Geneva has a great bus and tram system, and the number 5 goes from the train station (near my lodgings) to the door of the Palexpo centre. Of course with security check (by soldiers in camouflage kit) and the enormity of the halls it takes another 20 minutes to get to where you need to be.
Where I was to be was the World Electronic Media Forum session on 'Media Freedom and the Information Society'. The useless signage defeated me for a time. (Why can't people design spaces for location and navigation?) The event was very formally organised, with speakers standing behind very imposing stage furniture. All official session here are translated into the six UN languages, and the radio/headsets are excellent (made by Bosch), as are the translators.
The MD of Al Jazeera discussed how the station works, and noted that now they were criticised even more by Western governments than Arab leaders, having thought we were on the same side of democracy. Aidan White from the International Federation of Journalists noted that journalists are told they should be independent, then get mixed signals when US condemns freedom of expression. As you might expect his comment was enthusiastically received. He made a nice point that we should talk about professionalism, which puts the onus on the media owners, not responsibility, which governments tend to define.
The final presenter avoided the usual pious cant about the digital divide and told us that Africa needs satellite bandwidth, so "we can tell the African story". (The following day I met someone who was in a consortium to launch a satellite for Africa, that would save the continent half a billion dollars in satellite bandwidth rental fees.) He reflected on the attitude of people in the West who are amazed that he looks forward to returning to Africa, which they imagine as a continent of starvation and violence. He had a dig at another pious bunch, the conservation lobby, noting that an African story would ask how environmentalist try to retain African people as a species of wildlife. I must get a copy of his talk -- it was a breath of fresh air!
As I am coming to expect the AV in the session was choatic, and it didn't feel like anyone was in charge.
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