Message-ID: <330E933D.3D82@scorpion.cowan.edu.au> Date: Fri, 21 Feb 1997 22:33:33 -0800 From: Desire Mallet <mailto:dmallet@SCORPION.COWAN.EDU.AU> Subject: Re: A different sort of technology encounter .. To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
Richard Vincent wrote:> Interesting point, but I really don't think that that was how the story
> was intended. Here I am, an advocate for world-wide communication
> rights, and support the denigration of no group of people. [...] Let's =
not lose perspective here. If > we want to do something about balanced and fair communication, let's st=
art > with world news flow and Western domination of communication technology.
Dear Rick Vincent,
I understand this position very well and I feel comfortable with your way of thinking. It is possible that my =93IT IS TOO EASY TO UN-SUBSCRIBE FRO= M THIS LIST=94 was not the proper English words to say that =93I WILL NOT UN-SUBSCRIBE myself. Instead, I have chosen to share about my views, even if I may not have any relevant experience for these types of discussions which often frighten me.=94
However, I am grateful to you for having invited the people from this list to start a reflection on =93world news flow and Western domination o= f communication technology.=94
I have read recently an article =93Vectory in the Gulf: Technology, communications and war=94 by Michael Galvin (1994) in which it is shown that the history of modern mass communications is closely linked with technological change. The author focuses on the Gulf War. He notes that =93it is disturbing that some of the most important issues and events in that war went virtually unnoticed and that media distortions of historical reality occurred which would normally have been considered blatant propaganda.=94 [Reference: L. Green & R. Guinery (Eds.), 1994, Framing Technology: Society, Choice & Change. Allen & Unwin, NSW, Australia].
I was indeed amazed to read about the type of technology used during that war. Sophisticated thermal cameras and electro-optical lighting techniques, were utilized, amongst other pieces of technology, to =93massacre=94 between 1000 000 and 200 000 Iraqis, affirmed the author.
Again, this issue may be related to communication technology and to my concern for this discussion. For, to do that war, America used Diego Garcia, an island which was initially rented (from England) by America for the installation of a telecommunication center--which soon developed into a well equiped military base.
For those who are interested in colonial and/or political history, it is worth noting that Diego Garcia was given to England, on 10 November 1965, in exchange of three million pounds sterling and the independence of Mauritius ... an island which appears like a tiny dot in the middle of the Indian Ocean!
Thank you for reading this.
D=E9sir=E9 Mallet