''Many Voices One World'', also known as the MacBride report, was written in 1980 by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...
), which reports to its International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems. The MacBride report was named after Irish
Nobel laureate
The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make ...
and peace and human rights activist,
Seán MacBride
Seán MacBride (26 January 1904 – 15 January 1988) was an Irish Clann na Poblachta politician who served as Minister for External Affairs from 1948 to 1951, Leader of Clann na Poblachta from 1946 to 1965 and Chief of Staff of the IRA from 19 ...
, and was tasked with analysing communication problems in modern societies, particularly relating to mass media and news, considering the emergence of new technologies, and suggesting a form of communication order (
New World Information and Communication Order) to reduce obstacles to further peace and human development.
Among the problems the report identified were concentration of the media, commercialization of the media, and unequal access to information and communication. The commission called for democratization of communication and strengthening of national media to avoid dependence on external sources, among others. Subsequently, Internet-based technologies considered in the work of the Commission, served as a means for furthering MacBride's visions.
In the 1970s and 1980s, major changes in media and communication were enacted thanks to the MacBride report. They promoted policies directed at the liberalization of the Telecommunication market, monopoly powers as well as the comparative advantage, or dominance, of broadcasting and newspaper companies.
While the report had strong international support, it was condemned by the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
and the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
as an attack on the freedom of the press, and both countries withdrew from UNESCO in protest in 1