Number 239, November 2001
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As an Association committed to the advancement of Christian values in the practice of communication, WACC is concerned for the role of media in the current war and the impact its reporting has on both those under attack, as well as those whose nations are leading the attack. The following article by John Pilger serves as a challenge to those who would tell the story of this, and any conflict.
Norwegian peace studies professor Johann Galtung has laid out 12 points of concern where journalism often goes wrong when dealing with violence. Each implicitly suggests more explicit remedies.
In this high-tech world, four-fifths of the world’s people do not have a telephone. In Zaire, Cambodia and Chad, there is only one phone for every one thousand people. For these people, the Internet is a far-off dream. And while an increasing number of communities do have access to television, the material may not be local, relevant or even in the right language.
Readers of Action are aware or should be aware of WACC’s role in an informal media network called the Platform for Democratisation of Communication. This network was formed in late 1997.
The International Press Institute (IPI) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed dismay last week at reports that the US State Department put pressure on the government of Qatar to influence the news coverage of independent Qatar-based satellite channel “Al-Jazeera.” According to CPJ, the privately owned station, which is the most popular television channel in the Arab world, has been accused of airing anti-American views, particularly in the wake of the 11 September terrorist attacks in the United States.
WACC Scholar Gregory Rabess talks to Action about his work in Dominica as head of the Government Information Service.
Coordinadora Nacional de Radio (CNR) today received a distinction from the Peruvian State for its contribution to the re-establishment of the institutional democracy of the country in a public ceremony carried out in the Palacio de Gobierno, presided by the President of Peru, Alejandro Toledo Manrique.