Information
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2435.1986.tb00799.x |
| Date | 01 June 1986 |
| Author | T. HUJANEN |
| Published date | 01 June 1986 |
Information
JOINT STUDY ON THE ROLE
OF
INFORMATION IN
THE
REALIZATION
OF
THE HUMAN RIGHTS
OF
MIGRANT WORKERS
MEETING
OF
EXPERTS, BRADFORD (UNITED KINGDOM), SEPTEMBER 23-26, 1985
Videotaped films and dramas from the home-
land have become an important leisure time
activity among immigrant communities of Eu-
rope. For instance, in Britain it is found that in
some ‘Asian’ communities more than
50
per
cent of the households own a video set which is
clearly over the average among the white popu-
lation. Similar trends can be noted, first of all,
with Turkish and Yugoslav migrant workers
on
the European continent.
These are examples of some recent research
findings which were reported in the meeting of
experts entitled ‘The Role of Information in the
Realization of the Human Rights of Migrant
Workers’. The meeting was held from the 23rd
to the 26th of September in Bradford, England.
It was attended by 25 experts and scholars from
Europe, North America and Australia who par-
ticipated in a UNESCO-sponsored joint study
on
the same topic.
Discussions of the meeting demonstrated that
the dominant media of the receiving countries
have failed to respond to the special needs of
migrant communities. The intensive consump-
tion of video was seen as a consequence of that
failure. Video cassettes can contribute in main-
taining the cultural and linguistic links of mi-
grant workers with their countries of origin, and
that is one of the main reasons for the rapid
adoption of video among them.
Video is only one example of those technolo-
gical changes which today affect the measures
and structures of communication. With respect
to migrant workers the emergence of new com-
munication technologies creates both promises
and threats. For instance, through satellites it is
possible to build a direct link in real time bet-
ween migrant communities and their respective
countries of origin. Simultaneously,
on
the na-
tional level. the decentralization of communica-
tion structures opens better possibilities to res-
pond to such special interests as those ofmigrant
communities.
On
the other hand, it can be found that the
promoters of new communication technologies
often pay attention to minority interests only
as
long as
is
needed for the introduction
of
those
technologies.
In
the meeting, the introduction
of
Channel
4
television and local radio in Britain
were considered as examples of such kind of lip
service to minority interests.
In
the paper by
Husband and Chouhan it was concluded that
local radio stations are more womed about their
own
identity in the minds of the listening au-
dience than with the special identities of their
target groups. Consequently, it is thought that a
broad linguistic variation of programmes wea-
kens the station’s identity among the major part
of the audience.
The experts and scholars who attended the
meeting in Bradford participate in an internatio-
nal
joint
study
on
the role of information in the
realization of the human rights of migrant wor-
kers. The study has been running since 1983 and
consists of, in total, 23 sub-studies from
15
countries*. The originally European scope ofthe
study has now broadened to a global one which
is demonstrated by contributions from such tra-
ditional countries of immigration like Australia,
Canada and the USA. The meeting in Bradford
showed that such a comparative research setting
is today ofgrowing importance. That is not only
motivated by the global nature of migration
itselfbut
also
by striking similarities in the com-
munication situation of migrant workers in Eu-
rope and of immigrant communities in Austra-
lia, Canada and
the
USA.
The meeting in Bradford agreed that UNES-
CO
is requested to sponsor in the frame of its
budget and programme for 1988-89 an interna-
515
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