Number 237, July 2001

Barbara J. Fraser

New information technologies are reshaping the way human beings interact with one another, with the media and with the world. Ramifications range from a new way of seeing ourselves to a sense of global "civism," according to keynote speakers Anne Foerst and Derrick de Kerckhove, who addressed the WACC World Congress on July 5.

Carol J. Fouke-Mpoyo

An immigrant community, once welcomed by the resident community, has grown. Residents feel the immigrants aren’t contributing enough anymore in exchange for use of their land. "Pay up or you’ll have to leave," the residents’ chief says.

Suecia Méndez

La historia de Juan Mayea, un humilde taxista peruano y laico de la Alianza Cristiana y Misionera acusado de formar parte del grupo terrorista Sendero Luminoso, fue relatada en la sesión de ayer ante los delegados al 3er. Congreso Mundial de la WACC por el abogado Germán Vargas, quien labora activamente en la organización Paz y Esperanza, en ese país latinoamericano.

Barbara J. Fraser

A group discussion on grassroots responses of Christian communities in situations of violent conflict provided an opportunity to explore the conflicts in Rwanda and Sri Lanka and some local peace initiatives. The research is part of a project of the Mission Research Institute of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, also known as Maryknoll, that is examining initiatives in Guatemala, Rwanda, Sudan, urban gangs in the United States, Northern Ireland, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

Jo-Ann Q. Maglipon

Every single day one language disappears. There are 7,000 living languages today but in 25 years 90 percent of these will disappear. Less than 10,000 people speak 75 percent of these languages, and because those numbers do not speak economic gain, those languages will disappear.

Suecia Méndez

El continente latinoamericano es la única región del mundo en que las redes trabajan en red, es decir, donde existe lo que se ha denominado una "red de redes" compuesta por diferentes organizaciones del área que se dedican a la comunicación audiovisual, como parte de la política de WACC de promover proyectos de trabajo articulados, lo cual quedó manifiesto en un amplio debate sobre este tema, dirigido por María Elena Hermosilla y Rolando Pérez, Presidenta y Vice-Presidente de WACC para América Latina, respectivamente, que tuvo lugar en el marco del 3er Congreso de la organización.

Carol J. Fouke-Mpoyo

Palestinian Christian theologian Naim Ateek appealed to Congress 2001 participants to help refute the disinformation that permeates media coverage and popular understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Carol J. Fouke-Mpoyo

"In all societies, there are power blocs. The question is how to win them over. If you bypass them, they can make life miserable for you."

Jo-Ann Q. Maglipon

When the programme says Sri Lankan Rienzie Perera, research director of the Life and Peace Institute in Sweden, is in the WACC 2001 Congress to provide "another perspective," it would be right to. Perera does not seem overly concerned with the road already taken. Clearly, he does not concern himself with finding new ways of retelling comfortable tenets.

Barbara J. Fraser

"Truth Under Siege," a 1994 documentary film about dissident media in Yugoslavia during the war, portrays a side of the conflict that was rarely or never seen by outsiders – the struggle of independent media to survive and convey a more balanced view of the conflict.