2 interesting sessions
Nidhi Jamwal reports from the WSF, Jan. 19, 2004

I attended 2 interesting sessions today. Following are some points. Today I concentrated on two groups --- media and trade unions.

Session 1: Globalisation and media (9 am to 12 noon)
This was organised by World Media Watch. The discussion, like the one I attended yesterday, centers around how media is getting corporatised. There was a general agreement that globalisation is affecting media and free expression of thought in a very negative manner. An Indian journalist pointed out how there are many alternative medias existing within the countries, but we need to develop linkages between them transnationally. Right now such media work in isolation and do not share much information, which is why their impact is not up to the mark. So it is important that a coalition is made at international level to help exchange of information and give alternative media more visibility.

A journalist from South Africa pointed that even in WSF, not much importance is being given to training media and sensitising it towards development issues.

For instance, out of about 200 events organised in WSF, there are hardly 10 for media. This shows that sensitising media is still not considered important.

The group (it was a group discussion) agreed that overall there is skepticism towards the present mainstream media, especially the TV and mainstream newspapers in South Asia. Public radio is still trusted. But the problem is that people do not know what to do and where to go when the mainstream media fails them.

Private corporatised media does what the advertisers and sponsors want it to do. For instance, an Indian journo pointed out that in Pakistan and India, the cable operators and other private channels have been provided with a list of experts, who should never be invited to panel discussions.

A member of Media Watch from Brazil pointed out that in his country, media is concentrated in the hands of 7 corporate giants and they rule the political scene of the country. To the extent that in the last presidential elections, these corporates invented a presidential candidate, launched him and supported him in all possible manner. This definitely affects the public opinion. And such trends are dangerous.

A lady from Bahrain complained that whereas their countries are the centre of much news, not much focus is paid towards them. Even the kind of reporting which happens in the mainstream is completely different from what a person living in an Arab country experiences.

There was a lot of discussion about the Iraq invasion and how the US media projected it. The US media did not show the trauma the soldiers' families underwent and ignored the dissent for the war. A good example is NBC in the US, which is completely taken over by the Bush administration.

Some journalists from France and Germany pointed out a recent trend in media, which according to them, obstructs journos from reporting fairly. Most media agencies have thrown out their full time or contract staff, and are now only hiring freelancer. There is a lot of economic pressure on journos. Most members of the group agreed upon this.

An Indian journo from Hyderabad pointed out the impact of TV on children. For instance, children commit suicide if India does not win a match (I am not sure of this is correct). This shows what kind of space TV has created in the minds of these children.

Session 2: Impact of globalisation and MNCs on trade unions in South Africa
This session discussed the impact MNCs are having on local trade unions. Austin Mu Bnau of Zambia has studied the impact of Shopright supermarket chain in Zambia. Some findings: trade unions are weakened so that there is no dissent. Such MNCs are not linked to the local economy: Shopright procures its stuff like vegetables and fruits not from the local market, but from its subsidiaries elsewhere. Most labour regulations have been weakened so that MNCs do not have to flout them and governments are supporting them. In Ghana, for instance, the president himself has opened a supermarket with the help of an MNC!

In this session the myth of MNCs paying more wages was also broken. Austin pointed out that his study shows that agencies like IMF and MNCs ensure that the minimum wages are kept as low as possible. And by paying such low wages, they claim to be following the law. His study also found out that 65-70 per cent of the employees were on contract basis, which means the company does not have to invest in security, insurance or health benefits. And this is compensated in the form of 'high' wages.

A delegate from Ghana pointed out that wages need not be looked at only in terms of how much is being paid. It needs to be set in context, along with the productivity of an employee and the profits of the company. In case of MNCs profits are high and wages hardly account for 0.5 per cent of the profits!

MNCs have led to monopolisation of commodity power in certain hands. A delegate from Mexico pointed out that such consolidation has led to increase in prices of food and water. And most of the MNCs coming to Mexico are the ones which have been shut down in US. Now these are going as far as Vietnam.

Austin added another fact that many MNCs come to Zambia and enjoy various concessions for 5 years. When the tax holiday nears its end, they show a poor financial statement and shut down.

The situation is similar in India. About 2 years back, while travelling in Rajasthan for a story on renewable energy, chairperson of Rajasthan Energy development Agency had told me the same thing. Indian government is giving huge incentives and tax holidays to private companies to set up renewable energy projects - wind energy chiefly. These companies enjoy tax benefits and disappear within a night, literally fleecing the government!

Sharit Bhowmik, an Indian professor pointed out that he has recently studied Unilever company. And the trends are frightening. Unilever has outsourced almost 60-70 per cent of its work to small scale industries. Why? Because on such small units, no labour laws apply, there is no union, there is no factories act and there are no environmental regulations. This trend is being seen in most MNCs.

We at CSE also found this out when we did the green rating of automobiles. Most automobile companines have outsourced dirty jobs to small scale companies to maintain their clean image. This was further high lighted in a cover story on the small-scale industry which Kushal (a colleague) did about a year back.