<amarc-1> Introductions

[Jose Antonio Mayobre <jmayobre@telcel.net.ve> (by way of Bram Dov Abramson <bram@tao.ca>)]

Hello to all:

My name is Jose Antonio Mayobre and I am a Venezuelan communicator living
in Caracas, where I teach at the School of Mass Communication in the
Universidad Católica Andrés Bello. I teach a freshman course on
"Communication Theory", a fourth year course on "Communication and
Development" and a fifth year course on "International Communication".
Apart from that I run my own research and consultancy outfit called
CIEDESCO (Spanish acronym for International Centre for the Study of
Development and Communication). I have been following silently both this
Forum and the one that just eneded on  "The right to communicate...".
Unfortunately for reasons of health I was not able to participate in any
other way but am now able to do so.

My particular field of expertise is the design of communication policies
and of the strategic planning required to set them in motion and this, of
course, has to be done within a clearly defined development context in each
case. So all of you can imagine how useful a learning experience it is to
read your thinking on this matters. Communication and Media are undergoing
radical and extremely rapid changes that by now - of course - affect all of
society. We in the field have a major responsibility in ensuring the way
those changes go and how they will shape the future. It is an uphill task
given the way the communications world has developed in the XX Century but
that makes our job more  challenging and urgent. Fora like this are an
exceptional means of exchanging ideas, experiences and suggestions.

As a resident of a relatively small, formerly rich oil country now in the
process of pauperization due to corruption and innefficiency in political
arena - which also means a clear and present danger to our democratic
strucutres in the near future -  I think it is crucial to review and
redefine the role of International Intergovernmental Organisations and of
NGOs in thje fields of communications, development and human rights in the
inmediate future and how international cooperation can become effective in
this areas. Ideas once considered sacrosanct such as those of nations,
borders, international law and national sovereignty need careful scrutiny
in the light of the NCTs and other defelopments but to a lot of us in the
Third World (which is still alive and kicking if somewhat mauled) they
still remain a first line of defense against the various imperial designs
which include - as you all know - an insidious infiltration through culture
and media which makes the use of armies and overt violence generally
unnecessary. How to defend ourselves, our heritage, self-interests and
culture without at the same time sounding paranoid and closing ourselves
from the thinking of others is , I think, one of the first and major
challenges we face and I'll be dammed if I have any idea how to go about
it or where to start. So, basically, I ask for your help and offer to
provide what I can by way of contribution.  Keep up the good work, once
again congratulations to Alain Ambrosi and Bram Dov Abramson for a great
job and lets continue to be in touch.

José Antonio Mayobre
jmayobre@telcel.net.ve
Fax: + 58 2 573 2494
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AMARC 7 Foro Virtual Forum Virtuel
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