Alliance for a Responsible, Plural and United World

World Citizens Assembly
Lille – December 2nd to 10th, 2001

	Socioprofessional Group

Journalists

	An alternative for the medias in a globalised world

Finding a balance between local and international news, securing an information on local and non-dominant cultures.

In a context of globalisation, the financial concentration and the merchandization concerns the medias sector as well. The medias becomes a merchandise like the others, and is submitted to the private groups' and stockholders' interests. A “light”, spectacular and sensationalist journalism is developing. There is a competition between the medias an the diffusion of a dominant model to the detriment of the quality of information. The current circumstances of war showed that freedom of information was limited.

The current challenges for the medias are:
·	Establishing an alternating press. But is it an alternative within the dominant medias, or beside them? On which social networks would it rely? Which would be its financing?
·	Medias' responsibilities in the relation to:
·	Society in general
·	Southern countries' development
·	War, and to help for the construction of a peace culture
·	Finding a balance between the journalists' freedom of speech and the populations'  rights to information.
·	Defining the journalists' responsibilities
·	Defining the conditions of a fair journalist
·	Guaranteeing the freedom of press and information and its quality in a context of liberalization of markets.
·	Journalists' training
·	-Securing  a better education and a general culture of the journalists.
·	-Guaranteeing a larger opening of the journalists on the world.
·	-Securing trainings for expert journalists, for example to cover conflicts.

The principal proposition of the group is:
Forming a world network of medias that aims at giving more power to those who doesn't have any, thanks to an international solidarity and to technology as an essential condition. That is to say a world information network created by people, for people and about people.

Few principles to follow:
·	Information must be considered as a public good. Medias must be transparent and must be able to satisfy the public.
·	Securing an information of quality accessible to readers and spectators.
·	One must guarantee populations' participation and property on the medias, irrespective of the government's financing or of the corporations.