Summary of the introduction of the moderator
Giampiero Gramaglia
The European Union is often accused by its detractors, who often have a field day in these matters, of paying attention to details such as the right position for the lights of tractors or the 'normalization' of the sizes of fruit and vegetables, instead of truly examining the basic problems of European society. It is however without a doubt that the objective established by this seminar, the creation of a new 'public space' of the radio-television service at the local, national and European levels while taking into account the challenges of the net, is one of the more important issues. And perhaps it is for this reason that the institutions of the European Community have so far been reluctant to tackle it.
As can be seen from the range of the speeches and interventions in this seminar, as well as the depth and breadth of the preparatory work carried out for over two years, the definition and the creation of a audiovisual and online public space, affect vested interests of various kinds: economic, industrial, commercial and technological, and they also have an effect on the competition. But, at a deeper level, they also regard the delicate question of the right to information and freedom of expression, which are two fundamental elements of our Western, Enlightenment, liberal and social conception of individual freedom and respect for communities, whatever their political, religious or ethnic coalescent and integrating elements may be.
It is not my task, either in my role as a moderator, or as an exponent or emblem of traditional journalism, which is due only to my official registration and professional past in the sector of journalism for press agencies rather than that of multimedia journalism, to examine the relative merits of the problems to be addressed by the speakers. I do, however, wish to point out that in the year that has passed since the 2010 seminar there have been several attempts in Europe, not all of them abortive or unsuccessful, to limit both the freedom of the press and freedom of expression, and, on the other hand, there have also been some abusive and criminal interpretations of these same freedoms.
In some instances, as in the case of the law regarding the Hungarian press, the EU institutions intervened and were able to suggest and to obtain amendments to laws that had already been approved by a national parliament and adopted by the government. In other cases, Brussels perhaps looked on, but did not intervene. The Council of Europe in Strasbourg has been more courageous in taking a stance. This is an organization whose ability to evaluate calmly and objectively is inversely proportional to its power and influence, but whose skills and behaviour ideally qualify it to be involved and associated with Infocivica’s ongoing struggle.
|
