Communication is Your Right

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." On December 10, 1948 the United Nations adopted The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Today in 2010, more than 60 years later, we are dealing with entire groups of people who don't have access to factual news and information in order to better their lives, community and country and make a positive impact in this world.

Corporate media censors people's opinions and appeases sponsors rather than disseminating information in the public interest. We ask the United Nations to consider the destructive consequences that corporate media consolidation has on universal communication and the solutions to every problem the UN seeks to solve in their Millennium Development Goals. It is crucial that people are empowered to fully express themselves through all communication mediums. Right now most mainstream sources of news and information have the sole purpose of entertaining and advertising to the public.

Our communication mediums are vital and precious forums of dialogue that everyone needs to access, in order to serve the public interest. We also see the control of repressive governments who do not allow journalists the freedom to investigate and report as equally destructive to human communication. In Iran, Burma, North Korea and many other countries, repressive regimes do not allow journalists to freely investigate and report human rights abuses.

The full extent of the abuses are unknown due to a stranglehold on journalism. The people of the world need universal, uncensored access to the internet as well as the liberty to impart information through it. According to Internet World Stats only 26.6% of the world's population use the internet. According to Internet for Everyone, in America “only 35% of homes with less than $50,000 in annual income have a high-speed internet connection. Moreover, nearly 20 million Americans live in areas that are not served by a single broadband provider; tens of millions more live in places where there is just a single provider of high-speed Internet service.” We, the undersigned and under-heard, petition the United Nations to take a closer look at Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and critically analyze the state of communication in our world.

We hope that the United Nations will re-evaluate their commitment to and advocate for the importance of Article 19, so that people everywhere can truly exercise their right to have their voices resonate throughout the world. for more info: http://www.communicationisyourright.org

Bazlu
_______________________
AHM. Bazlur Rahman-S21BR
Chief Executive Officer
Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC)
[NGO in Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council]
&
Head, Community Radio Academy

House: 13/1, Road: 2, Shaymoli, Dhaka-1207
Post Box: 5095, Dhaka 1205 Bangladesh

Phone: 88-02-9130750, 88-02-9138501
Cell: 01711881647 Fax: 88-02-9138501-105
E-mail: ceo@bnnrc.net www.bnnrc.net

• Media Action Grassroots Network
• The Center for Media Justice