What are the aims and objectives of the McBride Commission of the UNESCO? What is India’s position on these?
Approach · directive: “what”
What it asks · State why UNESCO set up the commission (International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems), what it recommended, and where India stood.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- State the aims and objectives of UNESCO's MacBride Commission
- State India's position on these
Open with · UNESCO set up the International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems in 1977 under Seán MacBride; its report 'Many Voices, One World' came out in 1980.
Cover
- Concern: global news flow was dominated by a few Western agencies, so developing countries were often shown through others' eyes.
- Central aim: a New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) for a balanced, two-way flow of information and less dependence.
- Objectives: national communication policies, stronger local media and technology transfer, communication as a right, and professional standards with protection for journalists.
- Democratisation: greater plurality of voices, access and participation, and a role for communication in development.
- Controversy: Western governments feared curbs on press freedom, and the US (1984) and UK (1985) left UNESCO; debate later shifted to free flow with plurality.
- India's position: as a leading Non-Aligned voice, India backed NWICO's call for balance and the Non-Aligned news agencies pool, while upholding press freedom at home.
Close with · India's stance was for a balanced and plural information order without state control of the press, a view that still matters in the digital age.
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2016, GS Paper II — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 281 words (UPSC limit 200) · Minimalist IAS
In 1977 UNESCO appointed the International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems under Seán MacBride, a Nobel Peace laureate; its 1980 report, Many Voices, One World, examined the imbalance in global information flows.
Aims and objectives
- Diagnose the one-way flow: a handful of Western news agencies controlled international news, so developing countries were reported through others' eyes and often stereotyped.
- Propose a New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO): a balanced, two-way flow of information and reduced dependence on the North.
- Build capacity: national communication policies, stronger domestic and regional media, technology transfer and training for developing countries.
- Democratise communication: treat it as a right of individuals and communities, with access, participation and plurality of voices, and link it to development, peace and cultural identity.
- Protect journalists and raise professional standards without licensing the press.
- Controversy: Western governments and media saw NWICO as cover for state control; the United States (1984) and the United Kingdom (1985) left UNESCO, and the debate later shifted to 'free flow' with plurality.
India's position
- As a leading voice of the Non-Aligned Movement, India backed the demand for balance and helped build the Non-Aligned News Agencies Pool, which exchanged member countries' news to counter Western agency dominance.
- India used communication for development, notably the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (1975–76) that beamed educational programmes to villages.
- At home, India kept a free, privately owned press and did not treat NWICO as a licence for state control, though the Emergency (1975–77) showed how censorship could be abused.
India sought a plural and balanced information order without state control of the press; the MacBride questions of who speaks and who is heard remain live in today's platform-driven media.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.