience was accessing its information. She pointed to the fact that recent studies had indicated that the amount of time spent by the average consumer watching television was slowing as more and more people looked to the Internet for their viewing needs. She described the use of new media by Al Jazeera including Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and YouTube to try to improve its audience reach and get its material to as many different people as possible. Ms. Brown stressed that she saw her role as a journalist as being able to utilise all of these networks whenever a story broke, in order to monitor and gather information, and ultimately filter that information in a coherent manner that also reflected her station’s news agenda. In summing up her presentation, she underscored lessons learned for any organization looking to reach the media and its audience. First was the need to develop the tools necessary to display and disseminate content in innovative ways. She gave the example that while few may spend ten minutes looking for a URL link to a report on a website, many will respond to ‘Twitter’ summaries or video introductions in which a report that is concisely explained. Secondly, she stressed that it was important to pay attention to visibility of the information, as information was meaningless if nobody could find it. Visibility on as many social platforms as possible, she suggested, gives exposure to more consumers and gets messages across far more effectively than an expensive ad campaign every could. Her final point was on the importance of innovation. Giving the example of Al Jazeera’s decision on Election night in the United States to livetweet the Obama victory speech, she pointed to the fact that innovation not only publicises an organization, but also draws in those it wishes to access and can be done in inexpensive ways. Al Jazeera though its use of new technology on election night, she noted, was able to gain new listeners, free of cost.

Caroline Petit, Chief of the Promotion and Distribution Unit in the News and Media Division of the Department of Public Information, speaking on the theme “Where Do YOU get Your UN News,” focused on the multi-media services provided by her Unit. She pointed to the many services offered by the Division using a variety of sources and a multi-media platform. UN Multi-media Portal she explained, acted like a news agency and offered daily multimedia news coverage on the web, free of charge. Its coverage was focused on where the UN is most active on the ground. Its website included radio programmes available in 13 languages. Ms. Petit also mentioned an innovative idea that had just been added, a programme known as UN Radio Classics, featuring a series of recordings of speeches and statements made at the United Nations by distinguished individuals such as Audrey Hepburn and Pablo Neruda. This she described as a kind of historical radio series. On the television side of things Ms. Petit said UNTV produced a monthly magazine titled 21st Century, UN in Action a monthly current affairs series, and the annual Year in Review documentary. She also mentioned UNIFEED, a recent service of UNTV, which produced broadcast quality daily news stories 6 days a week, that could be down loaded from the web and was free of charge and the UN News Centre, which she noted was a prominent source of UN news of the day from the perspective of the Organization. The UN also has a channel on YouTube. Ms. Petit then went on to described a recent project using new technology in which the UN partnered with YouTube on a campaign designed to assist governments in promoting the Millennium Development Goals entitled In My Name. Participants in the project were encouraged to upload a video of them calling for governments to meet the MDGs. She shared a sample video of the campaign with the audience, which featured Will.I.Am, John Legend, Scarlett Johansson and other personalities from various countries around the world. Ms. Petit stressed that it was not enough to merely give information to people about the MDGs but rather to mobilize them to take action. Campaigns utilising YouTube were successful, she explained, because the UN remained in the background and was only required to initiate the idea, provide a platform for users to deliver their personal message on the MDGs via YouTube and ensure that the message was on target. YouTube on the other hand had provided the forum, where users could simply run with the campaign themselves. Ms. Petit mentioned that the UN would be working with YouTube on the issue of climate change in 2009. She underscored that the UN media continued to look for innovative ways to utilize new technologies and noted a potential new initiative with Microsoft, who was very keen to involve the UN News in its latest project, Imagine Cup 2009. This was a contest designed to attract youth audiences, as a way of encouraging them to voice their opinions on the MDGs. In conclusion, Ms. Petit stressed that the Promotion and Distribution Unit was keen to continue to explore new ways of utilizing new forms of technology and was happy to assist NGOs who wish to establish multi-media projects on UN issues, by providing images, songs and other UN materials.

Matthew Lee, Blogger; Accredited Journalist at the United Nations and Founder of Inner City Press, focused his presentation on how new forms of technology enabled journalists to perform a “watchdog” function. Mr. Lee commented that he was a profound admirer of the principles of the UN, however he believed that the UN, in many cases, failed to live up to its principles. One of his concerns was the lack of accountability from the Organization on certain matters. One example, he mentioned, concerned sexual misconduct of UN Peacekeepers. This was a problem, he explained, because Peacekeepers were given immunity and the United Nations could not prosecute them once they returned to their home countries because of the legalities involved in national jurisdiction. He gave the example of having received a memo from an anonymous UN employee alledging that 25% of aid money which was being sent to assist the victims of the Myanmar cyclone was instead going to the military government. Mr. Lee expressed the view that he believed this information was sent to him by a staff member who thought it was important to disclose such practices to the public in an effort to ensure that the UN was held accountable for its actions. Mr. Lee added that he would never have been able to cover this issue were not for the Internet, because he received the memo via e-mail. He stated that even though bloggers were seen as “unaccountable” journalists, this was in fact not the case as use of the Internet enabled people to assess the credibility of bloggers and the work they produced. He pointed to the fact that the UN was a major source of interesting news stories which mainstream media did not focus on as they tended to cover mainly events in the Security Council and gave little attention to other issues such as the work of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous people. He suggested that NGOs can in fact make their own news by generating information about their issues and disclosing their positions on issues on the UN’s agenda. Since NGOs participate in conferences, their representatives were able to witness what others could not. Mr. Lee encouraged NGOs to take a stand and report on those issues that demand attention. He added that NGOs do not always have to cover the positive things being done by the UN, but could look at where the UN was falling short, thus creating credibility with audiences Mr. Lee concluded with a thought-provoking challenge to the NGO: “the beauty of the Internet is that one can use many sources. NGOs can become sources of the news!” 

Adam Mazmanian, Lead Editor of the UNWIRE, explained that UNWIRE was a daily email publication which provides easy-to-read summaries of approximately 22 news stories on development, health, environment, energy, human rights, and peace and security. The stories are selected from a variety of print and other media sources. Working in partnership with the United Nations Foundation, UNWIRE also covers stories where the Foundation is active, such as its work to combat malaria and polio. The Organization he said does not express a particular point of view but rather provides interesting news stories and presents them in an impartial manner. Mr. Mazmanian in explaining the work of UNWIRE said it focuses on reputable news sources outside of the United States and accesses media from the United Kingdom, Australia, India and Africa. Since UN news stories were often focused on Security Council and other dominant issues, UNWIRE utilized sources such as Reuters AlertNet, to source information from the field; although, he noted, it was generally hard to get news from the field. Mr. Mazmanian highlighted the fact that UNWIRE avoids stories that originate from government media, but said that this was often difficult to identify since news aggregation sites such as www.allafrica.com often included independent newspaper sources that were either government run or influenced by political parties. However, he pointed out that it was not always possible to avoid stories sourced from government media. He gave the example that UNWIRE occasionally used stories from IRIN (which provide news and analysis about sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia for the humanitarian community), as it was often the only source of legitimate UN related stories not covered by other media sources. Mr. Mazmanian suggested that similar, but  simplified, email feeds such as the one provided by UNWIRE, could be utilized by NGOs to deliver information and news to their constituents. 

Question & Answers

During the question and answer period, participants commented that the new forms of media such as the video shown by Caroline Petit and social networking sites such as MySpace and FaceBook encouraged a new form of communication that focused on the individual rather than the issue they were promoting. This seemed to be fuelled by the UN’s emphasis on using well known personalities and movie stars as Messengers for Peace and UN Goodwill Ambassadors. One questioner queried as to why the UN appeared to be pandering to young peoples’ need for ‘I’ information. 

Ms. Petit suggested that there was a need to recognize and be a part of new forms of communication. She quoted Gandhi who said; “The first step to changing the world is changing yourself” and suggested that new forms of technology facilitated the expression of individual viewpoints. Ms. Brown asserted that social networking sites were not merely individually focused as some believed, but enabled people to express their concern for others. She noted that following the Mumbai attacks, these sites were used as a way to alert others to safety issues that may affect them. Participants also raised the issue of the using of celebrities to connect with the public on pertinent issues. The suggestion was made that celebrities should use their status to highlight those actually affected by a particular issue so that they in turn could give firsthand testimonials, thereby giving voice to the voiceless. 

Dr. Stamper said that publications such as MaximsNews Network often received the greatest number of hits from stories that featured celebrities rather than experts on the issue. He commented that it would be un-strategic if they ignored such stories. The moderator, Ms. Gail Bindley-Taylor Sainte, suggested that the use of celebrities was a new and evolving issue and that in the long term there may be a focus away from the celebrity and towards the issue itself. Participants also questioned how NGOs could ensure their freedom of expression, where their views differed from those of the UN, and further, what strategies NGOs could use to source news related to their work that was not covered by UN news media.

Ms. Brown suggested that NGOs consider wider news sources such as Al Jazeera, which was founded on the idea of asking the difficult questions and giving voice to the voiceless. In doing so, she suggested her Organization sought to create awareness and accountability. 

Mr. Mazmanian suggested that checking sources of information was also important and that one had to be cautious of stories that originated from state-run media. 

A participant asked for advice on how NGOs can best publicize UN events. Dr. Stamper suggested that NGOs could send a short and concise email to their constituents advertising the events. In addition they could use their websites to post basic information about the activities planned, and a clear and compelling explanation as to why it was important to attend such events.

The briefing was attended by about 150 representatives of NGOs, United Nations and Permanent Mission staff as well as interns from various UN Departments and NGOs.

~~~~~

Prepared by Gail B-T Sainté with assistance from Albert Lee, Maria Vu and Tatiana Alvarado/ 12 December, 2008.

Labels: United Nations, U.N.,  Adam Mazmanian, UNWIRE; Caroline Petit, U.N. Department of Public Information; Dr. Max Stamper, Ms. Gail Bindley-Taylor Sainté, Sarah Brown, Al Jazeera English; Matthew Lee, Inner City Press, new technologies in the media, United Nations news, U.N. Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium, MaximsNews Network,

 

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