UNDA

Unda (Latin for "wave") is the international professional Catholic association for radio and television, the Association Catholique Internationale pour la Radio et la Télévision. Officially recognized by the Holy See, Unda began as the International Catholic Committee for Radio, founded in 1928 in Cologne, Germany. Unda's members internationally are not individuals but national and continental Catholic organizations which share Unda's objectives, while retaining responsibility for their own activities. Unda's headquarters are in Brussels.

Unda's objectives are: to help coordinate professional and apostolic activities of Catholics in radio and television; to promote collaboration among members, through conferences, publications, information exchanges, research; to represent internationally the interests of members; to help meet communications needs of members; to help meet communications needs of the Third World; and to collaborate with non-Catholic organizations having similar objectives.

At the continental and national levels, Unda conducts a variety of activities and programs suited to individual needs of each region. Development programs in broadcasting, planned, subsidized and executed under the auspices of Unda, are primarily in the Third World countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Oceania. Projects prepared at the local level are presented to the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in Rome and to other world funding agencies. In the past the Congregation has allotted through Unda more than two million U.S. dollars. Unda publishes a bimonthly newsletter (Unda News ), in English and in French, and a documentation quarterly (Educommunication News ).

Unda-USA. Unda-USA is a national professional Catholic Association for broadcasters and allied communicators. Organized in 1972, it succeeded the Catholic Broadcasters Association of America, which in 1948 had replaced the Catholic Forum of the Air, founded in 1939. Unda-USA's Board of Directors includes representatives of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Catholic Television Network, Association of Catholic Radio and Television Syndicators, and media and government.

Unda-USA's objectives are: to encourage cooperation among diocesan communications directors, religious program syndicators, instructional television personnel and the USCCB; to cooperate with all commercial and religious broadcasters whenever possible; to help develop a discerning audience for social communications; to assess the sources and influences of media; to be concerned with media government relations and the preservation of freedom of expression; to assess the impact of U.S. media upon other nations and peoples, and to help develop a sensitive awareness and mutual understanding among peoples of various cultures.

"Gabriel Awards" are made annually to national and local radio and TV programs in which commercial, educational, or religious broadcasters have best entertained, enriched, or informed with a vision of life reflecting basic religious principles. Awards are also given to a radio and TV station for consistently high quality programming, and to a person who has provided outstanding leadership in the field of national or local broadcasting.

Unda-USA annually holds a General Assembly for all members. A newsletter for members is published six times a year. Headquarters in the United States are in Dayton, OH.

[a. scannell/eds.]