International organizations play an important role in establishing a clear order in the world’s airwaves, adopting uniform standards, and coordinating the giant radio economy, terrestrial and space. There are quite a few of them. Let us focus on the most important ones.
First of all, there are two types of organizations: intergovernmental and informal. The former are formed on the basis of international agreements by governments of a number of countries. Governments delegate their representatives to these organizations. Decisions of intergovernmental organizations have the force of law, this is the area of international law.
Informal organizations, whose members are also representatives of different countries, but already at the public level, are limited in the legal field, do not adopt laws and do not formulate official policies. Their interests are cooperation, mutual consultation, exchange of experience, and resolution of technical and programmatic issues.
The relations that exist between the two types of organizations are generally non-confrontational, benevolent and cordial, although there is a certain line of demarcation between them. Members of informal organizations cannot participate in the work of intergovernmental organizations, at best they are invited as observers. A similar protocol is established by informal organizations with respect to intergovernmental organizations. Still, many special problems are not within the competence of an informal organization. In solving them, it naturally turns to the authority of the interstate organization.
Inter-State organizations
UNO – UNITED NATIONS;
UNESCO – UNESCO;
ITU – International Telecommunications Union;
INTELSAT – International Organization for Satellite Communications INTELSAT;
CERT – European Conference of Posts and Telecommunications;
IPO – World Intellectual Property Organization.
Informal Organizations.
ABU, Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (founded 1964; headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia);
ASBU, Arab States Broadcasting Union (founded in 1969, secretariat in Cairo, technical center in Khartoum, Sudan);
CBU, the Commonwealth Broadcasting Union (founded in 1945 and headquartered in London);
EBU, European Broadcasting Union (founded 1950, with headquarters in Geneva);
IAAB, Inter-American Association of Broadcasters (Central and South America, center in Montevideo, Uruguay);
IBI, International Broadcasting Institute (founded in 1968 in London, with board members from Commonwealth countries, some European countries, United States);
CBU, Caribbean Broadcasting Union, based in Kingston, Jamaica;
NANBA, North American National Broadcasters Association (formed in 1972, with three members: USA, Mexico and Canada, based in Ottawa, Canada);
UNIA, the International Catholic Association for Broadcasting and Television (center in Brussels);
Central among international organizations, of course, is the United Nations, a recognized authority and the main coordinator of world politics, including in the field of mass media. Its two most important divisions are UNESCO and the International Telecommunications Union.
UNESCO – founded on November 4, 1946, is located in Paris. Its charter was adopted by 20 countries. By the 1990s, UNESCO had more than 150 member states. UNESCO is the abbreviation of the name of an educational, scientific, cultural organization under the United Nations. During its existence, it has done a lot of work on the development of mass communications in the world, produced valuable studies in this field, put forward certain criteria of minimum media presence in a state, necessary for its normal development.
In 1978, 145 UNESCO member states signed the Declaration on Mass Media. Among its many important provisions, it contained the overriding media principle of “respect for the rights and dignity of every nation, every people, every human being. UNESCO went beyond the Declaration to enforce its principles. Its most sensational project was the New World Information Order, inspired by the Non-Aligned Movement, against “electronic imperialism,” the information blockade, and for honor and dignity. The U.S., the signatories of the Declaration, angrily opposed its practical implementation, believing that this new “information order” was a barrier to the “free flow of information. As a result, the U.S. withdrew from UNESCO in 1984.
Until the early 1990s, the main rival and ideological opponent of the European Union was the OIRT, the International Radio and Television Organization, founded in 1946. The core of the organization was made up of socialist countries. Each Soviet republic was a separate member. In addition, the organization included Finland, Iraq and Sudan. By 1984, the number of OIRT members was thirty. The headquarters was located in Prague. With the collapse of the socialist camp, the OIRT disappeared. The European Union (EBU) opened its doors to the former socialist countries.