''Many Voices One World'', also known as the MacBride report, was written in 1980 by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

), which reports to its International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems. The MacBride report was named after Irish

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...

and peace and human rights activist, Seán MacBride, and was tasked with analysing communication problems in modern societies, particularly relating to mass media and news, considering the emergence of new technologies, and suggesting a form of communication order (

New World Information and Communication Order The New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO, also shortened to New World Information Order, NWIO or just, more generally, information order) is a term coined in a debate over mass media, media representations of the developing count ...

) to reduce obstacles to further peace and human development. While the report had strong international support, it was condemned by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

as an attack on the freedom of the press, and both countries withdrew from UNESCO in protest in 1984 and 1985, respectively (and later rejoined in 2003 and 1997, respectively).

The MacBride Commission

The International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems was set up in 1977 by the director of UNESCO Ahmadou-Mahtar M’Bow. The International Commission had over 50 offices around the world. It was agreed that the commission would be chaired by Seán MacBride from Ireland, and the International Commission representatives were selected from 15 other countries. They were invited due to their roles in national and international communication activities and UNESCO picked among media activists, journalists, scholars, and media executives. The members of the MacBride Commission were: * Elie Abel (USA) * Hubert Beuve-Méry (France) * Elebe Ma Ekonzo (Zaire) * Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia) * Sergei Losev (Soviet Union) * Mochtar Lubis (Indonesia) * Mustapha Masmoudi (Tunisia) * Michio Nagai (Japan) * Fred Isaac Akporuaro Omu (Nigeria) * Bogdan Osolnik (Yugoslavia) * Gamal El Oteifi (Egypt) * Johannes Pieter Pronk (Netherlands) * Juan Somavía (Chile) * Boobli George Verghese (India) * Betty Zimmerman (Canada), in substitution of Marshal McLuhan

Findings

Among the problems the report identified were concentration of the media, commercialization of the media, and unequal access to information and communication. The commission called for democratization of communication and strengthening of national media to avoid dependence on external sources, among others. Subsequently,

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

-based technologies considered in the work of the commission, served as a means for furthering MacBride's visions. The MacBride report highlighted that there was a "one-way street" of

information Information is an Abstraction, abstract concept that refers to something which has the power Communication, to inform. At the most fundamental level, it pertains to the Interpretation (philosophy), interpretation (perhaps Interpretation (log ...

. In particular, the MacBride report criticized the visual

image An image or picture is a visual representation. An image can be Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or Three-dimensional space, three-dimensional, such as a carving or sculpture. Images may be di ...

that news agencies and

mass media Mass media include the diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit information electronically via media such as films, radio, recorded music, or television. Digital media comprises b ...

nurtured about

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed Secondary sector of the economy, industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. ...

in Western countries, which enjoyed a high degree of

industrialization Industrialisation (British English, UK) American and British English spelling differences, or industrialization (American English, US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an i ...

. The MacBride report lamented that the quality of "communicative content" had started to guide the

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

in the scientific

discourse Discourse is a generalization of the notion of a conversation to any form of communication. Discourse is a major topic in social theory, with work spanning fields such as sociology, anthropology, continental philosophy, and discourse analysis. F ...

. The commission presented a preliminary report in October 1978 at the 20th General Conference of UNESCO in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. The commission's seminal session on new technologies to address the identified problems, was hosted by India at New Delhi in March 1979. The final report was delivered to M’Bow in April 1980 and was approved by consensus in the 21st General Conference of UNESCO in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. The commission dissolved after presenting the report.

Reaction by UN member states

Because of controversy surrounding the report and the withdrawal of support by the UNESCO leadership in the 1980s for its ideas, the book went out of print and was difficult to obtain. A book on the history of the United States and UNESCO was even threatened with legal action and forced to include a disclaimer that UNESCO was in no way involved with it. The MacBride report was eventually reprinted by Rowman and Littlefield in the US, and is also freely available online. The report had strong international support. However, it was condemned by the

and the

as an attack on the freedom of the press.

Impact in the long run

In the 1970s and 1980s, major changes in media and communication were enacted thanks to the MacBride report. They promoted policies directed at the liberalization of the telecommunication market. The

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

powers as well as the comparative advantage, or dominance, of radio and television broadcasters, as well as newspaper companies.

References

{{Reflist 1980 documents UNESCO Communication studies

The MacBride Commission

Findings

Reaction by UN member states

Impact in the long run

See also

References