The 2016 ONO Conference was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. and hosted by Cynthia Ottaviano, from the Office of the Public Defender.
Over 40 representatives from 21 countries in five continents attended, including teachers, students, journalists, civil society and public office representatives as well as the members of ONO themselves.
The Conference featured presentations by specialists from the communication, legal and human rights fields, who discussed how the following international issues impact on the rights of audiences: the crisis of migrants, terrorist attacks, media coverage of different forms of violence, presidential elections in polarized political settings, the influence of social networks, concentration of property and the role of public media, among others.
The formal agenda was:
- Greeting from Edison Lanza (Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, IACHR).
- Keynote by María Cristina Mata (National University of Córdoba UNC, Argentina): “Agendas and concentrated voices: the decline of communication rights”.
- Problems faced by the Defenders of the Hearings in Latin America Adriana Solórzano (Mexican Association of Defenders of the Hearings AMDA, Mexico); Joseti Marques (Empresa Brasil de Comunicação EBC, Brazil); Olga Restrepo Yepes (Teleantioquia, Colombia) and Cynthia Ottaviano (Public Defender, Argentina).
- Dilemmas in dealing with images and violent events Gerardo Albarrán de Alba (Radio Educación, Mexico) and Sally Begbie (Special Broadcasting Service SBS, Australia).
- Master lecture by Manuel Chaparro Escudero (University of Malaga, Spain): “Public communication policies, indicators of social profitability and new narratives”.
- Quality and independence in contexts of economic pressure Stephen Pritchard (The Observer, UK); Tarmu Tammerk (Estonian Eesti Rahvusringhääling ERR, Estonia) and David Jordan (British Broadcasting Corporation BBC, UK).
- Panel – “The Impact of Media Concentration on the rights of audiences”, featuring moderator: Fernando Oliveira Paulino, and panellists Beatriz Solís Leree (Mexico, Public Broadcasting System Defender of the Mexican State SPR) / Pablino Cáceres (Paraguay, Voces Paraguay) / Paulina Mogrovejo (Ecuador, Council for the Regulation and Development of Information and Communication Cordicom) / Ariela Peralta (Uruguay, Institution National Human Rights and INDDHH Ombudsman’s Office) / Javiera Olivares (Chile, Colegio de Periodistas).
- Panel – “”The participation of the audiences and their contribution to the quality of the media” featuing moderator Madalena Oliveira and panellists Manuela Gumucio (Chile, Fucatel Observatory) / Mario Mantilla (Colombia, Eastern Regional Television Channel Ombudsman TRO) / Felipe López Veneroni (Mexico, Channel Once Ombudsman) / Martha Rosa Paz Burgos (Bolivia, Evangelical University) / Jorge Islas (Mexico, Ombudsman for the Congress Channel).