2007/3

There is no ‘general theory’ of terrorism, as there is of ‘relativity’. There is little consensus about how to define terrorism, although it is generally accepted that it is the intentional use of, or threat to use, violence against civilians for political aims.

Such a definition must logically apply as much to state-sponsored terror as it does to non-governmental groups or individuals. How do the mass media treat this topic?

What are the responsibilities of communicators when reporting 'terror'?

Broken promises in Ghana's telecom sector

8 Sep 2007

Amin Alhassan

When President J. A. Kufour, as required by the Ghanaian constitution, delivered his state of the Nation address to Ghanaians on February 8, 2007, he celebrated the fact that the country of some 20 million people now has 4.5 million phone lines to its credit, a phenomenal feat by sub-Saharan standards. However, what he did not recount was the fact that 4 million of these lines are mobile telephony for the urban populations while the remaining half a million are equally urban-centric fixed phone lines. For a country that has majority of its population in the rural areas, a second look at Ghana’s telecom story brings out the fundamental questions of equity and accessibility within the context of the right to communicate in an emerging global information society.

In memoriam James D. Halloran (1927-2007)

8 Sep 2007

David E. Morrison

Professor James Dermot Halloran’s death on 16 May 2007 sees the departure of a remarkable man. He was, without doubt, the founding father of British Mass Communications Research, a position secured through his establishment of the Centre for Mass Communications Research at the University of Leicester.