by Staff International public service media from G-7 countries have reported “strong audience increases” since the Covid-19 pandemic, which they interpret as a show of confidence for the “reliable and independent information” they deliver on multiple communication...
Indigenous peoples are “not mere victims of climate change,” asserts researcher and conservation biologist Gleb Raygorodetsky in Why traditional knowledge holds the key to climate change, one of the articles in the latest issue of Media Development, WACC Global’s international quarterly journal. The issue...
Photo: Johnson Wang/Unsplash by Staff What does it mean to be human in the digital age? What do advances in communication technology mean for communication rights and other human rights? “Do we live in a ‘post‐truth’...
“Community Radio Tiichajil Tenam was set up "in order to deepen its engagement with local authorities and citizens, as well as to become a more meaningful space the promotion of Indigenous rights and...
by Staff WACC is surveying its community media partners on their response to COVID-19 and their needs to help keep the communities they serve informed and safe. Community media need your...
File photo: Fundación Comunicación Positiva members during a WACC-supported training workshop on digital media management and content production, with the participation of 30 HIV activists from 12 cities capitals of...
Poster depicts Covid-19 prevention campaign for migrants and host communities in Colombia. WACC is surveying its community media partners on their response to COVID-19 and their needs to help keep the...
Photo: Reflect Reality project/Internews “Journalism without Fear or Favour” is the theme of World Press Freedom Day, Sunday, May 3, 2020. It takes place in a complex landscape, where traditional media...
Lockdowns imposed by governments worldwide to prevent the spread of Covid-19 have forced women “to stay at homes where they are not safe or secure," according to faith-based groups. Photo:...
Radio Apac reporter Deni Okelo (middle) receives a donation to help the radio station operate during the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: Radio Apac WACC is surveying its community media partners on their...
The neighbourhood of Kikondi, Uganda during the lockdown imposed by the government to deal with the Covid-19 crisis. Photo: Ndahiro Derrick/Wikimedia Commons WACC is surveying its community media partners on their response to...
WACC is surveying its community media partners on their response to COVID-19 and their needs to help keep the communities they serve informed and safe. Community media need your help!...
Multi-faceted responses to the pandemic must include the promotion of gender equality, the empowerment of women and girls, and the fight against all forms of gender-based violence, says the UN...
Broadcasters from the Community Rural Radio Krishi Radio 98.8, a member of the Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC), bring awareness of the Covid-19 pandemic to far-flung rural communities. Photo:...
Elham Amwar gets help from his children Rema and Ayman as they carry water back to their family's shelter in the Zaatari refugee camp near Mafraq, Jordan. ACT Alliance member agencies provide a variety of...
In times of crisis, information saves lives. In the response to Covid-19, we see how vital it is to get accurate and trusted messages to people so that they know what...
Communication saves lives, strengthens solidarity Digital First Responders The Center for Community Media investigates how innovative news outlets are meeting the needs of immigrant communities during the pandemic. LIVE GUIDE: All our coronavirus...
Tropical Cyclone Harold rapidly intensifying between the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu April 3, 2020. Image: National Hurricane Center/Wikimedia Commons As Pacific Island Governments work on a coordinated regional response to Covid-19, Tropical...
Grassroots organization CONFENIAE translated COVID-19 information and regulations released by the Ecuadorian government into the languages of various Amazonian cultures to help inform and protect Indigenous communities. Photo: CONFENIAE by Marites...
Vulnerable women in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, often lack the necessary knowledge and skills to use digital media platforms to advocate for their rights and to highlight their concerns in a safe...
A boy takes a selfie on a mobile phone as people gather around a fire inside a refugee processing centre in the Serbian village of Presevo, not far from the Macedonian border. Photo: Paul...
Photo: Deliris/Shutterstock WACC’s response to the ongoing situation regarding COVID-19 For our common good, we need to use and promote technologies to unite people and communities who are divided by adversity. When the...
Theatre director Esther Porcelijn from Tilburg, the Netherlands, with Rabbi Dalfin of the U.S. Chabad-Lubavitch, in a scene from Spot the Differences, which won the Prize for best programme at the...
Women and girls still suffer from poverty, discrimination and violence, and “under-representation in power and decision-making is still the norm," says a 2020 report by UN Women released on International...
A civil society organisation participant asks a question during a UN Commission on the Status of Women town hall at the UN Headquarters in 2018. This year's CSW has been...
Photo: Albin Hillert International Women’s Day (IWD) campaigns step up demands for the respect of women’s basic civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. This year’s IWD, March 8, 2020, calls us...
A member of the network of citizen journalists at a migrants' reception centre in Bogota. Photo: Grupo Comunicarte by Marites Sison A project to establish “communication that brings us together” began with...
by Marites Sison WACC Global’s quarterly journal, Media Development, has published its first issue of the year, which examines how women around the world are faring 25 years after the Beijing Declaration and...
by Staff In 2019, a year marked by divisive politics, attacks on journalists, xenophobia, digital surveillance and harassment, and other threats to freedom of information and democracy, WACC Global continued to...
by Marites Sison WACC ’s Centre for Communication Rights has co-published Expanding Shrinking Communication Spaces, a new e-book on communication rights and sustainable development for a digital age. The 130-page page book – which...
At Tayrona Estereo, the community radio station for the Kankuamo people in their Indigenous territory at Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. by Marites Sison On February 13, World Radio Day, WACC Global...
Clautude Dispose holds one of her goats in Ganthier, Haiti, where Mission Sociale des Eglises Hatiennes (MISSEH), a member of the ACT Alliance, helped her and other residents rebuild their...
Tharu communities face various forms of exclusion because of language barriers. The project addressed this by providing basic radio journalism training to local journalists and increasing their knowledge of Indigenous...
Young members of Radio Naxme 89.5 FM, an Indigenous community radio station broadcasting in San Miguel El Progreso, State of Guerrero, Mexico. Photo Credit: Radio Naxme by Lorenzo Vargas Following four years...
Mario Acunzo, team leader of FAO's Communication for Development Team, Family Farming and Partnerships with Civil Society Unit, and Sara Speicher, WACC Deputy General Secretary, at the United Nation's Decade...
WACC's Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) has been nominated for the 2020 World Summit on Information Society’s 9th Annual Awards. The GMMP was one of 353 projects nominated out of 806 submitted projects...
Sumapaz Páramo, located nearly two hours from Colombia’s urban capital Bogota, is the world’s largest páramo (alpine tundra ecosystem). Páramos are critical sources of water (providing approximately 70% of drinkable...
How should civil society engage with the challenges and opportunities created by Artificial Intelligence (AI)? WACC Global’s No-Nonsense Guide to Communication Rights, Civil Society and Artificial Intelligence identifies several ways in which citizen...
WACC Deputy General Secretary Sara Speicher recently presented a workshop on “Upholding Human Rights and Social Justice in the Digital Age” during the 50th anniversary international conference of the Catholic Media Council...
Abida Pehlic, Global Media Monitoring Project national coordinator and president/program manager for Novi Put, an anti-trafficking NGO established by women in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Photo: Contributed by Marites Sison In a country...
A makeshift memorial to murdered investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia at the foot of the Great Siege Monument in Valletta, Malta. Galizia's work often focused on allegations of government corruption,...
Students and journalists in the Dominican Republic participate in workshops aimed at promoting a democratic culture "with zero tolerance for racism and xenophobia in the media." Photos: Contributed by Staff In response...
Twenty-four technicians and broadcasters from 21 community radio stations in Nepal are now able to repair and conduct technical maintenance of broadcasting equipment on their own, thanks to a WACC-supported...
WACC Deputy General Secretary Sara Speicher recently took part in a workshop, Data and Digital Intelligence as People’s Resources: Reclaiming Freedom and Control in a Data-based Society, held in Berlin...
This year’s last issue of WACC’s quarterly journal, Media Development, takes an in-depth look at the state of the Caribbean’s media and communications industry and their influence on the region’s...
Children today would benefit from greater regulatory oversight of the Internet and social media. In an open letter to the world’s children marking the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on...
One hundred students from four public and one private school in Georgia are now providing weekly broadcast and blogs on issues that matter to them, including human rights, gender equality...
In recent years, WACC Global has supported hundreds of communication rights-related projects that have not only been innovative, but have built the leadership skills and media visibility of its partners,...
Women journalists who ethically cover stories about gender-based violence are “human rights defenders in their own right,” and they often face challenges, including misogynistic attacks online and offline, as a...
Women continue to be excluded from peace and political processes, despite a UN resolution adopted nearly two decades ago, which acknowledged that armed conflicts disproportionately affect their health, safety and...
Journalists who challenge corruption and the abuse of power deserve special government protection, WACC General Secretary Philip Lee said on the occasion of the International Day to End Impunity for...
WACC Global is now a member of the Just Net Coalition (JNC), a global network of civil society organizations and individuals advocating for “an open, free, just and equitable Internet.” The JNC focuses...
With growing incidences of cyber violence and harassment against women and girls, including female journalists, WACC Global maintains its support for efforts that push for policies to address them and...
WACC Global has joined more than 400 civil society organizations from 94 countries in signing an open letter urging all UN member states to give their full support to the Women, Peace...
A journalist, a cultural activist, a social communicator, a former WACC director of research, and a social justice activist have been named 2019 Honorary Life Members by WACC’s Board of Directors. Since...
WACC’s Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) received the Donald H. McGannon Award today and its global coordinator, Sarah Macharia, described it as an affirmation of the project, the network of volunteers, and...
Raising WACC’s profile as one of the key global players on gender and communication, and supporting critical applications of communication rights in new areas for...
Dr. Clifford Christians, one of the world’s leading scholars on ethics in media, will tackle “Fake News, Rights and Obligations in a Digital World” at the Religion Communication Congress (RCC),...
WACC has launched Many Voices One World - the new online home for the Centre for Communication Rights – as a multi-media website dedicated to supporting vibrant citizen media, democratic...
WACC reiterates its commitment to freedom of information, including every citizen’s right to access information they need to participate fully in the democratic process, and to open and diverse media,...
President Embert Charles has urged WACC’s new Board of Directors to roll up their sleeves to “reenergise our global movement, regroup and give a stronger voice to the regions.”...
The following statement was issued by Ary Regis, President of WACC-Caribe, on September 20, 2019:
...
Over half of the world’s population of 7.7 billion are connected to the Internet, which has profoundly changed the way people live, work and communicate....
Sunday, September 15 is the International Day of Democracy and WACC is promoting every citizen’s right to communicate and to engage in transparent, informed and democratic debate.
...
On International Literacy Day, Saturday, September 8, WACC calls attention to the digital divide that excludes billions of people around the world – including Indigenous people and linguistic minorities – from accessing...
An average of 80,000 people are displaced from their homes each year in Kenya, but local media hardly pay attention to their plight, says a WACC-supported media monitoring study....
It began with a simple idea of bringing together religious television broadcasters to promote ecumenical and international co-operation and give greater visibility to their programmes. ...
.NeilPalmer.CIAT.jpg)
WACC-Latin America has joined other civil society groups around the world in raising concerns over threats facing the Amazon rainforest, including a recent uptick in deforestation and record-setting wildfires. ...
A project that included the purchase of additional radio repeaters, the installation of solar panels, and training for reporters has made Radio Bue Xhidza in Oaxaca, Mexico, a “stronger station”...
Nigerian media pay “little attention to the real issues” affecting the country’s Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), ignore their voices and often rely on statements from government officials when reporting about them, a WACC-supported...
The ACT Alliance in North America and Central America have issued a joint regional appeal to help undocumented migrants affected by U.S. President Trump’s immigration policies, which have included the separation of children...
The year 2020 marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of “The MacBride Report,” written by UNESCO’s International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems.
...
International Youth Day, first observed by the United Nations in the year 2000, will focus on “Transforming Education.” The aim is to highlight efforts to make education more inclusive and accessible for all...
On International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, WACC is drawing attention to the urgent need to promote Indigenous languages at both national and international levels....
Every two weeks, at least one of the world’s 7,000 distinct languages “disappear,” the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages warned over a decade ago.
...
The Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP), WACC’s flagship initiative since 1995, will receive the Donald H. McGannon Award at the United Church of Christ’s 37th annual
A survey conducted by UNESCO has found that 125 of the UN’s 193 member states have enacted right to information laws or similar provisions.
...
Fifty young Kankuamos, Wiwas, Koguis, and Arthuacos recently took part in a media production and communication rights training organized by Tayrona Estereo, an Indigenous community radio station in Colombia....
Radio Newa FM, a community radio station based in Kirtipur, Nepal, has launched a series of field visits and dialogues on Indigenous heritage and Indigenous rights across the Kathmandu Valley....
The Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP), scheduled for 2020, is still in need of volunteer national coordinators for several countries in Asia and Eastern Europe.
...
Youth and climate stand out at UN forum on sustainable development.
UN meetings are often bureaucratic. This one has a sense of urgency.
With its rather dull title, the UN High-Level...
The growing trend of shrinking civic spaces around the world is likely to end or reverse progress towards reducing inequality, ensuring inclusion, and achieving a sustainable...
Olivia Michael – an incoming third year student this fall at the University of Toronto, where she is pursuing a double major in health studies and sociology – has joined WACC for...
.jpg)
Program managers Sarah Macharia and Lorenzo Vargas will represent WACC at the 2019 International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) Conference, scheduled July 7 to 11, in Madrid....
From tightening an antenna to changing a busted fuse, 24 Nepalese community radio technicians received a hands-on workshop on radio maintenance and repair organized by Indigenous Community Radio Network (ICRN), a WACC partner....
A Queen's University student with a keen interest in the intersection of development, communications and human rights, said she is wrapping up her internship at WACC with a newfound understanding of communication rights...
A WACC-supported project involving an Indigenous community radio in Chiapas, Mexico, has resulted in the production of 12 programmes on topics such as women’s rights, Indigenous rights and heritage, communication rights, land...
Today, June 20, is World Refugee Day and WACC is calling on communicators to “create greater awareness among the public” about the plight of displaced people, migrants and refugees worldwide and how...
Twelve women and 12 men from 10 community and Indigenous radio stations in the states of Oaxaca and Hidalgo, Mexico, have taken part in a WACC-supported media training that left many...
.png)
In the lead up to the next GMMP in 2020, we look back at some news and feature articles, as well as studies that have used the project's compelling findings....
The impact of the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) cannot be overstated, says journalist-activist Amie Joof....
Lynda Garcia, the Global Media Monitoring Project’s (GMMP) national coordinator for the Philippines, describes the participation of Miriam College’s department of communication as a “fulfilling and exciting experience” for students and faculty.
...
WACC and the World Council of Churches (WCC) are hosting the screening of Fe en la Resistencia (Faith in the Resistance Movement), a documentary on the role of churches and faith communities...
.jpg)
The Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) has become a “reference point” for Claudia Padovani’s teaching, research and advocacy activities in Italy....
For Hillary Nicholson, the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) has provided useful data that has helped her organization, WMW-Jamaica (formerly Women’s Media Watch) in its advocacy and training of gender/media activists....
WACC’s recently elected global President, Embert Charles, has assumed his role at the head of the organization's new Board of Directors. The Board will serve a four-year term 2019-2023....
WACC will be featured in the highly-anticipated DW Global Media Forum scheduled May 27-28 in Bonn, Germany.
...
Every five years since 1995, the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) has counted on hundreds of volunteers around the world to take a “snapshot” of their country’s media to see how men...