Media Development

The document argues that 'communication rights' extend beyond simple freedom of expression to include the right to be heard and receive responses from power-holders. It provides evidence of this framework's utility through case studies: community radio in Guatemala and Bosnia and Herzegovina, citizen journalism in the Dominican Republic, gender-focused media monitoring in Benin, and migrant advocacy in Hong Kong. Additionally, it examines the threats to privacy posed by big data analytics and the 'Internet of Things,' arguing that these technologies can create unjust power differentials and facilitate surveillance.

• The 'right to communicate' is conceptualized as a social cycle that goes beyond the ability to speak; it requires that individuals have access to necessary information and that those in power listen to and consider their views.
• In Guatemala, Indigenous community radio stations are essential for preserving culture and language, yet they face systemic repression, including police raids and a lack of legal licensing mechanisms in the national telecommunications law.
• Big data analytics and the 'Internet of Things' (IoT) threaten personal privacy by enabling the re-identification of anonymous data and creating asymmetries between surveilled citizens and the states or corporations mining the data.
• In the Dominican Republic, social media and blogs have functioned as 'citizen journalism' to challenge the Constitutional Court's Sentence 168-13, which denied nationality to descendants of Haitians born in the country.
• In post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina, VestaRadio demonstrated that non-profit community radio can facilitate social inclusion and public advocacy, such as changing perceptions of blind people and highlighting maternity leave discrimination.
• The Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) uses alternative radio journalism and digital tools to empower migrants, as seen in the 'Justice for Erwiana' campaign in Hong Kong, which transformed a victim of abuse into a human rights defender.
• The commercialization and concentration of media ownership narrow the diversity of content and can lead to a 'hollowing out' of social communication, where knowledge is harnessed primarily for corporate profit rather than social learning.

APA

World Association for Christian Communication (2016). Media Development. https://waccglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/1-2016.Media-Development.pdf

Chicago

World Association for Christian Communication. Media Development. 2016. https://waccglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/1-2016.Media-Development.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Association for Christian Communication |title=Media Development |date=January 2016 |url=https://waccglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/1-2016.Media-Development.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldassociationforchristiancommunication2016media, author = {{World Association for Christian Communication}}, title = {{Media Development}}, institution = {World Association for Christian Communication}, year = {2016}, month = jan, url = {https://waccglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/1-2016.Media-Development.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }