"… to reduce poverty, we must liberate access to information and improve the quality of information. People with more information are empowered to make better choices." — James D. Wolfensohn, President, World Bank

World Press Freedom Day on May 3 provided an excellent opportunity to reflect on the catalytic role that an open and free media can play in economic development, and particularly in the fight against global poverty. Click here for Op-Ed "Press Freedom Helps Fight Poverty" by James D. Wolfensohn

Symposium overview
"Visions, Voices, Visibility" – A symposium that brings together public broadcasters and development practitioners – is the first of its kind, providing an opportunity for the World Bank and TV and radio broadcasters from across the world to discuss their respective interests and common grounds.

The symposium launched a broad initiative to establish and develop strong links and relationships between the World Bank and the broadcasting community. The primary intention is to lay the foundations for a mutually enriching relationship, with the objective of working together on development issues that are so critical to our times and future.

130 broadcasters and documentary filmmakers from all regions of the world attended the two-day event, which featured as part of a dynamic and varied agenda the keynote address by World Bank President, James Wolfensohn.

In addition to plenary sessions, workshops gave opportunities for discussion and sharing of experiences about how to build upon the respective networks of the participants. The workshops examined the reality of “partnerships” in terms of financial support, programming and content development, human resource and training support, communications and networking, and policy issues at national and international levels.

Goals and expectations
The immediate goals for the symposium are:

•	To define a collective agenda that belongs to an active network of broadcasters and development practitioners.
•	To create incentives for the two institutions to work together more systemically.
•	To agree on some bilateral steps forward at the local and national levels, which can be effectively implemented with immediate results.

Additional highlights
Visits arranged to WorldSpace, and to Eurovision Americas, as well as to the Corcoran Gallery of Art (to view the World Press Photo Exhibition), in Washington DC. See the agenda for further information.

Participation in the Symposium is by invitation only, but please click here for information about who to contact with suggestions and comments.

Participants were also invited to join documentary filmmakers at the Silverdocs International Documentary Conference. The conference took place from June 16 to 18 -- immediately following the Broadcast Symposium. The conference brought together documentary filmmakers, industry representatives, and content distributors, including public television and radio broadcasters from across the world. The World Bank supported the conference by bringing documentary filmmakers from developing countries to participate in the event, and by adding a special focus on international development issues to the agenda on June 16. The program addressed international trends in the emerging creative industry sector in developing countries and the current imbalances in the international flow of cultural goods and services. The conference placed independent documentary filmmakers at the center of a unique intersection of public and private interests, broadcasters, and industry representatives in both developing and emerging economies.