World Association for Christian Communication Global News

The many voices of communication for all form a chorus advocating communicative justice in all regions of our world. May this song of peace, joy, and hope resound during the festive season and throughout the New Year. Very best wishes from the directors, partners, and...

AI ethics and the relevance of the alliance to strengthen communication with disaster-affected communities were in focus when the CDAC Network met in early December in Nairobi, Kenya, for its annual general assembly and a public forum. WACC, a CDAC member, helped plan both events....

“Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now” is the theme of Human Rights Day, 10 December 2024. The focus is on people’s inalienable rights – regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, or other status – which must be guaranteed if the world is to have...

Faith communities can use practical tools, strategies, and global advocacy to counter — and prevent — the spread of false information, the webinar “Religion and Disinformation: How to be a trusted source” yesterday illustrated with case studies and approaches from the Africa region. Organized by...

The goalpost towards ending violence against women and girls began shifting swiftly three decades ago with growth in the popularity of the Internet. Technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) has continued to morph and spread in alarming ways ever since, fuelled by a range of drivers, among...

The 33rd edition of the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign begins today. It is natural to feel despondent that things will never change. One may ask why funding investments directed to efforts to end violence against women and girls (VAWG) seem...

A webinar on 3 December organised by WACC and the World Council of Churches (WCC) aims to help faith communities and individuals be more effective in preventing and mitigating the spread of misinformation and disinformation. The event “Religion and Disinformation: How to be a trusted...

The practical and ethical uses of AI and ways to raise awareness of WACC’s expertise and resources on communication rights were key topics when the regional executive committee (REC) of WACC Europe met last week in Wroclaw, Poland. The REC announced that the region will...

“A Global Vision of Digital Justice,” the most recent issue of WACC’s journal Media Development, delves deeper into the question of how democratic and inclusive governance frameworks can be designed for today’s digital information society.   The United Nations Summit of the Future in September...

Media Development 2024-4 A Global Vision of Digital Justice International, regional, and national organisations worked hard to secure a place for civil society’s expectations in both the UN’s Pact for the Future and its Global Digital Compact. Such is the complexity that WACC commissioned a...

At the beginning of 2024, Media Development took the theme Towards Democratic Governance of Digital Society. Its editorial claimed that a digital era that is genuinely democratic depends on “Societies in which everyone can freely create, access, utilise, share and disseminate information and knowledge, so...

Clemencia Rodriguez (Colombia/USA), Seán Ó Siochrú (Ireland), Parminder Jeet Singh (India) The fictional portrait below of Nelly and her family living in a media and digital world is based on research conducted by the authors as well as secondary sources. The reality of the struggle...

Anita Gurumurthy and Nandini Chami The Global Digital Compact upholds “gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls and their full, equal and meaningful participation” as a core principle for digital cooperation [para 8(d)]. The extraordinary complexity of our times, which the digital...

Daya Thussu As the world marks the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel and its bloody aftermath, it is worth reflecting on the way this ongoing conflict has been covered by the US-dominated international media and compare it with media attitudes towards another...

Robert Hackett, with Farrukh Chishtie “Pretend you are God.” – Editor’s advice on how to write like The Economist.1 In a confusing and turbulent world, many readers, presumably seeking comprehensive and reasonably objective international news, turn to The Economist (TE). It’s a venerable self-described newspaper,...

Kiran Hassan The Council of Europe defines the role of media in conflict situations and wars as critical to providing the public with accurate and timely information. It suggests that the supply of trustworthy news and images contributes to the protection of civilians and conflict...

Venice (Italy) 2024 The 13th INTERFILM Award for Promoting Interreligious Dialogue has gone to Quiet Life directed by Alexandros Avranas (France, Germany, Sweden, Greece, Estonia, Finland). Motivation: “Quiet Life” is not always quiet at all. A family is seeking asylum, which is unfortunately denied. The...

The disastrous outcome of the US presidential election – for global peace, and within the USA for women’s rights, immigration, the environment, gun laws and LGBTQ+ rights – is also disastrous for press freedom. Misinformation and disinformation will become even more overt and officially sanctioned....

WACC has urged ACT Alliance members to give greater attention to communicative justice as a key dimension of sustainable development and humanitarian response, highlighting in particular the need for more inclusive and democratic media ecosystems. A member of the global coalition of 152 faith-based organizations...

When it comes to generative artificial intelligence, I am a sceptic. Is it just another Big Tech tool for collecting our personal data? Will it just magnify misinformation in a volatile political climate? Will it perpetuate racist, sexist and cultural stereotypes? Will it seem “smarter”...