MediaGlobal

History

MediaGlobal was founded in 2006 by Nosh Nalavala in response to an urgent need to increase awareness of the challenges facing the world’s poorest countries. In October 2006, MediaGlobal and the United Nations launched the Global Media Compact, of which the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a signatory.

At the launch of MediaGlobal, the United Nations envoy for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) Anwarul Karim Chowdhury said:

"It is unfortunate that the voice of the LDCs continues to get marginalized There is, indeed, a need for increased focus on the everyday challenges facing millions of impoverished people in the LDCs. Their needs ought to be placed at the forefront of the global development agenda."

Global Media Compact Seven Point Programme

In 2006, the Under-Secretary-General asked that major media companies commit themselves to expand public knowledge and understanding about the suffering of the Least Developed Countries, as defined by the United Nations Human Development Index. Specific efforts that media companies are encouraged to undertake include:

- Alleviation of poverty, disease and hunger in poor and vulnerable countries as a vital corporate priority by media organizations;

- Feature stories on development issues in poor countries and devote adequate space for articles, editorial and advertising;

- Focus on issues of poverty, disease and hunger in poor countries and provide current coverage;

- Report stories without bias or prejudice about these poor and vulnerable countries and deal with the constraints of these countries in a fair manner;

- Train reporters and correspondents to increase their knowledge of development issues and encourage them to report on human-interest stories;

- Support the development of films, documentaries, web sites and multi-media programmes related to poverty, disease and hunger initiatives;

- Newspapers, newswire agencies, broadcasters and networks make contents of development issues available to other media outlets without a rights fee.

The Global Media Compact will be a “network” of newspapers contributing to informed perceptions of these vulnerable countries to the rest of the world. MediaGlobal will work towards increasing the level of media participation and bring in media leaders to work towards this initiative.

The Compact is not a regulatory initiative. It relies on editors and broadcasters to recognize the constraints of poor people in vulnerable countries and give coverage in their respective media — print or electronic.

Work of MediaGlobal

MediaGlobal publishes interview-based articles on its site http://mediaglobal.org. Its work generally falls within the categories: Economic Development, Global Health, Food Security, Climate Change, and South-South Cooperation. MediaGlobal also publishes the weekly newsletter This Week in Development on global development news, and the monthly publication South-South Voices.