Number 243, April 2002
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Carol J. Fouke-Mpoyo, Media Liaison, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA.
NEW YORK CITY – Emphatic exchanges of contesting points of view about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict characterized an April 17-18 conference here, titled “Megaphones and Muffled Voices: What Constitutes Full and Fair Media Coverage of Israeli-Palestinian Issues?”
Some 80 secular and religious journalists and activists took part in all or part of the two-day effort, co-sponsored by the World Association for Christian Communication, WACC’s North American Regional Association (NARA-WACC) and the (U.S.) National Council of Churches’ Communication Commission.
One story covered to the exclusion of much else: A perspective from the United States
On the six-month anniversary of September 11, a US television network sponsored by a cell phone company offered two hours of prime time evening viewing for a documentary on the tragedy. The subject matter and pre-show publicity dealt exclusively with the events of September 11. The programme ran without the usual commercial interruptions. It had a larger audience than any other non-sports broadcast in the past year.
Lusaka, March 20, 2002
Participants at a workshop here have decried xenophobia as a constant threat to Southern Africa’s four hundred thousand refugees.
From Jackie Lubeck of Theatre Day Productions, a WACC project holder in the Gaza Strip.
This is an unbelievable time for all of us. We have watched it go from bad to worse to terrible to unbelievable to unbearable...
Mitri Raheb, of the International Centre of Bethlehem ,gives a first hand account of recent events.
Dear friends,
Just a quick note to let you all know that we are still alive. My wife, mother and two daughters are O.K. But Bethlehem is experiencing the worst invasion since decades if not centuries. The whole infra structure is under attack. The beautiful stone-paved streets around Christmas Lutheran Church are devastated. The tanks were standing around our Church and firing at the center of the old town.
Bill Norris
For the past nine years, a UK-based media ethics charity called The PressWise Trust has been operating a unique service. For ordinary citizens who suffer at the hands of unethical media behaviour - as opposed to those who can afford to rush to law - it has been offering free confidential advice and information, and practical help in getting their complaints resolved. The repercussions of intrusive or unfair reporting can be devastating to the private citizen. More than one person has been driven to suicide by the stigma associated with publication of erroneous facts.