Transnational Broadcasting Studies, Issue No. 2

Spring 1999

This article provides a full description of the eighteen Articles of The People's Communication Charter and is presented by Cees Hamelick, one of the Charter initiators. The Charter seeks to: articulate essential rights and responsibilities that ordinary
people have in relation to their cultural environment; it attempts to help ...redress some of the weaknesses inherent in the conventional human rights regime; and it aspires to a democratic and sustainable organisation of the world’s communication structures and information flows.

Hamelink suggests that there is worldwide censorship as well as distorted and misleading information, and stereotyped and

damaging images of the human condition including "gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexuality, physical and mental illness and disability." He also describes a restriction in access to knowledge, and insufficient channels to communicate diverse ideas and opinions. Hamelink contends that each of these insufficiently leads to a disempowerment within our cultural environment which in essence strips people from having control of their lives. This, as Hamelink asserts, "violates the human entitlement to dignity, equality and liberty."

Combating this inequality is very difficult according to Hamelink because the media is controlled by powerful political allies and telecommunication operators. The People's Communication Charter was initiated so that a constituency could have a platform and basis for social action. Hamelick points out that people are increasingly aware of censorship and misleading information but that forming
associations to combat these issues is difficult because people are from diverse communities and geographically separated from one another and also are "ideologically fragmented."

The preamble of the People's Communication Charter states, "'All people are entitled to participate in communication and in making decisions about communication within and between societies.' In spite of all the developments and innovations in the field of information and communication, this standard has not yet been realized."

The Charter begins with these key principles:

Based on these principles, signatories ratified the eighteen Articles which define communication rights and responsibilities to be observed in democratic countries and in international law.

The People's Communication Charter is an initiative of the Third World Network (Penang, Malaysia), the Centre for Communication & Human Rights (Amsterdam, the Netherlands), the Cultural Environment Movement (USA), and the AMARC World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (Peru/Canada).

For more information on this charter, its history and development, and the signatories, please see The People’s Communication Charter: target="_blank"> An Introduction