Introduction human rights and the media

Abstract

The best way to preface this issue of Critical Arts is by commending the editors on their timely and pertinent choice of the topic “human rights and the media”. It would seem to me that this is one of the most urgent themes in need of serious analysis and debate among both communication theoreticians and practitioners. The international catalogue of human rights standards has now been with us for some fifty years and the international community should begin to take a serious look at realistic ways of implementing these standards. This particularly so, as recent world events have once again demonstrated how fragile the protection of human dignity is. We are still a long way from the establishment of a global human rights culture: an environment within which the respect for human identity and diversity are self-evident matters. Essential to the effort to create such a culture are the media as they relate to the defence of human rights at various levels.

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Notes on contributors

Cees J. Hamelink

He is honorary president of the International Association for Media and Communication Research and editor-in-chief of Gazette, the international journal of communication studies. Prof. Hamelink has authored fifteen books on culture, technology and human rights.