WACC’s deputy-director of programmes and editor of its journal Media Development, Philip Lee, and WACC’s former director of studies, Pradip N. Thomas, have joined forces to publish a collection of essays focusing on mediated public memory and its relationship to the politics of justice.

“This book aims to provide a context in which a clear link can be traced between the politics of memory and its manifold representations and misrepresentations in public media towards a viable politics of justice. The assumption is that public awareness and perceptions of injustice, whether they are political, economic or social, depend on the mass media of communication for recognition and valorisation – including, today, new communication and information technologies such as social media platforms,” say the editors in their Introduction.

By María Teresa Aveggio, Programme Manager

		After the boycott of the Internet on 18 January 2012 as a protest against proposed copyright legislation that would put the Internet’s open architecture in serious danger (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/01/17/f-sopa-canada.html) and online services like Wikipedia and Reddit along with some 115,000 other websites went dark , a new initiative has emerged in defence of the Internet: the Declaration of Internet Freedom (http://www.internetdeclaration.org/ )a short manifesto for a free and open Internet. The Declaration is the initiative of many of the people and organizations that helped make the protest a resounding success. Its goal is to energise the millions of people who fought back against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PROTECT_IP_Act ) in an effort to ensure that the powers that be were unable to destroy the Web as the wide open space which it has been until now. Launched on 4 July 2012 to coincide with Independence Day in the USA, the Declaration of Internet Freedom has been signed by more than 100 tech innovators, start-up founders, free speech activists, international human rights organisations and academics.
Image credit: www.theworldsbestever.com

WACC's former director of studies, Pradip N. Thomas, and WACC's current deputy-director of programmes and editor of its journal Media Development, Philip Lee, have joined forces to publish a collection of essays examining the global phenomenon of televangelism. The book includes a chapter by Dennis A. Smith, WACC President, writing together with Leonildo Silveira Campos, of the Methodist University of São Paulo.

"Televangelism is no longer limited to television but is increasingly a new media phenomenon – amplified and shaped on social media sites and accessed by mobile technologies in ever more complex circuits of production, distribution, and consumption," write the editor in the Introduction. This book contributes "towards illuminating the contextual nature of 'televangelistic' practices in different parts of the world."

Televangelism is an evolving global phenomenon. While it may have begun in the USA in the late 1960s, the liberalization of global television in the 1990s along with the spread of satellite and cable television has enabled a variety of global and local expressions of televangelism today. The spread of Islamic television in the Arab world and Indonesia shows no sign of abating, while the Hindu televangelist Baba Ramdev has become a household name through his marketing of yoga-based health and well being products.

Global and Local Televangelism explores and engages with the changing face of global and local televangelism – with the globalization of Christian televangelism in India, Nigeria, Ghana, Guatemala and Brazil, and with the branded nature of televangelism in contemporary USA. While US style televangelism has influenced its Islamic and Hindu variants, it is clear there is an evolving local tenor that is influenced as much by local cultural and religious practices as by economics and politics.

The resurgence of religious identities the world over has been accompanied by the presence of religion in the media. These media have been put to use in multiple intra and inter-religious battles over souls and purses and these struggles, in particular, have been fought out on television screens.

The book is divided into four sections. Part I: Islamic Televangelism: On Preachers and Prophets. Part II: Christian Televangelism: Branding the Global and the Local. Part III: Hindu Televangelism: An Emerging Phenomenon. Part IV: Televangelism, Politics, and Popular Culture. It is dedicated to two pioneers in the study of televangelism: Professor Stewart Hoover (University of Colorado at Boulder, USA) and Professor Peter Horsfield (RMIT University, Australia), both long-time members and associates of WACC.

The book is widely available from booksellers, including the publisher. Global and Local Televangelism, edited by Pradip N. Thomas and Philip Lee. Palgrave Macmillan (2012). ISBN 978-0-230-34810-3. http://www.palgrave.com/PRODUCTS/title.aspx?pid=532998

Human rights professor Cees Hamelink was awarded The University of Queensland 2012 Emeritus Award for Communication for Social Change on 5 July 2012 in Brisbane, Australia.

UQ's School of Journalism's Centre for Communication for Social Change presents the award annually to recognise the commitment of a prominent international professor in applying the principles of communication for social change. The award celebrates individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to using communication to transform and empower marginalised communities.

 Professor Hamelink is the author of 18 books on communication, culture and human rights. He promotes communication research and advises a number of United Nation's organisations on global media and communication issues. Professor Hamelink's current work aims to improve social communication between humans, who are by nature individualistic. 

“Social communication is all about dialogical engagement and that means really listening to other people,” said Professor Hamelink. “What we really need in our societies is Bonobo communication, which would be disarming, dialogical, far more open and pleasant.” 

Presenting the award, Vice-Chancellor Professor Debbie Terry (seen in the photo above together with Cees Hamelink) said there was a critical need for scholars like Professor Hamelink. “We live in a time of unprecedented global complexity. There is a critical need for scholars, like the eminent Professor Hamelink, to interrogate, understand and advocate for the role of media, information and communication processes in a robust and participatory democracy."

Professor Hamelink has been a long-time advisor and consultant to WACC, which congratulates him on this latest acknowledgement of his pre-eminence in the field.

By Dr Stephen Brown

An International Society for Media, Religion and Culture (ISMRC ) has been inaugurated to support scholars and academic endeavours at the intersection of media and religion.

"In this area almost more than any other it is important to keep in mind the contribution of scholarship," said Professor Stewart Hoover, director of the Center for Media, Religion, and Culture of the University of Colorado, and the society's first president.

WACC is one of the founding organizations of ISMRC.

“If Only Everyone”, directed by Natalia Belyauskene, received the prize Saturday at the closing ceremony of the ninth edition of the Golden Apricot Film Festival held annually in Armenia's capital, Yerevan.

In the citation accompanying the award, the jury writes: “This film addresses the legacy of the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. A young woman’s search for her soldier father’s grave sets off events that lead to forgiveness – of oneself and of ‘the other’ – through dialogue and reconciliation. It is about how we can come to see our common humanity even in those once seen as only as ‘the enemy’.”

Participants in a workshop on the ethics of social media called for guidelines in the use of social media and citizen journalism that can create greater transparency and credibility. Building a healthy alliance between professional journalists and citizen journalists is crucial to good governance and good citizenship.

The third Global Ethics Forum conference in the series “Seeds for Successful Transformation – The Value of Values in Responsible Business” (GEF 2012) took place in Geneva, Switzerland, 28-30 June 2012, just one week after the UN Conference on Sustainable Development – Rio+20.