Communication for all

“Communication for All: Sharing WACC’s Principles” affirms that communication is a spiritual exercise, builds and shapes community, enhances participation, promotes freedom and demands accountability, celebrates cultural diversity, builds connectedness, affirms justice and challenges injustice.

In 2009 the Executive Committee of WACC (The World Association for Christian Communication) mandated the President, Dr Dennis Smith, to convene a small group of people to review and update WACC’s Christian Principles, which date back to 1986.

“The sense of the Executive Committee was that while the previous five principles remained valid and continued to be the core statement of our identity as an Association, substantial changes in the world of communication, culture and technology combined with reflections form WACC global members required that we revise them,” said Smith.

A draft document was presented to the Executive Committee meeting at the WACC office in Toronto. The Committee endorsed the new Principles and recommended them to the Board of Directors for approval.

The new document expresses WACC’s core beliefs and values and, while explicitly rooted in the Christian faith, can be offered humbly to partners of other religious traditions to encourage inter-faith dialogue.

The first principle “Communication is a spiritual exercise” seeks to encourage inter-faith study and dialogue.

The second, “Communication builds and shapes community”, asserts that genuine communication calls for mutual accountability and trust.

Under “Communication enhances participation”, WACC asserts that inclusive and participatory communication leads to transparency and mutual accountability leading to a more just and peaceful world.

“Communication promotes freedom and demands accountability”

affirms that freedom of expression must be respected and community groups must be assured access to technology and to media platforms.

“Communication celebrates cultural diversity” underscore the fact that communication is especially vital when cultural memory, language, religion, gender, age, ethnicity or race are denigrated or denied by members of other cultural groups.

Finally, the new Principles emphasise the need to build connectedness, to affirm justice and to challenge injustice.

“Communication for All” is WACC’s vision, recognising communication rights as inherent in all other human rights, and restoring voice and visibility to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in a spirit of genuine solidarity.

Download the revised principles.