Global Communicators Network - Global

The originating bodies, and the core constituency of the network, are the development and international aid agencies related to those churches associated with the WCC. Participants are people who work with mass media in their national context, who are conveying messages of social change, and who wish to share these interests and concerns with a wider forum. During the early 1990s, the Network significantly broadened its global reach. Many more South partners became involved, a greater range of communication styles and media were explored at Network meetings, and Network members helped facilitate the creation of ACT-International, the ecumenical coordinating agency for disaster/emergencies response. As of this writing, GCN includes individuals representing 40 organisations; it is still open to new participants.

The Network brings communications people together in face-to-face biannual meetings at various locations around the world to discuss development and everyday issues linked to poverty and the related tensions and differing perspectives from the North and South. For example, the November 2003 South Africa gathering focussed on the theme of "communicating reconciliation". The Director of the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, which hosted the meeting, opened with these words: "talking to one another, listening to one another, understanding one another. That is what reconciliation is about..." The theme of the GCN meeting held in Cuba in October 2005 was "Communication and Power: Independence and Responsibility in a Globalized World."

In between get-togethers, participants are encouraged to contribute and exchange ideas, research, images, and final products through the regular newsletter or via the GCN website. The latter includes a section whereby network members may add images to an online gallery, and/or participate in a news blog.

Networking, Media Development, Justice.