Culture ministers take first steps to combat America’s dominance of global culture

An international network of culture, including Heritage minister Sheila Copps, has agreed to establish a working group to examine the new challenges facing broadcasters in a global market. The initiative got the stamp of approval from 23 countries, including Canada, France and Russia, at the International Network on Cultural Policy meeting in Santorini, Greece at the end of September. The working group, to operate under the umbrella of the network which was initiated by Copps, will be chaired by Italy. Copps is a firm believer in countries around the world grouping together to prevent the world’s diverse voices from being swallowed up by the Hollywood entertainment machine. She says culture should not be treated like a commodity and needs special protection as existing technologies remove the constraints of national borders, distances and time zones. But people in the industry hoping for a major broadcast initiative that would give Hollywood a run for its money, shouldn’t anticipate action anytime soon. The agreement to form the working group comes two years after Copps hosted the first international conference of cultural ministers in Ottawa in 1998. At that meeting, participants agreed to ask broadcast leaders around the world to examine the concept of a global cultural diversity television network. At a press conference following the inaugural Ottawa meeting, where it was announced that the international network of cultural ministers would be formed, Italian undersecretary to the Ministry of Communications Vincenzo Maria Vita said talks were under way for the formation of a world TV provider that would be an alternative to such networks as the U.S.-based CNN. The formation of the working group on broadcasting is one of the few things to come out of the network on this issue since those pronouncements two years ago. At this year’s meeting in Greece, the network also agreed an international cultural instrument on cultural diversity was necessary (CCR, July 14/99). It endorsed a set of guiding principles, developed by its Working Group on Cultural Diversity and Globalization, for a cultural instrument. "The (working group) suggests that ministers should focus on what form of feasible, effective and enforceable global response could be developed which reflects shared opportunities, concerns and challenges and expands on previous international cultural commitments. It is within this context that the idea of an international ‘instrument’ on cultural diversity emerged," states a paper presented at the meeting by the cultural diversity workng group. The group will spend the next year elaborating on the framework and scope of a cultural diversity instrument, and report on its progress at the next meeting of the network in Lucerne, Switzerland, in 2001.

Culture ministers take first steps to combat America’s dominance of global culture

News | 10/13/2000 4:00 am EDT

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