Action 256, June 2004
Chaired by Adrian Evans, the director of Panos Pictures, a panel judged more than 200 submissions from all over the world to the WACC Photographic Competition “Images of Communication”. Anna Turley reports a complaint that “Bollywood Stole Our Folksong” and looks at piracy, the patenting of Basmati rice, traditional folk songs and open source software. Lavinia Mohr returning from Uganda reports how “Faith can be a Risk Factor for HIV in Africa: Why Church Messages can be Bad for your Health “. Pradip Thomas writes after a conference in Guatemala about “Migrants and Their Right to Communicate”. Myriam Horngren explains why “WACC signs European Manifesto for Minority Communication Media”. Also news on a “WACC Member Awarded Chavkin Prize”
Myriam Horngren
The World Association for Christian Communication has endorsed the European Manifesto for Minority Community Media, coordinated by Online/More Colour in the Media. The Manifesto calls for the recognition of the role minority community media play in Europe. It has been drafted by a transnational network of national platforms of minority community media, and approved by national, regional and local groups across Europe. The signatures will be presented during the European elections in 2004 to the President of the European Parliament. To find out more go to:
Pradip Thomas
A workshop on migrants and their right to communicate was run by WACC-Latin America and supported by the Global Studies Programme of WACC this March. The event was held at Tecún Umán, Guatemala close to the Mexican border on a route used heavily by migrants, many of them without legal documentation, travelling from Latin America into the USA.
Lavinia Mohr
Why Church Messages can be Bad for Your Health
Uganda’s success in significantly reducing HIV/Aids prevalence and new infection rates in the last ten years is a sign of hope in turning the tide of Aids in Africa. Uganda is often seen as an example for other African countries. Christian communicators from around Africa gathered in Kampala in March 2004 to take part in a meeting sponsored by the Africa Region of WACC on “Aids in Africa: Communicating for Behaviour Change.” The two-day seminar was hosted by the Uganda Media Women’s Association who are a WACC member organisation based in Kampala.
Sean Hawkey
Chaired by Adrian Evans, the director of Panos Pictures, a panel judged more than 200 submissions to the competition from all over the world. Communication was illustrated in many moving ways and the quality of the submissions was high. The competition will be repeated again next year. After much deliberation, the prizes were awarded as follows:
Anna Turley
Piracy, the patenting of Basmati rice, traditional folk songs and open source software were among the issues debated by cultural rights activists, bio-diversity campaigners, academics, lawyers, communicators and students at the latest workshop on intellectual property rights (IPR) supported by WACC. Held in Bangalore, India in April, and organised by VOICES, Madhyam and the Alternative Law Forum (ALF), the workshop mapped out links between IPR and the media.
Sean Hawkey
The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA) in New York announced the selection of Jane Regan and Daniel Morel as the 2004 co-recipients of the Samuel Chavkin Prize for Integrity in Latin American Journalism. The award focuses on journalists whose work reflects a commitment to social justice in the region.